Chef Hélène Darroze’s Perfect Day of Dining in Paris

Chef Hélène Darroze needs no introduction for French foodies: A juror on French Top Chef for nearly a decade, Darroze boasts six Michelin stars across three of her five restaurants in Paris and London, and was admitted into the French Legion of Honor in 2012. She even served as the inspiration for Colette in Disney’s Ratatouille – albeit one look at the smiling, flaxen-haired chef makes it clear she was emulated far more for her culinary talent than for any short-temperedness.  

While Darroze’s CV is certainly impressive, these days, the chef spends most of her time dining, not at luxe restaurants, but rather in her local 6th arrondissement, accompanied by her two daughters, who, she says, are major Caesar salad fans. Their favorite is the one from Georgette, which overlooks a pretty square on the rue d’Assas. “We go mostly in summer,” says Darroze. “They don’t have it in the winter. But we go in the winter, too!” 

Darroze’s ideal day of dining in Paris starts, of course, with breakfast – specifically the viennoiseries from Bread & Roses, which she sends her girls out to fetch. 

“They’re all good,” she says of the breakfast pastries. “But I’ve got a little bit of a weakness for the pain aux raisins.” 

She also loves the baguette at this boulangerie, which she pairs with jams from Christine Ferber and a cup of her favorite genmaicha tea, which she gets from Japanese tea house Jugetsudo – the cornerstone, she says, of family breakfasts at home. 

If she’s looking for something a bit lighter, she heads, instead, to Judy, a gluten-free, self-described “qualitarian” café that Darroze characterizes as being “a bit more of its time, a bit more vegetal.” The juices, she says, are excellent. “I go mainly for those. And mainly when I’m doing a bit of a detox.”. 

Come lunchtime, she and her daughters love to head out for a Saturday lunch at one of their favorite neighborhood staples. “We’ve got a bunch of spots,” she says, evoking among them Yen for soba noodles, Ha Noi 1988 for Vietnamese, or Takuto, a no-reservations sushi spot steps from Saint-Germain-des-Près. 

While Darroze’s choice of cantine these days typically leans Asian-inspired, this was not always the case. When she first began splitting her time between Paris and London 15 years ago, she was pleasantly overwhelmed by choice in top-quality international offerings in the British capital – and disappointed, by comparison, by what she found in Paris. 

“I feel like by comparison, we were really lagging behind,” she muses. “I feel like now we’re starting to catch up, and I really like that.” 

Of course, she and her daughters don’t always dine out. When she’s cooking at home, Darroze of course sources only the best ingredients, starting off at the Raspail market. She’s quick to note that unlike most Parisians, she doesn’t head there on Sundays for the organic stands. Instead, you’ll find her there on Tuesdays and Fridays, where right around rue de Rennes, Patricia Dondaine sells “marvelous vegetables,” she says. “We pretty much get all of our vegetables from her.” Just across the way, she’s recently discovered a great poultry producer, and when it comes to cheese, she loves heading to Chez Alexandre – which grants her the chance to give into her sweet tooth and grab a gorgeous sorbet-stuffed fruit from Fruttini. “We eat a lot of those,” she laughs. 

Of course, these aren’t the only sweet treats she loves. When she’s not digging into the cherry, cardamom, and pistachio tart from Pierre Hermé, she’s picking up citrus cakes or fruit tarts from Des Gâteaux et du Pain. “In winter, Claire [Damon] makes an apple tart that’s just killer,” she says. “A little bit of a rustic pastry, but there you go.” 

Come dinnertime, Darroze loves to support former Top Chef contestants like Mallory Gabsi or Pierre Chomet, who owns Ambos with his wife Cristina. “I brought some of my collaborators there the other day,” she says. “It’s really very nice.” 

She’s also got a major soft spot for Café des Ministères, a 7th arrondissement restaurant shining a light on some long-forgotten French classics like monumental stuffed cabbage or puff pastry vol au vent stuffed with sweetbreads and creamy gravy. It’s her favorite place to go for French classics, which she’s got a major soft spot for, whether it’s egg mimosa, French onion soup, or leek vinaigrette. “I like everything,” she says. “As long as the ingredients are good and it’s well prepared and flavorful, I like any bistro dish. Except celery remoulade.” 

Indeed, despite the international leanings of her lunchtime faves and her own flair for the avant-garde, as with the tandoori-spiced lobster that’s become the menu signature at her Michelin-starred Marsan, Darroze believes that Paris’ true strength lies in its adherence to tradition. 

“I think its bistros and brasseries are different from any you’d find anywhere else,” she says. “There’s a big trend of French bistros and brasseries abroad. But I don’t think they’ll ever get to the level of these ones.”