My son says he wants to try French cuisine in Paris (recommander?)

I've never been to Seattle. What is Seattle-style dress code?

Why don't don't you just ask your hotel what they recommend? Be sure to tell them you want Seattle-style dress code ;-)

You'll be fine nearly anywhere. Only a few places still require a jacket and tie. By French cuisine, do you mean haute cuisine, not home cooking? Is it fine sauces you are looking for? Or do you just mean a place that serves something traditional, like snails? I wouldn't rule out a famous brasseries like La Coupole. That place is quite impressive. Your best guide for this is the red Michelin guide to restaurants, which you can consult on line at viamichelin.com. I recommend this over the food blogs to avoid trendy, experimental food and the crowds that flock to new places after a review. Michelin will give you the tried and true and traditional.

I've been to Seattle and I've been to Paris. I didn't notice any difference in the dress codes. Maybe Seattle is just using the Parisian dress code and calling it Seattlean. OK, no shorts.

"French cuisine" is a very broad category.

Just to help you think about this, here are a few examples of French food.

• Breton food, such as crepes (savory gallettes and a sweet crepe for desert, traditionally served with cider)
• Burgundian cuisine, often in hearty wine sauce (think coq au vin or boef bourginion), snails in garlic.
• Perigord and the SW: Duck confit, cassolette, fois gras

Every region has its specialties and you can find them all in Paris. In addition, a french picnic with baguette, cheese, pate, is a french meal. Lunch at a cafe is a french meal. Any can be memorable.

I hope you will have more than one French meal while in France.

My advice on dressing up is to pack at least one light pair of pants and a shirt that buttons down in front. Can be short sleeve. It's nice if your walking shoes are a dark color (I have black running shoes, sneakers basically) with socks to match. To be prepared for anything, pack a tie, which takes up no room.

So if the young man goes bananas for French food and you feel like a splurge, you can head out to a one-star restaurant with confidence. But really that's not necessary, there are so many excellent restaurants in Paris that there are entire guidebooks devoted to them.

right in Montmartre is our favorite restaurant and I would recommend their magnificent 3 course lunch there. My husband wears a jacket, but decent pants and a shirt should work for a kid. I grew up in Seattle and if you mean grunge such as a t shirt and dirty faded jeans -- well that is not going to be appropriate, but a notch up will work.

This place has wonderful French service -- starts with interesting breads and an amuse, a nice selection of appetizers, a nice selection of entree (plat in French) and really lovely desserts, followed by mignardise (petit fours) Drinks are extra. It is 35 Euro or so for the lunch -- more expensive for dinner. For a comparatively modest price he will have both French flair i.e. fancy service and good exquisitely presented food.

Le Cottage Marcadet -- close to the Lamarck Caulaincourt metro stop. Reserve.

You can see pictures at:
http://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/dining-out-three-experiences/

it is the last of the three restaurants here

If you think his interest is more visual than just the food, going to a spectacular room like Le Train Bleu or Bofinger would also be good choices. The thing about France is that most restaurants serve 'french food' -- There are Italian pizza joints and the occasional Irish pub but unless obviously an ethnic restaurant, almost any place you walk in will be having French food. All restaurants post menus by law, so you can always check out the menu before entering.

When my daughter was 12 we drove with her from Rome to Paris and her first meal in France in Aix was snails, frog legs and chocolate mousse. Snails are on many menus; frog legs a bit harder to find -- but if that is what he means by 'French food' then you will be able to find it.

Another spot with really good French bistrot cooking -- things like duck confit and beouf Bourguignon is Chez Dumonet Josephine. They also have a really nice grand marnier soufflet for dessert. Reserve.

Maybe the whole world dresses the way we do in Seattle now. But, basically we never dress up. We wear jeans and collared shirts at best. Basically the way Rick Steves dresses since he is from Everett. Although, I like to think I don't look quite as nerd-ish as he does.
I guess when I am thinking of the best french dining experience for my son without dropping more than 200 euro and not feeling uncomfortably under-dressed.

Since, I posted this, I found 3 or 4 really cool restaurants around our flat in Montmarte that sound perfect and wouldn't appear to be a problem I believe as far as cost or dress. I also found on TripAdvisor places I am not sure about, such as "Epicure". would you feel adequately dressed there with " one light pair of pants and a shirt that buttons down in front." ... and "dark shoes." And, I guess I am concerned about price as well, I would like to keep it around 200 euro and not more for three.
Later in our vacation we are going to Dordogne and Provence so we will have more opportunities for those regional cuisines.

Thanks for all the replies, very helpful.

Hi, I'm in Paris with my wife and have just come back from a terrific meal at a brassiere one block from the Odeon metro station.Walk up Rue Odeon and its on your left at the first or second corner, there are 3 brassieres on this corner and all doing brisk business with locals and tourists, look for the pig on the window. The dress was casual and the food was terrific, all of it "French" and your son will dig the scene.The larger point is that there are brassieres and cafés all over Paris that will be similar, lots of food servers will speak English and help with menus in French. Looking for a menu written in English will help you find establishments geared toward tourists,while looking for busy places packed with locals gives you an idea that locals like it. Your son is going to have a great experience, don't make to big a deal of it and he won't either, it's an adventure!

there are lots of restaurants in Montmartre that cater to tourists and will give you an expensive meal that is not very good. This is why I recommended Le Cottage Marcadet at lunch -- the kind of elegant service you get there as well as the multi course meal is rare at this quality in Paris for 35 or so Euro.

