Le Square

[countess]

We've been recommended to Le Square by our hotel for this weekend - almost everywhere seems to be closed!  Does anyone know it?  If so, is it any good? Also, we are looking for somewhere near to the Gare du Nord for Sunday before getting Eurostar back to the UK - Chez Michel is closed - any other suggestions?

[cabrales]

countess -- Does the hotel mean Christian Le Squer's three-Michelin-starred restaurant near the Champs Elysees called Ledoyen??  

I suspect so, since there is no high-end restaurant in Paris called Le Square of which I am aware, at least.  (In London, as you know, there is Philip Howard's two-starred restaurant called The Square, but that is obviously not the intended reference.) Had a very good lunch at Ledoyen there several days ago -- the spider crab appetizer ("Araignee de mer" in French, at around 60 euros) was good.  Also, there is an entree of the inner organs of Bresse chicken (including crests, sot-d'y-laisse, kidneys, etc.).  

Despite the French holidays, I am having no problems locating restaurants in which I am interested. If you are on line in the next hour or so and provide indications of type of cuisine, price range, etc., I'd be happy to advise. For example, I called Taillevent at the last minute for dinner last night, and secured a reservation before deciding to pick its one-starred spin-off Angle de Faubourg, which I had never visited. Today, secured a last-minute reservation for lunch at Jamin, operated by Robuchon pupil Benoit Guichard. Let me know if you are interested in three-stars. Certain other ones are open today.  

[countess]

It is called Le Square and is at 31  Rue St Dominique.  I'm not sure how top end it is - the hotel is one which is recommended to me by a UK chef (who is away at the moment so I can't ask him!) and they have recommended the restaurant.  They said it has good French food and is good value for money.  I did a google search and it came up on a Time Out guide recommendation but when I tried to go to it is was unavailable, so it did once have a mention!

We don't want to go totally wild on spend but do want to have a good meal and a bottle or two of good wine......

any info gratefully received!

Many thanks

[Bux]

Cabrales, there is a hotel called le Square in the 16ieme. In it, there is the restaurant Zebra Square. I am not familar with either, but Michelin notes the restaurant as "comfortable" (two forks) and the price of a meal at about 38-45 euros. No closing day is mentioned. On Sudays I've often resorted to a brasserie. The very contemporary les Grandes Marches neither looks much like a brasserie not does it have a brasserie menu, but we enjoyed it last summer. There's a mini report on the WorldTable page to wish I've linked. By sheer coincidence there'a a mention of Chez Michel on the same page. Les Grandes Marches is over by the Bastille Opera. Another more traditional brasserie we've liked is Vaudeville. Both of these are owned by the Flo group.

Chez Michel is a restaurant that draws people to the area who might not otherwise find themselves there, unless they were at the Gare du Nord. I recall that Chez Michel had a sister restaurant just a block or so away, but I don't remember the name and suspect it would also be closed.

[cabrales]

countess -- I am glad Bux and your Parisian sources are around to prevent me from leading you astray. Apologies if my reply on Le Squer caused confusion  :confused:

[countess]

Many thanks folks, looks like we'll go for Le Square - I'll let you know next week how we got on!  It's really annoying about Chez Michel as it had a great write up by Fiona Beckett in the Times and would have been ideal for a lazy lunch - c'est la vie!