Open targets: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Price range: $$
Every Parisian has a local, beloved café-bistro that they reflexively visit for a coffee, a glass of wine, a chat at the bar, or lunch or dinner from a chalkboard menu. In fact, it’s these everyday spots that give the French capital more gastronomic delights than guidebook highlights. Because this place shows how people eat in the City of Light when they are in a hurry and don’t want to spend a lot of money. L’Escale, overlooking the Seine River at the corner of rue des Deux Ponts on Ile Saint Louis, is a perfect example of this genre, and with a recent change of owners the cuisine has improved so much that it’s crowded all day. Everyone loves the retro 50s and 60s decor, including the corner bar, tile floors and modern art wall clocks above magazine racks filled with periodicals. New owner Dimitri Theuriau, a Parisian set designer and film art director, wisely left it as is but hired two new chefs. Arkansas native Matthew Robertson previously cooked at Auberge de Chassinolles and Le Garde Champêtre and is now the lunch shift chef, serving up succulent Gallic home-cooked meals such as beautifully seasoned lentil salad and pan-seared hake with beurre blanc sauce and baby carrots, turnips and red cabbage. For dinner, Chef Mélanie Guigon serves delicious family-style cuisine. A very popular main course on Saturdays and Sundays is grilled free range chicken and hot, crispy frites. If you like this menu, come early. Open daily from 8am to 2am
Best suited for: You can eat great food and meet interesting new people on the go.