Last time we were in Paris a friend took us to a pretty restaurant near Abbesses that was the epitome of tourist trap -- very mediocre food. when you are in a very touristy area like this, you do have to dig a bit to get good recommendations.

He could always try the same menu choices that Rick has in this video.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtjAckFH3bI

Janet has nailed it with Le Cottage Marcadet. This is a small, family-run quality restaurant. We're already back in the US for this year, but we'll go there next year. Janet knows her restaurants; in general Janet gives excellent advice.

@george,

It was just a suggestion to add to the others, and not meant to be taken too seriously.

If you want to try what the French eat, it might be easier outside Paris. The licence plate codes play to your advantage even with the new plates. If the code on the right (old style) or on the blue band on the right (new style) match the departement you are on then that is where the locals eat.

The duck confit on a menu will be a reassuring sign. If you don't know, it is a crispy leg and thigh (usually) with skin that is more delicious than any fried chicken your son has tried. Steak et frites is another old bistrot standby, beef with "French" fries and often a gravy, although those fries are actually Belgian. Probably a way to ease him into the cuisine is to let him find an item he likes on a fixed-price menu and then take what else comes with it as a learning experience.

We like French food where French people eat with their families - and we save a ton of money - at Flunch.

Hi...In addition to restaurants you and your son might really like the chocolate tour by Paris Walks. Very interesting and fun.I think there may be bread tours. In addition Cook'n with Class has wonderful cooking classes for the whole family and classes for kids also.In the ones for kids they learn how to make wonderful French desserts. I think I remember Cook'n with Class is very close to where you are staying..... at any rate it might make make a fun thing to do. Also we love to see and buy our lunch at the outdoor markets....our favorites are the Saxe Breuiteil market, the President Wilson Market, and the Rue Mouffetard market.We pick up olives, cheese , a baguette, and other things and have a picnic. Also google culinary tours of Paris....on trip advisor...right where you are staying. I can recommend all of these and they are not dressy. One more interesting thing to do is buy him the little book...Patisseries of Paris and then try some of them out early in the morning after going to one of the markets or on a walking tour.David Lebovitz has a wonderful blog with pictures of chocolatiers and patisseries that are wonderful.

bcole-you and your son may find the Andy Herbach book "Eating and Drinking in Paris" useful. It's a restaurant guide and menu translator, small enough to carry easily. Also, there is a nice cafe/creperie in Montmartre that we loved-Lepic Assiette, on rue Lepic. Have fun!

http://www.eatndrink.com/

Je The Me in the 15th Arron. is on my list to try. Friends tried it and loved it, it was featured on one of Anthony Bourdain's Paris shows a few years ago and it has gotten pretty good reviews on both TripAdvisor and Yelp. Agree with George that this is the time for him to be adventurous and go for eating some things that he's probably not had an opportunity to try yet - and what 14 year old boy doesn't find it cool to brag to his friends that he ate offal - brains, sweetbreads, bone marrow, tongue, kidneys, heart, tripe, testicles…I say he should go for it and try them out. If he's not quite so adventurous, then probably some escargot, foie gras, blood sausage, and a few stinky cheeses would be an easy introduction for him. Disagree with George that there aren't plenty of restaurants here in the States that don't know how to cook offal. Not all of it may be prepared in the classically French method, but I've had great sweetbreads in Dallas, bone marrow in Philadelphia, tongue in Chicago and other various bits from Boston to San Francisco. Ask a local for their recommendations - not your hotel concierge who is getting a kickback - ask someone at a bakery, in line at the local market, the guy who owns the tabac on the corner of the street near the Metro station...

Just a cheese plate in a café would be a good start, great variety in the land of hundreds of cheeses. Or, as someone suggested, pick an appealing item on a set menu and call the rest of it new experiences. You can't go wrong with duck.

As for the Seattle dress code, I always thought it was Gore-Tex parka over watch cap and fleece jacket, with shorts and sandals, no socks of course, in January. In summer, there's really no dress code since the season doesn't last long enough to change clothes. ; )

August is vacation month in Paris, so things are a little more relaxed. Your son could probably do jeans with a polo shirt or lighter weight pants and a button-down; it could be pretty warm. In general, for adults, Parisians dress more formally than Seattlites.

If you happen to be in the 7th arr. I highly suggest La Campanelle which is on Rue Bosquette. They have several traditional french dishes such as es cargo, cassolette, beef bourgeone and other specialities. The atmosphere is very relaxed and there is no dress code. We felt comfortable in jeans. Prices are also very resonable most dinners were between 14 and 20 euros.

A new law goes into effect tomorrow, July 15, 2014 in France. Restaurants need to show a special label indicating the food is actually cooked in the restaurant, not in a factory. As stated on the France 2 TV news this evening, 80% of restaurants use processed food. I knew they did, but I'm surprised that 80% is the official statistic. But think about it, not many restaurants in the States make the food in the restaurant; chains reheat or mix what was cooked and chopped in a central facility. So when you see a restaurant that serves beef burgundy, cassoulet, snails, most dishes with a sauce, you can be sure the products are either vacuum packed or frozen and reheated, not made in the restaurant. The same is true of most of the fish soup in Cassis and Marseille and the cassoulet in Carcassonne. The big difference is that this prepared food in France is usually well made and delicious. I buy factory-made fish soup sold in a jar whenever I'm in the south of France. So your son can get a taste of French food anywhere. If you want him to have food that you know is individually and carefully made by the chef-owner, follow Janet's leads.