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Raclette! How money *can* buy happiness (hint: it involves a lot of melted cheese), the Pompidou's becoming a giant nightclub, the city-wide photography festival not to miss and places to eat.
Halloween’s over in Paris - cue the pre-Xmas frenzy! We’re about to be bombarded with news of festive events, overpriced Christmas menus, ideas for gifts and of course, cheese meals… Now, as manic and commercial, and slightly health-averse, as that sounds, personally I’m here for it. I begin counting down the days until we can go pick out our tree from the street vendor outside the covered market in our area and I start obsessing over whether it’s cold enough to invite people over for raclette - in other words, pure, unadulterated joy in the form of melted cheese layered on top of potatoes, confirming what should be a universal truth: money can absolutely buy happiness. Get your own dose of pure joy at home or one of Paris’ finest raclette haunts that I’ve gleaned from experts in the matter. Bon ap’! x
4 things on my radar this November
As we’re about to hit the pre-Christmas frenzy, here are some events not to miss if, like me, you’re a bit of a Christmas junkie. And if you’re not, I’ve added others for good measure.
Get into Paris Photo Days, when many of the city’s museums, cultural institutions, galleries and foundations come together to showcase the world’s best photographic talent. Until November 30th, curated tours and events take you from one bank of the Seine to the other, in an immersive journey to some inspiring spaces like photography gallery heavyweights Polka and Magnum to more offbeat spaces at the Army Museum.
Dive behind the world’s biggest news stories with the photographers who document them for the world’s top newspapers at creative agency and news media organisation Dysturb’s Night of Photojournalism event on 9th November, highlighting the work of over 100 photographers, journalists, editors and creative collectives.
Go see the switching on of the Christmas lights. This year, the Champs-Elysées lights will go on on 24th November - don’t miss the city’s biggest Christmas tree culminating at 13.5m (until 5th January). The department store decorations will also be going up, an event in itself. A personal favourite is the Galeries Lafayette (Haussmann boulevard), because of the gigantic tree they put up in the centre under the stained glass ceiling, which sparkles every 30 mins (14th November).
Dance the night away at the Centre Pompidou, as it becomes a giant club by La Machine du Moulin on 28th November from 7pm-11pm one last time before it closes its doors next September until 2030 for renovations. And it’s free - tickets go on sale on Tuesday 12th November at midday.
On the menu
The places I’ve loved eating at this last month, from real farm-to-table goodness to Ducasse’s latest endeavour inside a crystal museum.
Tuck into farm-fresh dishes at La Table des Resistants. For years now, Les Résistants founder Florent Piard’s been championing what many say is impossible: making actual farm-to-table dining possible. “It’s not easy, because it means having to think on your feet and adapt to the day’s deliveries,” he tells me when I pop in. Florent spends most of his time on farms, meeting producers and today, over 150 work hand-in-hand with his restaurants. The focus has always been on local, seasonal produce - even the waiting staff is able to tell you exactly where the fish on your plate comes from, right down to the name of the fisherman’s boat that it arrived on. Over the summer, Florent turned his second restaurant (L’Avant Poste) into La Table, offering a more elevated experience - you can choose from the fixed-price lunch menu at 28 euros for three courses or the chef’s surprise four-course meal (45 euros) - for which he tapped chef Maurizio Madaio (formerly at David Toutain). It was hands down one of the best meals I’ve had. Fresh, tasteful, healthy, perfectly balanced. There was creamy, gold farm-made butter and crusty brown loaf, line-caught sea bream from the Finistère with slow-dried tomatoes and roasted hazelnuts, the finest lamb with chanterelle mushrooms and squash, rounded off with tart base laid with juicy figs and ice cream. Great in every way.
Sink into brunch bliss at Maison Breguet. Tucked away on a quiet backstreet in Bastille, Maison Breguet is a tranquil hotel that springs to life on weekends with its laid-back Sunday brunch. Beneath an iron-and-glass ceiling that lets in lots of natural light, guests lounge about in cozy banquettes and armchairs arranged around several tables and tuck into a generous buffet spread of smoked salmon, hams and cheeses, eggs, freshly baked cakes, and seasonal fruit. There are also hot starters and main courses from the menu. You can opt to sit in the charming conservatory at the back and, in warmer months, there’s a small terrace with outdoor seating. Downstairs, a compact spa with a little pool for some pre-brunch pampering. Perfect for hiding from the cold, autumnal drizzle.
