Come here when you're looking for a fun night out accompanied by excellent, authentic Italian trattoria food. Even though the French never eat dinner before 8, a crowd is already gathering by 7 p.m. - most likely because of the delicious smells coming from the wood-burning pizza ovens. do back home. The staff is all Italian and the service here is impeccable. Efficiency means they can turn the tables over to accommodate the long line of waiting guests, sure, but having your cocktail served just moments after you've ordered it is wholly refreshing. They can do that because the server taking your order punches in your request in her WiFi-enabled smart device which is instantly plugged into their system and immediately your cocktail arrives. Same goes with your meal order. One server takes the orders while another brings the food. There isn't anything like it in this city.

On a lovely tree-shaded corner just across the street from the side entrance to Les Archives, the national archives, sits this lovely local's caf�nd restaurant. The fancy isn't in the food but in the setting and there's really nowhere else like it in Paris. You can sit out on the large covered patio, the "terrasse" which occupies nearly the whole street corner and is graced even further by a last-century -working - stone water fountain. In addition to serving a light Parisian breakfast of caf�roissant/orange juice, they do brisk lunch and dinner services mainly catering to the many loyal patrons who work in the trendy shops and Marais businesses surrounding this location. An evening glass of wine during happy hour out on the sidewalk patio is unrivaled in terms of soaking up some true Parisian atmosphere.

In a city where just about every ethnic cuisine can be found, there is also now a trendy, upscale restaurant honoring Peruvian and Andean cuisine. Not far from Bastille and République, the midnight blue velvet booth seating with its backdrop of blue and bronze-hued metallic chain curtain décor is modern luxury with that accent of edgy. The chef here was winner in 2012 of one of those top chef competition tv shows that are as religiously followed here in France as they are in the US. New on the menu is the Tiradito de Saumon, a plate of carpaccio-like thinly sliced Norwegian salmon served with tiny purple and yellow blossoms as garnish. Not to miss on the appetizer menu is the Gyoza y Cordo, Japanese style gyoza filled with suckling pig served with aji paca sauce a sort of ponzu sauce.

A young duo, Marky and Léo, got together a year or so ago and opened up this Asian fusion restaurant. The district is a hopping one, just off rue Richer, which is laden with popular eateries. A tiny restaurant with bar stools for seating and elevated tables, the kind you find in Japan, lend an authentic air to this restaurant. On the menu are Japanese-inspired gyozas and Chinese-inspired dim-sum or steamed dumplings; for the mains you have Pad Thai along with a seafood ceviche medley. A rarity in Paris, there is a good selection of sake cocktails on offer, too. Both owners have spent significant time in Asia and/or have Asian roots and their menu reflects their favorites from the respective countries, Japan, China, Vietnam and Thailand.

Brunch in the city has become a hugely popular affair. It is as much a Parisian weekend ritual now as having a glass of wine with your meal. Leave it to the ultra-hip and trendy Buddha-Bar Hotel Paris to create Sunday brunch that is cooler, hipper and tastier than ever. Dedicated to the four elements: Earth, Sea, Air, & Fire, the brunch hours are only from noon until 4 p.m. on Sundays (meaning reservations a must). Dishes include Cod in caramelized miso sauce for the "Sea" element, their legendary cheeseburger for the "Earth" element, asparagus Risotto for the "Air" element and young cockerel in a spicy sweet-n-sour sauce for the "Fire" element. There is also the sweet and savory buffet from which you can choose delicious entrées and accompaniments to your main meal. The cocktail list also offers some mixology gems, true to the Buddha Bar legend.

Established first in 1832 in the Les Halles quarter, this restaurant has stood at the very same location since 1879 where it is still today. It has witnessed the Belle Epoque, the Roaring 20s, two wars and all the decades since while dishing up its famous Normandy-origin cuisine to its loyal customers. Ornate painted mirrors, aged wood and molten glass add to the historical ambiance of this traditional restaurant. Dining rooms are both upstairs and downstairs with 5 smaller rooms you can privatize for small parties and receptions. The menu includes favorite dishes served in the Normandy countryside such as housemade andouillette and boudin (blood sausage) but there's also lighter fare on offer such as scallops for seafood lovers and tender chicken breast prepared with apple cider.

The brainchild of a motley group of young, ambitious Parisian entrepreneurs whose signature is thinking out-of-the-box, Les Pinces (translation: lobster pincers) is a runaway hit after opening less than a year ago in the quintessentially cute Marais. Lobster, one of the noble foods, is often served in France with much fuss and ceremony. Here, you are handed your plastic bib and your metal crustacean crusher at the same time as your piping hot plate of baked lobster-on-the-shell arrives. The vibe is Boston Lobster Bake à la Parisian. The menu is refreshingly simple. There are no starters and there are just three mains to choose from: Whole baked lobster on the shell; sirloin steak served on a generous-sized cutting board; and Lobster Roll, another recipe tweaked a bit from the beloved Boston staple.

When stepping into this inner courtyard in Le Marais, Paris' "SoHo" district, your attention is instantly gripped by two things: the resounding sound of dancers practicing their jazz/ballet/modern dance steps echoing from the second floor courtyard windows of the Marais Dance Center, and the vast outdoor terrace seating in the cobblestoned courtyard of this restaurant fixture. The Grand Coeur is however altogether a new restaurant in this beloved location and one that is pedigreed. None other than Executive Chef Mauro Colagreco is who handed the reins to his second, Chef Rafael Gomes, who worked with him for years at Menton's Le Mirazur on the Cote d'Azur. Dishes here vary from delicate and refined such as the carpaccio of octopus, to simply flavorful, the pesto crust raw tomato tarte, to rich and satisfying, the signature lamb shoulder main slow-cooked for 14 hours, then crispy flash fried with dates and roasted walnuts.

This is one of Chef Alain Dutournier's restaurants. To put that into perspective, Chef Dutournier was one of François Mitterrand's preferred chefs (his gastronomic restaurant is the Carré des Feuillants). This restaurant is his authentic southwestern France establishment where "the art of sharing" is the theme. Pinxo (pronounced Pincho) refers to the custom of eating from each other's plates. Think of this restaurant as a sort of gastronomic tapas restaurant. Large prawns are flash-cooked to preserve their succulent tenderness, served over rice simmered in a honey-soy sauce complement another one of the menu mainstays, the poultry from Gers which, because it's hand-fed yellow corn, has a rich, plump flavor. The wine list is extensive and though you will find small-producer gems from Macon and Chablis, the southwestern wines, both red and white, and even a Rivesaltes or two, pair wonderfully with this regional, finessed cuisine. Try Pinxo Saint-Germain too.

Many lay claim to creating a Chef's Table, but few achieve it. Here at Table, one of the city's best restaurants and the least pretentious, you get the distinct feeling you are eating in Chef Bruno Verjus' very own home kitchen. When this distinguished culinary author decided to open his own restaurant, he did so with the conviction of providing diners with the absolute best and purest ingredients prepared to perfection. The daily lunch and dinner menus change but for an early fall meal anticipate a tomato and peach cold soup, followed by a generous hunk of slow-cooked pig, the skin roasted and basted with provençal herbs rendering mouthfuls of crispy, flavorful pig and skin. This is a chef who not just takes pride in where he sources his ingredients – like giant sea bass from Ile d'Yeu – he's having a love affair with the raw ingredients he uses.