Le Récamier

Gérard Idoux opened Le Récamier in 1986 on a pedestrianised dead-end behind the Bon Marché, and has served essentially the same menu since: a list of savoury soufflés (cheese, foie gras, wild mushroom), then a list of sweet soufflés (Grand Marnier, raspberry, chocolate), and not much else. The room is Old World — banquettes, brass, white linen — and the terrace under the plane trees of rue Récamier is the most peaceful lunch terrace in the arrondissement. Idoux ran the Plaza Athénée and the Tour Eiffel restaurant before this; the kitchen turns out forty soufflés a service without missing one. Reserve.