By Barbra Austin

Beef with pickled vegetables and summer truffle.

Le Chateaubriand
129, ave Parmentier, in the 11th Arrondissement.
01 43 57 45 95. Tues–Sat, 7:30–11:00 p.m.

This much-lauded restaurant is on every visiting foodie’s to-do list. It was recently named the 11th-best restaurant in the world by the UK's Restaurant Magazine, in fact, though these kinds of proclamations are best taken with a large grain of fleur du sel.

The jury is divided on Basque chef Iñaki Aizpitarte’s singular, modern food. Many people love it, and others are left displeased, but everyone who has eaten it has an opinion.

The first seating is by reservation, but for a later dinner show up around 9:00 or 9:30 and sip natural wine at the bar while you wait for the tables to start turning.

As is the trend these days, the names of the producers who furnish the restaurant with its vegetables, meats and wines are written on a large board on the wall. The old bar makes a cool centerpiece in the glowing room, but there’s not much else to speak of in the way of decor. Still, this space always appeals to me, thanks in part to the attractive crowd (and waiters), hip and happy faces reflected in the mirrors.

When you sit you’ll be asked if you are allergic to anything. This is because Le Chateaubriand serves a unique 45 euro menu. Everyone gets the same series of five or six dishes.

The plates brim with color and feature vegetables prepared in unusual ways. Many are pickled, some aren’t cooked at all and some are smoked. A charred eggplant puree has made an appearance in every meal I’ve had here, once with some very rare beef and most recently with a fillet of mackerel, strewn with leaves and corn shaved from the cob.

On this visit that rare beef was found under a thin sheet of radish, along with carrots, summer truffle and beets, the vegetables sharp and crisp with brine. When a dish works, like this one did, it’s fresh and fantastic. But it’s precisely this style of noncooking that leaves some diners feeling raw.

Lait ribot ice cream with herb salad.

Dessert was a tangy ice cream of lait ribot—sort of like buttermilk—crowned with a leafy garland of sweet and tender herbs, a refreshing end to the meal. I loved it, particularly after having suffered through a concoction of Pop Rocks on previous visits.

In a nutshell: My opinion of Le Chateaubriand? Eat here once or twice and form your own.

Price check: Unique five-course dinner menu for 45 euros. Natural wines run the gamut.

If you like the sound of Le Chateaubriand but want to try another Basque chef with an independent streak, visit Stéphane Jego at Chez l’Ami Jean:

Chez l’Ami Jean
27, rue Malar, in the 7th. 01 47 05 86 89.
Tues–Sat, noon to 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. to midnight.

Editor's note: For a gourmet walking tour, check out our DIY downloadable tours.

By Barbra Austin

Milk-fed veal, wild salmon, chorizo and anchovies.

Chez l’Ami Jean
27, rue Malar, in the 7th Arrondissement.
Tues–Sat, noon to 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. to midnight.
01 47 05 86 89.

At first Chez l’Ami Jean feels like an old-fashioned bistro. Open since 1931, with tables packed tightly in, the space features hams and peppers hanging from the ceiling, and rugby jerseys and family photos on the walls. But since Yves Camdeborde protégé Stéphane Jego took over in 2003, L'Ami Jean has become a destination for Parisians and visitors alike. A classic? Yes. A modern one.

There is a 35 euro formule offered at lunch and dinner. I have always found the copious printed menu here a little hard to navigate, to be honest, so I look to what’s written on the ardoise to help narrow things down.

But I will confess that my favorite way to eat at this Basque-inflected bistro is to order the 60 euro “carte blanche” menu, a series of (usually) six surprises from the kitchen.

We started with a crawfish soup, intense in aroma but a little light in taste, flecked with tiny croutons, peas and chives. Next was a fillet of cod doused with a parsley purée that conjured Dr. Seuss, served with duck foie gras, fava beans and the ribbon of chorizo that comes with many dishes here. Though it certainly adds a splash of color, the chorizo is more than a garnish; a bit of it on your fork adds salt and a touch of heat.

The mixing of meat and fish on the same plate is a recurring theme in Jego’s cooking. Following the cod, for example, was a tender morsel of milk-fed veal sitting atop a translucent sheet of wild salmon, topped in turn with anchovies and more of that chorizo. It shouldn’t work, but it does.

Lobster with boudin noir (blood pudding).

After that was an even more unlikely (to me, anyway) and even more delicious marriage of lobster and boudin noir, a buttery rich claw keeping company with dark and ferrous blood pudding and paper-thin strips of lard. The last savory course was sweetbreads with summer’s girolle mushrooms. These two elements alone would have made a fine dish, but Jego added a briny and herbaceous seafood salad.

I said before that the menu "carte blanche" was all surprises, but that’s not entirely true: the last course is always L’Ami Jean’s famous riz au lait (rice pudding), plopped down in a huge bowl for self-service and impossible to refuse even after so many courses.

Not everyone will love L’Ami Jean, but plenty of people do, and at night the place is packed. If you have a low tolerance for what some call “bustling” and others call “brusque,” I suggest going for lunch, which feels downright tranquil in comparison. In any case, reserve.

In a nutshell: Stéphane Jego’s bold cooking makes Chez l’Ami Jean one of the best contemporary bistros in Paris.

Price check: 35 euro formules at lunch and dinner, or 40–50 euros à la carte. The menu “carte blanche” is 60 euros. A mostly southwestern wine list with both bargains and splurges.

If you like Basque-flavored bistros, you’ll also like Christian Etchebest’s Le Troquet:

Le Troquet
21, rue François Bonvin, in the 15th.
01 45 66 89 00.

Editor's note: For a gourmet walking tour, check out our DIY downloadable tours.