Open for: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Price range: $$
Every Parisian has their local go-to, a beloved café-bistro they reflexively visit for a coffee, a glass of wine, some chat at the bar, or maybe lunch or dinner from a chalkboard menu. It’s actually these workaday places that give the French capital its gastronomic chops more than the guidebook highlights, because these spots show how people eat in the city of Lights when they’re in a hurry and don’t want to spend a lot of money. Overlooking the Seine at the corner of the rue des Deux Ponts on the Ile Saint Louis, L’Escale is a perfect example of this genre, and following a recent change of owners, the cooking’s become so good that it’s packed all day long. Everyone loves the retro ’50s and ’60s decor, which includes a corner bar, tiled floor, and an art moderne wall clock over a magazine rack brimming with periodicals. New owner Dimitri Theuriau, a Paris set designer and cinema art director, wisely left it intact, but hired two new chefs. Arkansas native Matthew Robertson previously cooked at Auberge de Chassignolles and Le Garde Champêtre and now he’s the lunch-shift chef sending out succulent Gallic comfort food like a beautifully seasoned lentil salad and pan-seared hake with a beurre blanc sauce and baby carrots, turnips, and red cabbage. At dinner, chef Mélanie Guigon takes over and serves savory family-style dishes to share. Saturdays and Sundays, the hugely popular main course is roasted free-range chicken with a mountain of hot crispy frites — get here early if this sounds tempting. Open daily from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Best for: Good food on the fly and meeting interesting new people.
