Razor-sharp
Bistro Mee, best chocolate shops, 5th arr listings, JJ Hings, Merci, Domaine de Primard, MORE
REAL ESTATE • On the Market
Three apartments on offer for just under 3 million € in the 5th arr:
→ Notre Dame de Paris (metro Pont Marie) • 2BR/2.5BA, 100 m2 • Ask: 2.7M € • set on 2 floors, steps from the cathedral, with air conditioning • Agency: Haroue Paris.
→ Jardins de Luxembourg (metro Notre Dame des Champs, above) • 2BR/2.5BA, 160 m2 • Ask: 2.97M € • 2nd floor of 2 in building dating to 1830, renovated with great views to a park and large balcony • Annual property taxes: 3244 €; annual maintenance/condo fees: 5388 € • Agency: L’agence Iconic Paris.
→ Rue Saint-Jacques (metro Luxembourg) • 6BR/5BA, 210 m2 • Ask: 2.99M € • duplex apartment on 1st and 2nd floors of building with fireplace and large balcony • Annual maintenance/condo feels: 10,840 € • Agent: Joséphine Zaccaro, Daniel Feau Saint Germain. –Andra Zeppelin
RESTAURANTS • FOUND Table
The Mee decade
The Backstory: The Korean canteen you wish you had on your corner, Bistro Mee just celebrated 10 years, and it hasn’t aged a bit. It's unpretentious, but razor-sharp where it matters — flavor, detail, consistency. The menu’s tight, thoughtful, with a few small plates to share and traditional steaming hot mains, in a space befitting both a quick lunch break and a long catch-up dinner.
The Experience: An industrial edge softened by traditional engravings. Metal chopsticks, tin cups, and clean-lined tables give the place a loft-in-Seoul look, but there’s nothing cold about it. The space hums with quiet energy — not too loud, not too formal. Service is impeccable, attentive; words and smiles are perfectly timed.
Starters are all pleasing to look at and easily shared. Start with the kimchi mandu, always a safe bet and anything but boring here — softly spiced, warming, and playfully accompanied by the Alessi sauce bird jug pourer. The bulot, watercress, and cucumber salad offers contrast: briny, chewy, and just spicy enough. Seaweed salad is bright and clean, perfect as a palate-setter.
Then come the hot bowls — bibimbap in a piping hot stone bowl, either veggie-forward or with thinly sliced raw beef that slowly cooks as it mingles with the rice and other elements. Every bite builds on the last, adding layers of texture and warmth. Joumoulok is a pork shoulder massaged into its flavorful marinade — it’s saucy, slow-cooked, and soulful. End on a sweet note with madeleine infused with ssuk, the herbal, earthy Korean mugwort.
To drink: Korean beers, spirits and teas. No fuss, no performance — just what you want with this kind of food. They do have a few well-selected wine references, in case you’d want to pair the simple flamed mackerel with a savory Chablis.
Why it’s FOUND: At €19 for a starter and main at lunch, Mee is a hard deal to beat. But beyond value, it’s the consistency, care, and quiet confidence that bring people back. It’s food that respects the eater — comforting, balanced, and full of intention. –Candice Chemel
→ Bistro Mee (1st arr) • 5 Rue d’Argenteuil • Daily 12h-14h30 & 19h-22h • Book.
PARIS WORK & PLAY LINKS: Inside a Haussmannian mansion with epic garden • How Paris transformed its water system and now has some of best drinking water in the world • What’s on the program for this year’s Fête de la Musique • Vive le PSG! • Do you have Ozempic hair?
GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Shops, chocolate
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of the best in Paris and surrounds. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or email found@foundparis.com.
Jean-Paul Hevin (multiple locations), boxes of classic and creative flavors, chocolate desserts, some of Paris’s best macarons
Debauve & Gallais (2nd & 7th arr, above), historic shop founded by King Louis XVI’s pharmacist, still going strong selling Marie-Antoinette’s and Napoleon’s favorites
Jacques Genin (3rd & 7th arr), chocolate master hand-makes silkiest, smoothest chocolates and delicious caramels in Marais atelier
Les Trois Chocolats (4th arr), Franco-Japanese flavors like miso, vin chaud, yuzu with honey from Savoie
Edwart (1st, 4th & 17th arr), high-quality ingredients (Piedmont hazelnuts, grilled vanilla from Papua New Guinea) paired with Grand Cru chocolate, always handmade
Patrick Roger (multiple locations), minimalist interiors and minimalist chocolates, flavor combinations that enhance (not overpower) chocolate’s purity
Le Bristol Paris (8th arr), collection of gourmet ateliers includes palace hotel's very own chocolate workshop
Chocolat Alléno et Rivoire (6th & 7th arr), subtly flavored ganaches and signature praline sticks from chef Yannick Alléno and pastry chef/chocolatier Aurélien Rivoire
La Chocolaterie William Artigue (10th arr) highly seasonal flavors, and in winter, delicious hot chocolate to go
WORK • Friday Routine
Ice cream season
JULIA BELL • head chef & owner • JJ Hings
Neighborhood you work in: Canal Saint-Martin in 10th arr
Neighborhood you live in: 19th arr
It’s Friday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
Friday starts pretty early. Summer is crazy, churning ice cream all day long, but Friday is also doughnut day, so first thing, I'm shaping them for their second proof. We're a very small team, so I'm alone until midday, and I normally have a movie or a series going as I bake, fry, and get set up for the afternoon ice cream churning. The others come in and we sit down for lunch before opening.
