Steven Spurrier invited me to help his delightful niece to find a suitably romantic restaurant for dinner last month. Overlooking the fact that he is paid up member of Macéo, which has some of the lovlyiest dining spaces in the Capital, Steven, who is normally a picture of moderation & balanced commentary, managed to claim that Macéo was ‘Very Romantic’, but not quite romantic enough for the lovely niece in question. It is well known that I have a thick skin, so I brushed this churlish comment off with good grace and made some suggestions to the young lady -Romance is happily just like dessert. So difficult to know the sins of others ! If one eliminates the ‘very Parisian’ bistrots & brasseries for being to pacy & noisy, one could by the same measure eliminate a lot of the newer trendy places on the basis of them not being any where near warmed up enough for romance. Here are a few places & a good bar, always useful.
The bar at the Hyatt Vendome, just across the road from Tiffany’s & a stones throw for the ‘go straight to ruin’ jewelers on the place Vendome, is a perfect spot to set the tone, even if the stores in question should mercifully be closed at the hour of your aperitif. The bar is classy & quietly trendy, they pour good champagne & a few choice wines as well as making cocktails, providing snacks etc.
A short walk separates you from the beautiful & elegant main dining room at Pierre à la Fontaine Gaillon which is an obvious choice for dinner. Cosy, softly lit & relatively intimate, the cuisine is unfussy, pure Classic French & generally top notch. Wine list most satisfactory. Owned by Gerrard Depardieu, who also has a cute ‘Ecailler’ just the other side of the place, Pierre can draw the ‘in crowd’. Lovely terrace in front of the fountain for those sun kissed days.
La Table du Lancaster in the Rue de Berri is very pretty, small, discreet & très comfortable. In the summer there is a terrace on which to dine too. One can ‘prendre l’aperitif’ in their charming salon. The culinary input comes from Michel Troisgros & the offering is inventive, lively & modern from a classic base. The wine list is surprisingly inclusive & up to date. Service can be marginally Daliesque but, as you would expect from Mick’s favorite Parisian hotel, is capable of coping with almost any situation.
La Fable de la Fontaine in the 7th is minuscule, but unlike most French bistrots du gendre has avoided the temptation to pack in an extra 3 couverts. Decorated in chocolate & orange tones, la Fable offers some beautifully prepared, mainly fish based dishes with cutting edge appeal. The wine list is generous & well chosen. Try for a corner table away from the bar. Terrace dining in the summer.
In the 9th Casa Olympe is fun & lovely, but you will share your romance with your neighbors. In les Halles Pharamond has an amazing dining room, but is possibly a little hearty for romance, the culinary offering here being better suited to “dinner with pals”. Terrace in the Summer. Behind Notre Dame Les Itiniraires on the Left bank is a place that has it all. Modern, but cosy, great ambience, an alert culinary offering, marvelously democratically priced wine list. You can stroll along the banks of the Seine after dinner too.