Sit down to classic steak-frites at Les Marches. Dating back to 1906, the laid-back bistro is one the last ‘routiers’ (roadside canteens for truck drivers) in Paris. Near contemporary art hubs Palais de Tokyo and the Museum of Modern Art, it’s also close to the Eiffel Tower. It specialises in various cuts of beef served with fries on tables with Vichy tablecloths (there is also fish). The atmosphere is always lively and it’s always full, so book before you go. Don’t miss the chocolate mousse with packets of dainty Gavottes Breton pancakes on the side.
Slurp on real soba noodles at Abri Soba. There’s always a queue here - and with good reason. First, you can’t book, so you just have to brave the wait. Second, stepping inside this teeny all-wood soba bar with a handful of tables bathed in low lighting, truly feels like it’s a little corner of Tokyo. On the menu, you’ve got hot and cold soba noodles (made with buckwheat), bentos and tempura, as well as other bites like the silkiest aubergine you’ll have tasted and crunchy fried karaage chicken. The dainty bowls and plates add to the refined yet laid-back experience at this local favourite, opened by chef Katsuaki Okiyama, behind the now-closed Michelin-starred Abri and the more recent Minore cocktail bar.
Explore a sparkly new chapter at Maison Baccarat with Ducasse. The Baccarat Museum of crystal is housed inside the dazzling 1800s Hôtel de Noailles (Paris 16), where patron of the arts Marie-Laure de Noailles hosted parties attended by the likes of Man Ray and Alberto Giacometti. This autumn, the second-floor restaurant reopened under Alain Ducasse with chefs Christophe Saintagne and Robin Schroeder at the helm. The sumptuous space, with frescoes, gilded mirrors and big marble fireplaces, is like a mini-Versailles. Dishes include a four or nine-course menu of duos like candied chestnuts and a garden bowl of seeds, crunchy vegetables and pastes to try together in one swoop, fleshy raw scallops with kumquat accompanied by lobster in its bisque. Each dish is more decadent than the next, and can come paired with wines in the most stunning glasses, reminding us of Baccarat’s unique craft and heritage.
Raclette or Fondue?
My favourite time of year is when it gets cold enough to fire up the raclette machine. All that melted-cheese goodness laid on potatoes and eaten with ham, pickles and veggies, is pure joy.
When I asked the Instagram community whether they were more team raclette or cheese fondue, 79% tapped raclette. And they sent me all matters of recommendations for places and cheese experts to talk to. One place stood out and two experts’ names came up again and again. So I hit them up for their recs. They are so passionate about the topic, that it didn’t matter that it was a bank holiday. They’d sent me their tips in record timing 💛
One of the experts was French cheese specialist Jennifer Greco, AKA @chezlouloufrance, who also leads cheese and wine workshops in Paris. Her Instagram account is full of pictures of the most gorgeous cheeses that makes me hungry each time it comes up on my feed. She’s a bit fondue, a bit raclette. “I am more of a raclette person if I’m going out to eat. I prefer fondue at home. I love going to Monbleu in the autumn and winter for raclette. I usually go to their restaurant in the 9th.”
The other name that came up was Emily Monaco’s, the France-based food writer often referred to as that cheese girl. She’s 100% team raclette (phew), because she says she prefers potatoes to stale bread and is always here for a pickle. She also recommends Monbleu for the variety of cheeses infused with pepper, mustard, garlic or truffle. “Vegetarians don't get the short end of the stick either. While in most places, it's charcuterie or bust, at Monbleu, they get a big bowl of seasonal veggies, and even though I'm an omnivore, it's my go-to order, as it counterbalances some of the richness of the star – the cheese,” she says. It was the first I’d heard of Monbleu, and it came up so many times when people sent their raclette recs that my devotion became very questionable.
“The only downside of Monbleu's raclette is that you lack some of the spectacle that comes from anchoring a half-wheel of the eponymous cheese to the heating apparatus, scraping your portion onto your plate. For that, I'd recommend either Chalet Savoyard or Grenouilles in Montmartre, where the cheese is scraped, not onto potatoes, but onto a baguette, so you can enjoy raclette on the go.”
Another die-hard cheese fan is cook, writer and food tour guide @thereal_emilyinparis who also has a Substack all about making French food (and life) work for you. She’s also partial to raclette. “Ah, I’m going to be one of those really unhelpful people who says ‘at home.’ We get the good cheese from the fromager pre-cut and it’s glorious. And also I’m a big fan of the tourist raclette at the Christmas markets. You know, the big semi circle one with the heater on it and they just scrape it all off."
Later that same day, Emily sent me another message:
Now, that’s the kind of devotion that warrants top marks in the respect ranks. 🤘
Thank you for reading to the end of this month’s What’s Up, Paris? See you again for the mid-month weekend instalment of Breakfast Scrolls 🥐