What’s on the agenda for today?
I’ve been planning new flavors and working on ideas for the spring/summer season. Fruit availability is very dependent on the weather — sometimes we only get something for two/three weeks, so I like to be prepared.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
My sister is here right now, so we’re going to all the places!
For coffee, Café Margo, Caphette, Recto Verso, Koni, and Plural.
Pastry, Pâtisserie GINKO.
Lunch/dinner, Reyna, Oobatz, Best Tofu, Haikara Deep Fried, Le Cheval d’Or, Soces, Quedebon, Ghido Ramen, Le Rigmarole.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Something I love to do in the summer is a boat rental at the Bassin de la Villette. Get a group together, take some drinks and picnic or some snacks. It looks cheesy, but it's actually a really fun time.
Any weekend getaways?
For beautiful countryside and scenery, take the train to Alsace. It’s less than two hours by train to Strasbourg. Head outside the city to a traditional winstub and get a bottomless tarte flambee, and in summer, do the Alsace Wine Route!
For the beach, head to Soulac-Sur-Mer. From Paris it’s a quick train to Bordeaux, just a couple of hours, then a small train down the coast for the perfect beach weekend. Make sure to visit Montreal-Sur-Mer for great bread/wine/vibes.
What was your last great vacation?
The last big trip I took was to Thailand and Vietnam. We hired motorbikes and rode the Mae Hong Son Loop in northern Thailand. 10/10 recommend. The ride is beautiful, with great roads and endless places to stop and eat along the way, waterfalls for swimming, and plenty of lovely towns to spend the night in. Special mention to the northern sausages, they’re incredibly delicious, and everyone has their own recipe. Everything in Vietnam was amazing, we spent a while in Hanoi this time just walking around, eating, and having multiple coffees. Two of my favourite places were Atelier Coffee and Vero Coffee Roasters.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
A Zojiroshi induction rice cooker. It’s the best money I’ve ever spent. The Rolls-Royce of rice cookers. There’s nothing you can’t do with it.
What store or service do you always recommend?
I love Merci. There are so many amazing things in there, and the shop itself is beautiful. I also highly recommend the Hammam at La Grande Mosquée de Paris. It’s gorgeous inside, it does a really good (aggressive) gommage (scrub), and has delicious tea to finish.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Summer Festivals
L'Paille à Sons • Stade Jacques Couvret (Chartres) • Fri-Sat • 2-day pass, 23 € per
We Love Green 2025 • Tiakola, Charlie XCX, FKA Twigs, Air, et al • Bois de Vincennes (12 arr) • Fri-Sun • CAT2, 1-day passes from 29 € per
Afrodom Festival • Dadju et al • Paris Event Center (19th arr) • Sat-Sun • 2-day pass, 23 € per
GETAWAYS • Eure-et-Loire
Cinematic escape
When a friend asked if I wanted to join her on a quick getaway an hour train ride outside Paris, my mind jumped to Versailles. “No, but there’s a château here, too,” she responded.
The castle in question: Domaine de Primard, an 18th-century residence and former estate of celebrated French actress Catherine Deneuve, whose films (and fashion) I studied religiously in college. Of course, I should’ve known she’d bury the lede. Parisians are nothing if not discreet — especially when it comes to celebrities.
A light drizzle greeted us when we arrived, but the sun was pushing hard against the clouds. A ray or two of light illuminated the moat dividing the island-like maison and beautifully manicured rose gardens, some bushes stretching nearly a hundred feet high, melding into the foliage of trees.
I quickly traded my loafers for muck boots (this is a place used to city dwellers, after all) and started strolling around the sprawling property with Indiana Jones (my pomeranian). He guided me to pastures where a trio of Valais Blacknose micro sheep and shaggy Highland cattle were grazing. We lingered in the afternoon on a wooden dock, perched over the pond, watching ducks cut through the glassy water and geese waddling through the reeds in the distance.
In the evening, we sipped the house Fontenille rouge wine crafted in Provence’s Luberon region in the candlelit greenhouse, where the private chef-like experience took us on a feast of what grows in the estate’s garden: confit fennel with yuzu koji and trout eggs, parsley-seasoned mushrooms.
My Parisian friends started flooding my DMs once they realized where I was. It seemed Primard, at the gateway to Normandy, was rapidly becoming a weekend favorite for a quick recharge. One asked, “Did you try the Susanne Kaufmann facial? Life changing!” I couldn’t agree more about the spa treatment — and the entire 36-hour escape. –Lane Nieset
→ Domaine de Primard (Eure-et-Loir) • Route départementale 16 • from 454 €/wknd king.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Touring the new Hôtel Madame Drouot, a Parisian dream in the 9th • Rocco Forte Hotels eyes UK country house hotel to rival luxury competitors • At Tuscany’s Monteverde Hotel, checking out new restaurant designed by Foster & Partners • Collegio alla Querce Auberge is best new place to stay in Florence • Haggling for that European five-star hotel deal.
ASK FOUND
First, a quick primer on how this works: You send us the pressing questions of the day (on dining, services, living in Paris and surrounds). We all put our heads together (us, FOUND, + you, FOUND subscribers, who are also FOUND) in search of truth and beauty.
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What is your favorite Paris flower shop (or flower delivery service)?
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What’s your Restaurant of the Summer?
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