Clandestine gig
Plénitude, toughest restaurant reservations, 15th arr properties, Épices Rœllinger, La Fête de l'Humanité, Château l'Hospitalet, Domaine du Roncemay, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Immersion therapy
It’s been almost impossible to get a table at Plénitude — where there are just a handful of seats and a month-long waitlist — since its opening in 2021. But inside, it’s not flashy or intimidating. It’s deeply moving. Chef Arnaud Donckele refers to his brigade as “les enfants,” and that gentleness permeates the room, from the elegant movement of the staff to the poetic layering of every dish served on ironstone ceramics.
Located inside the luxury hotel Cheval Blanc, just above the Seine, the 26-seat restaurant is designed for immersion. There’s no spectacle, just soft carpet, sculptural chairs, and views of the river. Young maître d’ Alexandre Larvoir sets the tone, elegantly formal but playful and never stiff. Yes, it’s a luxury outing (tasting menus hover around €450, with paired wines ranging from everyday treasures to €1,700 bottles), but it doesn’t feel like it.
For all its grandeur, Plénitude’s menu is centered on humble sauces. Indeed, Donckele returns to his first love: the art of the saucier. On a recent visit, I experienced a raw langoustine, almost translucent, lifted by a single spoonful of vivid green and citrusy coulis. A lobster arrived with twin sauces: one sharp and yellow, the other rich and orange, arranged like a painter’s yin-yang. There was roast pigeon with foie gras tart, lamb with delicate jus, red mullet in a pastis-and-cognac bravade, and somewhere in the middle, a quiet dish of carrots that made us stop talking altogether.
Then there’s the cheese room. Not a cart wheeled out with ceremony, but a full-on, walk-in shrine. A dedicated affineur guides you through ash-covered goat’s milk, alpine cow’s milk aged in hay, glistening blues, and washed rinds still holding their scent from the cellar. It doesn’t get more French than that. –Victoire Loup
→ Plénitude (1st arr) • 8 Quai du Louvre • Tue-Sat 19h30-1h • To reserve, email plenitude.paris@chevalblanc.com or call +33 (0)1 79 35 50 11.
See also Toughest Reservations Nines, below.
PARIS WORK & PLAY LINKS: Chic objects from artist Cindy Sherman’s Paris pied-à-terre going up for auction 02/10 • Wafu Bar restaurant near Rue de Rivoli burns during Block Everything protests • 400-year-old Rubens painting found in 6th arr mansion, will go to auction • Appreciating the new urban forest at Hôtel de Ville.
REAL ESTATE • On the Market
Three properties currently on offer in the 15th arr:
→ Saint-Charles (metro Charles Michels) • 4BR/3BA, 234 m2 • Ask: 2.25M € • loft-style four-level house with multiple terraces • Annual maintenance/condo fees: 7200 € • Agent: Philippine Fuchs, Engel & Völkers.
→ Vaugirard (metro Félix Faure, above) • 5BR/2BA, 465 m2 • Ask: 3.5M € • three-level modernist mansion built 2008 with swimming pool, sauna, wine cellar • Annual maintenance/condo fees: N/A € • Agent: Béatrice de Seligny, Propriétés Parisiennes, Sotheby’s.
→ Eiffel Tower (metro Bir-Hakeim) • 3BR/1BA, 192 m2 • Ask: 5.7M € • top-floors duplex, plus rooftop terrace with jacuzzi and Eiffel Tower views • Annual maintenance/condo fees: 6960 € • Agent: Emmanuel Virton, Barnes.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Ice spice
It smells like an old ship’s log in here, but in the best possible way. At the Paris outpost of Cancale-born Épices Rœllinger, spices are more than ingredients. Founded by Olivier Rœllinger, one of France’s most revered chefs turned spice explorer, the brand is now helmed by his daughter Mathilde.
Located at 51 bis rue Sainte-Anne in the 2nd, the shop resembles an apothecary, with floor-to-ceiling shelves housing an array of meticulously sourced spices, blends, and condiments. Each product tells a story of distant lands and culinary traditions, curated with the same precision and care that earned Rœllinger his awards and accolades.
They stock everything from shichimi and rose-scented Poudre des Bulgares to specialty salts like Fleur de Lune. There’s the iconic Retour des Indes, a warm, spiced blend made for fish and shellfish, as well as the fiery Poudre des Alizés, with Sichuan pepper and ginger. And a personal favorite: the Infusion Grog des Îles, made with cinnamon, ginger, clove, and vanilla.
One of the boutique's highlights is the Cave à Vanilles, a dedicated vanilla cellar where grand cru vanillas from Madagascar, Tahiti, and Mexico are aged to perfection. While browsing through this pirate’s cave, you’ll likely run into famous chefs and curious home cooks, because anyone serious about flavor shops here. –Victoire Loup
→ Épices Rœllinger (2nd arr) • 51 bis rue Sainte-Anne • Tue-Sat 10h-19h.
WORK • Friday Routine
Ringing true
VIKTORIA WINDLORD • singer/songwriter • Viktoria WindLord
Neighborhood you live in: Paris/Burgundy
It’s Friday morning. How are you rolling into the weekend?
In the heart of Paris, tucked between historic boulevards and buzzing cafés, there’s a studio where the magic happens. It’s not just a studio — it’s my laboratory, a playground, a temple of sound. In this little confined nest, I create and work as a singer, writer, traveler, collecting stories and sounds from the past and the future.
