French in Paris

Charles Compagnon's open-plan neo-bistro, Asian-inflected cooking, no reservations, all-day kitchen.

Half-punk, half-precise, the natural-wine small-plates bistro that rewrote the 11e in 2011.

1906 Art Nouveau room on the Left Bank, Chartier's brother house, listed.

1924 corner bistro with an open kitchen, and Paris's most decorated bœuf bourguignon.

A Provençal bistro hiding behind Place des Vosges, and the city's largest pastis collection.

1889 Abbesses brasserie, shellfish counter, Cantal charcuterie, no Montmartre theatre.

1902 Art Nouveau brasserie on Ledru-Rollin, Mucha frescoes, listed interior, honest cooking.

Vegan French on rue Saint-Paul, twenty-plus years reinterpreting French classics without animal product.

A turn-of-the-century café preserved without irony, zinc bar, red banquettes, all-day terrace.

Canal Saint-Martin's natural-wine institution, 400 references, plates from the kitchen behind the bottles.

Christian Constant's cast-iron-pot canteen on rue Saint-Dominique.

A working 'routier' off Trocadéro, checkered tablecloths, 18-euro lunch.