I am a foodie who will be spending 3 weeks this summer traveling around France. Please share with me your favorite restaurants or most memorable dishes (be sure to mention the city or region). Thanks!
Update: I will be in Paris, then Reims/Epernay, then Beaune, then Lyon, then Avignon/Luberon hill towns, then Marseille for lunch, then Nice/St. Tropez/Eze/Monaco (and possibly stops in Cannes, Grasse, or Vence).
It's a big country with tens of thousands of restaurants. Where will you be traveling?
Indeed. As you say, "be sure to mention the city or region" as it's about the size of Texas, and it has a far more complex food scene/history.
Assuming you have the cash, Michelin Stars are a reasonable plan for food you could never get at fine French restaurants in the U.S.
I updated my post with my travel itinerary.
In Paris we loved Le Pantruche and its sister restaurant, Caillebotte. Also, La Regalade Saint-Honore. See the website Paris by Mouth for well organized recs by Arrondissement, places open on Sundays, etc.
Try to catch Beaune on a market day if you can, the indoor-outdoor space is filled with anything you can imagine-fantastic.
In Lyon, find an authentic Bouchon and make a reservation or two. We had an amazing experience at Cafe des Federations-also Daniel & Denise. There is also the enormous Paul Bocuse indoor market.
In Avignon, we found Le Cochon Bleu, and the indoor market there is great, too:
There's a book by a French travel writer, Ann Mah, where she explores the Paris regions through its dishes -- one for each region for each month of the year. "Mastering the Art of French Eating," (with a nod to Julia Child). It will certainly get your mouth watering and give you ideas for what's best where!
The dinner highlight of our trip to Paris last year was Pottoka. If we had another night we would have returned. Very small, reserve well in advance. Email will work. A few years ago we stayed in the village of Lourmarin in the Luberon. Our best meals were at La Closerie in the tiny village of Ansouis and La Petit Maison de Cucceron in Cucceron. La Closerie ranks as one of our top 5 meals anywhere. Both places are small, once again reserve.
In 2014 I readthis NY Times article describing 5 signature dishes in five regions of France. So that fall I visited the regions and dined on the specialties. The only changes were that I didn't have a reservation in Lyon so I wound having lunch at a crepe restaurant and I stopped in Dinan while visiting Brittany. If you'd like to read about Le Tour de France Gastronomique, here's a link to my blog. In Paris, at the recommendation of a restauranteur in Dinan, I had a wonderful dinner at Les Petits Papieres, rue Oberkampf 18. I left my choice of dinner to Thierry, the owner, and had a great foie gras appetizer (with pineapple) followed by the best sea bass I have ever dined on. If you go, make sure to make a reservation.
Most memorable? Andouillette in Beaune. Its a stuffed pig's colon and it tastes as good as it smells.
https://unclestinky.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/andouillette-french-pig-colon-sausage/
Since it's about the food:
However much time you are planning to spend in Lyon, spend more. It's a foodie paradise.
Which would mean you'd spend all your time there. But in Marseilles, make the reservation, get the real bouillabaisse.
Food in France is my favorite topic! Here are some of our favorites:
Paris – Some of my personal highlights: Frenchie and yam’Tcha (both of these lived up to their hyped reputations and were worth the effort to get a reservation); Jacques Genin for chocolates and caramels; Les Papilles; and if you want a 3 star experience, Ledoyen (and definitely get the wagyu beef)
Reims – La Cantina du Coq (recommended by the tour leader at Martel; it’s a tiny little local gem and great bargain); Le Foch (we didn’t eat here because they were closed on Mondays but it was highly recommended)
Lyon – Daniel et Denise (strongly second the earlier reco for this; we liked it so much we went 2 nights in a row); L’Ebullition (another local recommendation that we really enjoyed); Nardone Rene Glacier for ice cream
Luberon – Les Voyageurs in St. Saturnin les Apt (a little family-owned restaurant attached to a hotel; very delicious home cooking); Restaurant David in Roussillon (overlooks the ochre cliffs, go at sunset if you can and reserve to sit on the deck overlooking the cliff); La Fontaine in Villars
Marseille – Chez Madie for bouillabaisse (definitely need reservations and usually need to pre-order the bouillabaisse; not sure if they’re open for lunch)
Enjoy!
