Following up on our Milan guide, kindly put together by PDF’s Domenico Formichetti, we have no less than six fashion industry people who’ve volunteered to let us in on their best Paris secrets. Find out the most worthwhile cafes, restaurants, late-night snacks, and nightlife if you’re in town for Paris Fashion Week. You can still bookmark these places for your next trip to the French capital.
Favorite cafe: I very much enjoy going to Paperboy or Café Pigalle if I am in that part of town.
Favorite restaurant & dish: So many to choose from, but the Korean Fried Chicken at Double Dragon is amazing. I go there every time I’m in town. Le Servan, Au Passage, and Clown Bar are also some favorites of mine, with great vibes and fantastic food.
Late-night snack: I would strongly recommend grabbing a glass of wine at Chez Janou—they are open until 2AM. Quick tip: get the Mussels Au Gratin. You’re welcome.
Favorite nightlife: For wine bars, I would strongly recommend Pratz in Pigalle. For nightclubs, I would recommend Jangal or Silencio.
Favorite shop: I love Gaijin in Marais—an amazing spot for Japanese vintage and pieces you won’t find every day. I also love The Broken Arm and The Next Door.
Other must-visits in Paris: Jardin du Luxembourg is a great place to take a walk in the summer especially. Palais de Tokyo for contemporary art. Walk around Marais to browse the amazing vintage stores, and also, even though it’s touristy, Montmartre is still crazy cozy. That’s my “first-time-in-Paris” tour guide.
Which fashion show or event are you most looking forward to? I am stoked to see all of the Runways, but Louis Vuitton, Yohji Yamamoto, and Junya Watanabe claim the top spots.
Favorite cafe: Not much of a coffee drinker (crazy, right?), but I love a good juice. My favorite spot for a cold pressed juice is Wild & The Moon. I love the Simply Green or the Albert Camu Camu.
Favorite restaurant & dish: I’m big on burgers. It gives me a sense of home. You can never go wrong with the Cheeseburger at Ferdi.
Late-night snack: I think the place I spend the most time in Paris late at night is Babylone Bis. It’s gotta be one of the only restaurants in Paris that is open for the after after after party.
Favorite nightlife: I’d say my favorite club in Paris is Matignon Club near Champs-Elysees. I always have a good time there. L’arc is also a good time because during Fashion Week, they always book the best host.
Favorite shop: The Broken Arm has a really good selection of brands. My favorite bookstore would probably be OFR.
Other must-visits in Paris: If it’s your first time in Paris, you cannot go without seeing the Louvre. I try to make a stop there every time I’m in town. They have a huge collection—you could literally spend hours there and still not see everything.
Which fashion show or event are you most looking forward to? Louis Vuitton always goes over the top with the presentation and location. I really miss the Virgil shows. The set designs by Playlab were always out of this world.
Favorite café: I don’t drink coffee, so I never know.
Favorite restaurant: I am just working so much when I am in Paris that I rarely get time to go places, but one that is open late at night—it has a big pig on the front—is Au Pied de Cochon.
Late-night snack: My favorite spot to order from is Big Black Cook. The food is fire, haha.
Favorite nightlife: Wherever we throw a KidSuper after party.
Other must-visits in Paris: The good soccer fields: Champagne Field, 9 Rue Charlemagne, 75004.
Favorite cafe & coffee order: Dreamin Man, hojicha latte.
Favorite restaurant & dish: Typically start the week with curry at Pontochoux, but also have a soft spot for the sage butter gnocchi at Parcelles.
Late-night snack: Folderol for late night wine & ice cream.
Favorite shop: Finding new scents at Dover Street Parfums Market.
Other must-visits in Paris: Love sitting in the parks, preferably in warmer weather. But whatever season, I’ll grab a jambon beurre or chocolat chaud and find a good bench to people-watch.
Favorite cafe & coffee order: Café Kaldi (8 Bd Chanzy, 93100 Montreuil) is an Ethiopian coffee place and has a coffee that comes from the city where my mom was born, Jimma. The taste of this coffee is home to me. I’ll have it black, no sugar, no milk. And Del Carmen Café (49, rue Saint Sebastien 75011) by my dear friend who’s curated a very warm and beautiful space. I’ll get her oat milk capuccino.
Favorite restaurant & dish: Taitu (1 bis rue bleue 75009) is an Ethiopian restaurant—it’s the best one in Paris in my opinion. I always take the discovery menu (Beyaynetu) to have my friends taste the greatness and variety of Ethiopian food.
Kolam (27, rue de Lancry 75010) is a Sri Lankan restaurant—it’s extremely tasty and healthy. Master shout out to them. Run and get your rice&Karis (the order I usually place).
Holy Belly (5, rue Lucien Sampaix 75010) is my favorite brunch spot. I always get the scrambled eggs, side Halloumi + hash brown with a black coffee and hibiscus ice tea.
Late-night snack: The go-to place is Babylone Bis (34, rue Tiquetonne 75002). It’s an Afro-carribean restaurant. I love the idea of having proper food at 4AM acting like it’s 8PM. So yummy.
Favorite nightlife: My go-to is La Chope des Artistes (48, rue du Faubourg Saint Martin 75010). I’ve spent beautiful moments in that place owned by friends of mine. It’s so vibrant and culturally rich, I want it to exist forever and for it to continue to exist the way it deserves to.
Favorite shop: En face (12 rue de Picardie 75003) is a wonderfully well-curated vintage clothing store with all the designers you’d love to find secondhand. A must-do on your Paris trip.
Other must-visits in Paris: Parc Buttes Chaumont in the 20th Arrondissement is wonderful. You feel so far from Paris, it feels calm and peaceful.
Which fashion show or event are you most looking forward to? Lemaire always. And Preto Novo—it’s not a specific place, but a pluridisciplinary entity that organises exquisite parties called Baile Preto. The next one is on Jan. 25 at PamelaClub.
Favorite cafe: I don’t drink coffee. Every supermarket in Paris has an automatic orange juice squeezer. That’s my go-to. I also love ginger shots—The Bam Shot from Wild and the Moon does the job.
Favorite restaurant & dish: Very hard to pick one, so let me rep home: Les Frères des Batignolles (their 18th spot). My all day everyday order is “kebab nature – pain normal – sauce algérienne.” The inner Frenchman in me recommends a boulangerie (bakery). Mamiche is a go-to. Grab their chou a la creme / slice of babka / or any of their sandwiches.
Late-night snack: I love to grab a ‘cure C’ (fresh pear, pineapple, and passionfruit juice) and a Nutella waffle at La Creme de Paris. They serve until 2 a.m. If you’re really starving during a night out, Babylon Bis is one of the rare classic late-night joints. Grab a mafé chicken (West African dish) until 5 or 6AM.
Favorite nightlife: I don’t drink really—being of North African (Arab) descent, we inherited the shisha bar tradition. Find me downstairs in the corner right at L’heritage Paris (8 rue du moulin joly 75011) drinking mint tea and smoking hawaii flavor hookah.
Favorite shop: There are so many great stores but I gotta give it to Ramdane’s new store called “WORDS SOUNDS COLORS & SHAPES.” Paris’ finest retail execution.
Other must-visits in Paris: My all-time favorite Sunday morning brunch + vintage apparel/interior design shopping is Les Puces de Clignancourt Paris vintage/antique flea market.
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