As we discovered during our visits with three dozen Michelin-starred chefs in France, the Michelin Red Guide is the one that matters most to the country's top chefs. "The others," Chef Frédéric Robert of La Grande Cascade told us, "do not matter." We've had the good fortune to dine in some of the great Michelin one-star restaurants of Paris. We'd like to share our favorites.

La Grande Cascade

The Bois de Boulogne hangs off the west end of Paris. It's sometimes referred to as the lungs of Paris, due to all of the trees that supply oxygen to the city. We also like to think of it as the belly of Paris, for the Bois is where you'll find one of our fave dining experiences, La Grand Cascade.

We write more about La Grand Cascade in a dedicated review, but it's worth repeating, since a dinner or lunch here is not only an amazing gourmet delight but an elegant, darn near perfect, occasion.

• Allée de Longchamp, Bois de Boulogne
• 16th Arrondissement
• tel: 01 45 27 33 51
• Website…

Les Climats

Not only did we proclaim that the cooking at Les Climats was worthy of two stars, we also named it one of The Best Restaurants in France 2020. There was a new chef there — thirtysomething Emmanuel Kouri — and in our review we called him a "keeper."

The wine list here (it's literally a book — a coffee-table-book size book) is a sonnet to the wines of Burgundy. Les Climats may well have the best Burgundy wine cellar in the country. But, even with those great wines, it was the cooking that shone for us. Visually, each course was a work of art. The homard bleu was delicately seasoned with curry and broiled avocado slices and finished with a buttery foam. The belles sardines Bretonnes sparkled with brilliance; the trio was grilled, stuffed with smoked ricotta cheese, fresh herbs, and nasturtium leaves.

We could go on… in fact, we do — in our full review. You don't want to miss this place, set in the street just behind Musée d'Orsay. Be sure to opt for a wine pairing with your meal. Note: Les Climats is closed until 2025 as it moves to a new location on the Right Bank.

• 41 Rue de Lille
• 7th Arrondissement
• tel: 01 58 62 10 08
• Website…

Jacques Faussat Retains His Star !

Tucked away in the 17th Arrondissement, on a small street wandering tourists are unlikely to find, is Jacques Faussat, a restaurant owned by one of the kindest chefs we're ever met. The exterior of the restaurant is unassuming, but the dining room has a simple, pleasing elegance to it. The star, however, is Chef Faussat's food. Among the exceedingly delicious dishes we ate was Pigeon a la Pastilla, inspired by the Andulusian meat pie later adopted by Moroccans. His flavor combinations simply are not to be missed.

Oddly, Chef Faussat lost his star for a couple of years. (We kept telling Michelin they were wrong!) But, in recent editions of the guide his star has been restored and retained, and rightly so. By the way, if you read about a restaurant called La Braisiere, it's the same place — that was the name Chef Faussat originally gave his restaurant.

• 54 Rue Cardinet
• 7th Arrondissement
• tel: 01 47 63 40 37
• Website…

Nomicos

Jean-Louis Nomicos has been cooking around the Paris food scene for a long time. He won the Michelin star for La Grand Cascade when he headed the kitchen there, he maintained the two stars at Laserre, and here, at his own restaurant, he quickly gathered up his own star. Originally called Les Tablettes de Jean-Louis Nomicos, Chef Jean-Louis' eponymous restaurant is worth a trip to the 16th Arrondissement

He's also famous for inventing the dish we like to call the world's most expensive macaroni — Macaroni, truffes noires, foie gras de canard, céleri, jus de veau, parmesan gratinés. That's right, pasta stuffed with black truffles and foie gras. It's something you must eat at least once in your life.

• 16 Avenue Bugeaud
• 16th Arrondissement
• 01 56 28 16 16
• Website…

Le Jules Verne – The Eiffel Tower

Where else but Paris can you dine in a Michelin-starred restaurant on one of the world's most famous landmarks? We were lucky to be invited to partake in Chef Frédéric Anton's superb menu at a table with a superb view of the City of Food. It was one of those seven-course meals-of-a-lifetime. It's never been so delicious on the Eiffel Tower.

Le Jules Verne is another case where we were right and Michelin was just a little slow. From our first review in 2019 we declared Frédéric Anton's to be two-star worthy, but it wasn't until 2024 that the Michelin Guide awarded Le Jules Verne its second star.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon – Étoile

If you believe Eric Ripert, this may be the best restaurant on the list. Chef Ripert, who knows a thing or two about great restaurants — his Le Bernardin in New York City holds three Michelin stars — has called L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon "the best restaurant in the world".

In an interview, Chef Ripert told us that Joel Robuchon was, "In my opinion the best chef we've seen in the last century." And that certainly shows in the food at L'Atelier. How Joel Robuchon was able to run a number of restaurants and still maintain the high level of cooking is a mystery many chefs would like to solve.

For us, we're just content to be able to eat this amazing food in the convivial space Robuchon created and that continues on after his death. Another not-to-be-missed meal. The Atelier outpost in the 7th Arrondissement lost its star in 2024, but this location hung on.

• Lower Level of the Publicis Drugstore
• 133 Avenue des Champs Elyséées, Entry at 30 Rue Vernet
• 8th Arrondissement

The Michelin Guide

In 1900 the Michelin brothers, who had started out making bicycle tires in France, printed a small guide for the country's few motorists to tell them where to get service on the road, where to buy tires, where to stay, and also where to eat. They even threw in a few simple maps. Their logic was simple. The more people traveled, the faster their tires would wear out. More travel = more tire sales. It was from this simple beginning over a century ago that the Michelin Red Guide to restaurants and hotels evolved.