My music studio is more than just a room filled with instruments, cables, good wines, and half-finished lyrics scribbled on napkins. It’s a portal to everywhere I’ve been, everyone I’ve met, every wild night that turned into an even wilder song. The walls, if they could talk, would hum with melodies born from midnight inspiration, laughter from jam sessions and clandestine gigs during confinement that turned into parties, and the echoes of incredible people who’ve walked through the door.
Here, creativity doesn’t clock in at 9 and punch out at 5. It arrives unexpectedly — my guitarist can drop by after work playing a riff inspired by a lyric shaped by a late-night conversation or a dream I had. It’s a mix of the elegance of Parisian life and the raw, electric underground pulse of pop rock music. Sometimes it’s a quiet night of writing, other times it’s a full-blown gig with friends.
What’s on the agenda for today?
The release of my fourth single after the release of three new tracks, “Rouge Automne,” “Sabotage,” and “Colour of Lies,” which can be streamed on all available platforms (YouTube and Spotify amongst others).
I’m also working on a new project in Burgundy for music, art, and gastronomy, a restored space that will be more than just a retreat. It will be a destination where music, food, and ideas converge, housing a professional music studio and a cultural gathering place (for cooking sessions, wine tastings, seminars, co-working, and exclusive events), all in an intimate and friendly setting.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
While I won’t reveal all the names of the typical, traditional restaurants I frequent (some secrets must be kept!), tonight I am going to Le P’tit Bougnat on boulevard de Courcelles in the 17th, a place filled with warmth, laughter, and the kind of energy that only true bon vivants bring.
In Burgundy, Le Rive Gauche is a spot that never disappoints with its excellent atmosphere and cuisine, or the Paris-Nice restaurant, well known for its convivial atmosphere and good quality price menu with outstanding wines and Japanese whiskey.
How about a little leisure or culture?
My day often begins with a walk in Parc Monceau, one of the most enchanting green spaces in Paris. Unlike the grand formal gardens of the city, Parc Monceau has an almost poetic quality — winding paths, classical statues, a charming bridge that feels like it belongs in a painting. It’s a place where I can clear my mind, observe life unfolding around me, and always make a new acquaintance.
What store or service do you always recommend?
In the 8th arr, Mariage Frères (on Faubourg Saint-Honoré), Baronne (at Salomon de Rothschild Hotel) and Butterfly Patisserie (at Hôtel Crillon). For wine domains, Domaine de la Folie and Jean-Marc Brocard. And for a place to relax and stay overnight in Burgundy, Domaine du Roncemay.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Opera Season
La Fête de l'Humanité • Cassius, Eddy de Pretto, Patti Smith et al • Le Plessis-Pâté (Brétigny-sur-Orge) • Fri-Sun • 3-day pass, 70 € per
Paris Saint-Germain v Lens • Parc des Princes (16th arr) • Sun @ 19h15 • cat 1, 215 € per
La Bohème • Opéra Bastille (12th arr) • Sun @ 19h30 • optima, 175 € per
GETAWAYS • Languedoc-Roussillon
Pays du vin
The sound of summer hits as soon as you arrive in Languedoc: les cigales. Cicadas. My trip there coincided with winemaker Gerard Bertrand’s annual jazz festival, which he hosts on this biodynamic vineyard and resort, Château l'Hospitalet — the flagship of his 17 estates in the region — every July. Here, 1,500 or so grape aficionados mingle amongst the vines for four excessive nights of music, sips, and swirls (liquid and otherwise).
You can visit the property year-round, minus a brief break come winter, and the train from Paris’s Gare de Lyon takes around four hours to nearby Narbonne. Once you’re on-site, amidst the parasol pine trees and fuchsia bougainvillea bushes, follow the rocky paths along the limestone soil that veer off in various directions towards two pools, a tennis court, putting greens, a driving range, a spa, two restaurants, and a shuttle that deposits you at the private beach club 10 minutes down the road.
The bulk of the rooms are in the main house, spread over two floors and three buildings, but you’ll want to stay at the swankier Villa Solleila, where the 11 minimalist suites in variations of beige have yoga mats and hidden televisions. Down a set of stone steps — where actual live escargot congregate — room number 10 feels even more private than the others, thanks to a large terrace flanked by fauna that seems to sway in tune with the region’s renowned Mistral wind (and actual wind instruments).
While breakfast is served each morning in the same courtyard where all the dancing and the instrumental action happen at night, lunch at L’Hospitalet Beach is a delight if visiting between May and mid-September. Pre-book a sea-facing daybed, take a few dips in the Balearic, and saunter over, salty and wet, to slurp oysters from a wooden tray as long as a ski. –Sara Lieberman
→ Château L'Hospitalet (Narbonne) • Domaine de L’Hospitalet, D168, 11100 • from 571 € per night, fall wknd • Book.
Photo: Soufiane-Zaidi
GETAWAYS LINKS: A postcard from the Pyrenees • In London, Chancery Rosewood opens its doors following massive overhaul • Copenhagen turns sustainability into tourist perk.
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RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Restaurants, toughest reservations
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of the best in Paris and surrounds. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or email found@foundparis.com.
Table (12th arr), Bruno Verjus’ minimalist dining room seats 24 diners for dishes like chocolate-and-caviar tartlet