Restaurants with a soul, where one no longer expects them

If we can give good dining advice in today's Opéra district, we can do it anywhere

A century ago, the area around the Opéra was Europe's epicenter of supurb dining,

and every other luxury

•Opéra •After dark •Cuisine & wine •City of kings

•Services for private travelers •Services for groups

: Opéra district, 1880

: Same idea

Today it is an epicenter of mass tourism and commercial activity, and restaurants are usually foreign, or banal, or chains, or overpriced. That's the reason for choosing this area: If we can recommend moderately-priced restaurants of interest here, chances are e can do it anywhere.

Here are recommendations for streets whose interest lies in seeing how and where a great past stays in the ring.

Restaurants that honor their past

: A place where one is instantly glad to have come

: Filming a scene from "Something's Gotta Give", with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton

•Turn-of-the-19th-century éclat (shown above)

The festive ambiance and reasonable prices explain why so many Parisian habitués, including theater people, come after the show. A famous actor (Michel Blanc) discreetly dined behind us...

•Landmark since the 19th century

To attract 500 clients noon and night, one must be exceptional. The traditional cuisine is good, the prices low, the service excellent, the immense space memorable for its atmosphere and for its past, and the ambiance such that you may end the soirée by exchanging addresses with neighbors at the next table.

Or the refined cuisine of an actress turned chef

: This former actress and Dior model has had several restaurants and frequent write-ups.

An exceptionally personal restaurant nestles in a tiny street behind Palais-Royal. Authentic panels from the Orient Express line the walls of vaulted "caves" and la patronne and her son serve delicate cuisine by candlelight.

A cooking lesson through which one prepares the specialities to be served later can precede dinner...