Few people believe me when I say you don't need to remortgage your home to eat well in Paris. Certainly there are enough Michelin restaurants and new upscale brasseries to burn a hole in your wallet but often the best gems can be found in some hidden back alleys or areas outside the manicured first four arrondissements.
During my week long stay in Paris, I managed to try a wide variety of places, from the perfectly old fashioned Benoit (now owned by Alan Ducesse) to the innovative (Gaya in St Germaine) to a hole in the wall (a Vietnamese joint just outside Oberkampf in the 11th arrondissement). My verdict? Sometimes a dive can be as pleasant as a haut cuisine restaurant.
An old family friend used to say either you go to a restaurant for the food or the decor. With due respect to the dead, I disagree. On Gaya's web site, the chef Pierre Gagnaire http://www.pierre-gagnaire.com/ expresses his mission to satisfy the five senses of his customers. And that he does. From the decor to the open kitchen, Gaya is clearly a restaurant theatre. Unlike a traditional bistro, Gaya makes you feel relaxed. The first amuse boche is nothing more than fresh radish, followed by some tiny boiled shrimps, while you ponder over wine and real food. My limited French wasn't good enough to understand the different species of fish, so I picked a Dourard, thinking it was Dory. It turned out to be a roasted seabream served on a bed of couscous flavored with minced sardines. So while nothing fussy was done to the gorgeous sea fish, it was complemented by a startling side dish.
George may seem like a tourist trap since it is perched on the top of the Pompidou Centre, except the food is actually as good as the view. With the building rules, there arent' many places in Paris where you can dine with the city under your feet. At evening,a few friends from Toronto happened to be in town for the first time and I thought it was the ideal place to start their holiday. I didn't expect to find Peking Duck on the menu. Joy to globalization!
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