Le Bistrot du Peintre

A 1902 brasserie whose Art Nouveau interior — stucco ceiling paintings, Mucha-style frescoes, mosaic floor, a curved zinc bar with copper inlay — is listed as a Historic Monument. Hervé Bonal took it over in 2003 after starting there as a server and runs it the way a Parisian neighbourhood expects: unfussy bistro classics, a daily plat, a menu that turns over a few times a year, a terrace on Ledru-Rollin that fills the moment the sun moves. It's not the room you go to for the food first — it's the room you go to because the room is the food. The food is good enough.