Low and slow
Chez Carrie, best cassoulet, Îsle de la Cité properties for sale, Plaq, Casa Bini, Fromagerie Barthélemy, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
American in Paris
The Skinny: Best-known as the woman who taught Parisians to love vegetables, Michigan native Carrie Solomon carved out an impressive gastronomic career for herself since arriving here 23 years ago. She’s authored several cookbooks, had a column in Elle a Table and was hired by the French public schools to develop vegetarian recipes for their cafeterias. After a recent stint cheffing at Aube in the 11th arrondissement, she finally hung out her own shingle last month at Chez Carrie, a Californian/Mediterranean restaurant in the Sentier.
The Vibe: The intimate premises of a former café have gotten a pleasantly bohemian makeover with a jaunty butter-yellow awning, a white-painted beamed ceiling, and a custom-made wooden bar wide enough for a meal. From day one, this place has been a favorite for an international crowd of digital nomads, stylists, designers, and artists.
The Food & Drink: “My goal was to use American cooking, with its big bold flavors, prominent textures, hot sauces and pickles to invent dishes the French would actually want to eat,” says Solomon. “I’m not vegetarian, but there will never be red meat on my menus, because of the toll producing it takes on the environment. For me, meat is best used as a condiment.”
Signature dishes from her regularly evolving menu include Caesar salad made with fried anchovies and varying greens, like cabbage; cioppino with langoustines and fermented tomatoes; deviled eggs with spicy mayonnaise (“a totem of my Midwestern childhood,” Solomon says); hearty soups like ajo blanco (Spanish white-bean and garlic soup); fried polenta with tzatziki made with lacto-fermented vegetables; zucchini fritters with kimchi; and carrot-cake ice cream. Pancakes with homemade syrups like fig leaf star at brunch.
The Verdict: A welcome outpost of delicious, modern American eating with friendly serving hours, a mellow atmosphere, and great people-watching. –Alexander Lobrano
→ Chez Carrie (2nd arr) • 14 rue Léopold Bellan • Tue-Fri 11h-15h & 18h-22h, Sat 10h-23h, Sun 10h-16h • Book.
Photo: Joann Pai
PARIS WORK & PLAY LINKS: Inside Cherry, bringing Italo-American charm to Saint-Germain • Architect Alireza Razavi’s modernist masterpiece apartment in the 17th • What sold at Art Basel Paris 2025 • The best exhibitions to see in Paris in November • Is Art Basel Paris too big to fail? • In Noisy-le-Grand, a reawakening of two brutalist monoliths.
REAL ESTATE • On the Market
Three properties currently on offer on Îsle de la Cité.
→ Îsle de la Cité (metro Cité) • 2BR/2BA, 123 m2 apartment • Ask: 3.1M € • classical design with fireplace, moldings, and direct Seine views • Annual maintenance/condo fees: 4640 € • Agent: Elodie Baggi, Barnes.
→ Îsle de la Cité (metro Cité) • 3BR/2BA, 164 m2 apartment • Ask: 3.39M € • first-floor flat, parquet floors, Notre-Dame Cathedral views • Annual maintenance/condo fees: 4691 € • Agent: Christine Morel, Engel & Völkers.
→ Îsle de la Cité (metro Cité, above) • 2BR/1BA, 122 m2 apartment • Ask: 3.79M € • chicly designed top-floor unit, with view of Notre-Dame • Annual maintenance/condo fees: 7200 € • Agent: Charlotte Mantel, Sotheby’s.
WORK • Friday Routine
Step and repeat
ALICE BUREAU • founder • Conservatoire des Hémisphères
Neighborhood you work and live in: 5th arr
It’s Friday morning. How are you rolling into the weekend?
Every Friday, I give myself the luxury of taking the afternoon off and indulging in all the little selfish pleasures I love — exhibitions, strolling through Paris, doing all the things I won’t have time for over the weekend with my two kids.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Our weekends follow a well-loved routine. Saturday mornings start with a long, lazy family lie-in, followed by lunch out with the kids and an afternoon of parks, walks, or exhibitions — whatever will keep them entertained. Sundays are for long walks and the movies. My husband goes all out introducing our kids to cinema through silent films and black-and-white classics. When you’ve never seen anything else, it all feels magical.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
Friday nights are usually for dinner with friends. My go-to spots: Casa Bini, Le Duc, Le Voltaire, Takara, Localino, and Le Grand Bain. With the kids on the weekend, we love Coffee Parisien, Casa Bini, Livio, Kunitoraya, and Bread & Roses.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I love the Bourdelle Museum and strolling through the Rodin Museum’s garden. But as a design enthusiast, I spend more time at flea markets and design galleries than in museums. Another passion of mine? Bookstores. Librairie 7L is a treasure, made even more special by the gentleman who has been running it for 20 years.
Any weekend getaways?
I often escape to my mother’s place near Fontainebleau, or head to Étretat, Deauville, and Trouville to breathe in the sea air. But my ultimate favorite, even for just 48 hours, is Provence.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
A vintage Eames chair, an absolute gem.
What store or service do you always recommend?
Shopu: the most curated Japanese selection in Paris
Iné: hands down the best bento in the city
Fromagerie Barthélemy: a Proustian memory, as I grew up right across from it
Garvey’s massages: a Californian with hands of steel and fingers of gold: +33 7 69 85 68 94
GETAWAYS LINKS: Picasso favorite, Hôtel Nord-Pinus, has reopened in Arles • The gatekeeper of Eden-Roc • Double-decker trains coming to Eurostar.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Clouds
The Red Clay Strays • Elysee Montmarte (Montmartre) • Fri @ 19h30 • tarif normal, 39 € per
BUNT. • Le Trianon (18th arr) • Fri @ 20h • standing, 40 € per
Volbeat • Zenith Paris (Parc de la Villette) • Sun @ 19h • carre or, 91 € per
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Designer bars
If A.P.C. made chocolate, it would look like Plaq’s — minimalist, traceable, and wildly addictive. The bean-to-bar atelier on rue du Nil strips chocolate down to its essence: just cacao and unrefined cane sugar, the pure expression of carefully sourced beans from Tanzania, Peru, and Belize.
Founders Sandra Mielenhausen and Nicolas Rozier-Chabert come from the world of luxury goods and marketing, but the shop itself practices restraint: white walls, clean lines, and the scent of roasting cacao wafting from the back. Watch the process unfold (roasting, grinding, tempering) before tasting the sleek bars, pralines, and seasonal creations. Standouts include their Kamili 74% dark chocolate with French almonds and Sicilian hazelnuts, and the Idukki 58% milk chocolate with notes of caramel and spice.
“Plaq à tartiner” is like Nutella’s grown-up cousin: praliné-forward, just four ingredients, and made for spooning straight from the jar. They also make drinking chocolate from Maya Mountain beans. It’s citrusy and intense, served thick enough to forget about any grey day in Paris. –Victoire Loup
→ Shop: PLAQ (2nd arr) • 4 rue du Nil • Mon-Wed & Sat 11h-19h30, Thu-Fri 11h30-18h30, Sun 10h-18h30.
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RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Cassoulet
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best in Paris and surrounds. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or email found@foundparis.com.
D’Chez Eux (7th arr), long-running bourgeois bistro popular w/ politicians, serves sumptuous cassoulet