Restaurants with a soul, where one no longer expects them

The Opéra's vicinity was once the planetary epicenter for supurb dining and every other luxury...

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

•Services for private travelers •Services for groups

: Opéra district, 1880 (please look closely)

: Same idea (notice the assumption of wealth)

...now it's an epicenter of mass tourism and commercial activity and almost all restaurants are ethnic, or ordinary, or chains or too expensive. So if we can suggest places that are affordable and interesting here, we can do it in areas where the pressure toward standardization is less pronounced.

Here are places that retain their personality.

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 – please CLICK

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.