Dinner after the opera

[alyssabrooke]

Any suggestions on where to dine after seeing La Boheme? Preferably near the Opera house or in the 6th, where we will be staying.

[souphie]

Café de la Paix, Senderens, Drouant, Au Petit Riche, assuming you mean the Opéra Garnier.

Le Quincy, Les Grandes Marches, Bofinger, La Rotisserie du Beaujolais, le Café de l'Industrie, if you meant Bastille.

Chez Denise could work both ways if you're not afraid of walking.

Strangely, late night food in the 6th seems harder. I'd say Cosi, La Rotonde (where in the 6th? If you're close to the 7th, l'Ami Jean is probably the right response).

Late night dining in Paris is tricky.

[PhilD]

La Boheme is at the Bastille the new opera house (as are most operas productions), the "Opera Garnier" has mostly ballet with the few Opera productions.

[PBSF]

As an earlier post stated: late night dining is tricky and slim picking. Near the Opera Bastille, Les Grandes Marches and Bofinger cater to the after opera crowded therefore, you won't be rushed. Of the two, definitely Bofinger because of the beautiful main floor room and the post opera scene. You'll have to reserve, otherwise, you'll be stuck in the bland second floor no matter how much you plea. Might try Ma Bourgogne on the Place de Vosges or walk a little further to Les Philosophes on r. Vielle du Temple, both open way past midnight. Even if a restaurant said that they serve until 11/11:30pm and one makes it there before that, it is usually not suitable after a performance as the staff is getting ready to pack up.

[souphie]

I didn't know Ma Bourgogne was open late. Sounds like a terrific idea to me.

[alyssabrooke]

I absolutely love the look of Bofinger. How is the food? if we are at the opera garnier, will it be too far to walk?

[PBSF]

I gathered that you've been steered to the Opera Bastille for Boheme. The food at Bofinger is nothing to write home about but decent enough for post opera. It is a fun place to eat after a performance because there is always an after opera buzz. Order some oysters and a steak and you'll be fine or even the 34E prix fixed which is not too bad of a deal from I would choose the raw oysters, duck breast or veal ragout and the chocolate dessert. From my numerous experience with post opera dining at the Bastille, it is just not worth it to rush to a far-away bistro in the nick of time for their last service. I've never been able to enjoy that. I either go to Bofinger, Ma Bourgogne or Chez Denise (easy on Metro #1 but closed Saturday nights) for a relaxing meal. You will still be able to stroll back after to the 6e even if the metro has stopped running. Unless it is raining, Paris is really beautifully eerie that time of the night.

[alyssabrooke]

We will be at the opera garnier. i think we would prefer to be somewhere lively perhaps with the post-opera crowd. we are planning on going on a saturday night, thinking that the city will therefore still be bustling, even on the later side.

[kikisakura]

"We will be at the opera garnier."

But the venue for La Bohem is the bastille as Phil mentioned above? Does your ticket say Garnier?

[PhilD]

Yes - La Bohéme is definitely at the new opera house at Bastille, so Bofinger is easy. This is the official Paris Opera web site and is best for tickets (no nasty commissions):

http://www.operadeparis.fr/cns11/live...

[alyssabrooke]

Yes I'm sorry. I realized as such after my post. We had been deciding between the opera and the ballet and i mixed the locations in my head.

thanks fo your help!

[menton1]

Where did you wind up at?

[alyssabrooke]

still havent made a final decision- our trip isnt until end of october. was thinking bofinger, but have really heard some negative things so now i am not so sure..

[parislovernyc]

If you go to Bofinger be sure you reserve so you can sit downstairs as PBSF said above. My last time there they put us upstairs (regardless of our pleas) and it was absolutely AWFUL. If that happens to you, my advice is to leave and find something else. It is really depressing to sit upstairs. Instead of feeling like you're in a garret (a la La Boheme) you'll feel like you've been sent to worse than Siberia.

[PhilD]

The opera starts at 7:30 and lasts 2.5 hours, so you will be out be out by 10:15, and will need to travel for 15 to 30 mins. There are very few places still taking orders/serving food after 10:30 (as Souphie says late night dining in Paris is tricky) so I am afraid you may not have a lot of choice..

[menton1]

Julien, 16 rue du Faubourg St-Denis, in the 10th, serves dinner until Midnight. There were a couple more I found in the Sept Air France Magazine, but I don't have my copy handy, will post those when I have a copy of the magazine in my hands.

[PBSF]

Julien, like Bofinger and just about all the classic brasseries in Paris, are owned by the Flo Group. The quality of the food are about the same for all their places. The decor at Julien is also beautiful but I don't see a reason to trek over to the 10th as an alternative to Bofinger for post opera Bastille.

[alyssabrooke]

what about between bofinger and pied de cochon?

[souphie]

Bofinger, unless it's 3am.

[PBSF]

I agree with souphie; why the bother unless you want watered down Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee and you'll lose the opera buzz.

[menton1]

Here's 4 restaurants out of Air France Magazine that serve dinner until at least 1AM:

Chez Andre, 12, rue Marbeuf, 8th, 01 47 20 59 57

L'Européen, 21bis, bd Diderot, 12th, 01 43 43 99 70

Le Congrès Maillot, 40, av de la Grande Armée, 17th,01 49 74 17 24

L'Auberge Dab, 161 av Malakoff, 16th, 01 45 00 32 22

Bon appétit!

[ChefJune]

but do they say anything about what the food is like?

[menton1]

They seem like French Bistro.

[souphie]

They're all decent brasseries, not destination places.

Chez l'Ami Jean is probably my favourite after show place, serves until midnight.

[alyssabrooke]

thats great to know- we are trying to figure out where to fit that in. Do you happen to know if they are open saturday nights?

[pauliface]

Interesting. Googling these, I find they are all located at the same website, they are all part of "Restaurants Gerard Joulie" at www.gerard-joulie.com
Are these those notorious brasseries-all-owned-by-the-same-group?
Or some other cartel?

Does anybody know whether they are to be recommended?
As a fallback in case my show lets out too late for Cafe de la Paix perhaps?

[PhilD]

I used to eat at Dab and Sebilion (from their web site), both were fine and I would go back. Neither are "special" meals but they were around the corner from my hotel in Port Maillot so were convenient. The lamb at Sebillon was vert good - and is their famous dish. Dab is quite business/touristy but that is probably a factor of location.

I can usually pick a "group" restaurant but the two I visited had individual character.

[souphie]

They are all owned by Gerard Joulié, as the website says. They're probably a tad better than the brasseries of the Blanc group. Save La Rotonde and La Rotonde de la Muette, I'm not aware of independent brasseries in this town.

As PhilD says, it does not mean they don't have individual character and different chefs. That just proves Gérard Joulié is smarter than the Blanc brothers.

[menton1]

It's interesting that they serve so late in a city like Paris, where after 10:30 it's usually almost impossible to get dinner. They all must have a good late-night following, I suppose...

[John Talbott]

Well, tonite being the nuit blanche, I suspect a lot of places will be open, but last October I had the challenge of finding places open after 10:30 PM and found that with a little hoofing, one could unearth many.

[menton1]

The Nuits Blanches and the Fete de la Musique are my favorite times to be in Paris. Those are really all night parties!!

[f2dat06]

I am thinking Gallopin is independent.

[souphie]

That's probably true, and a good example of how independent does not necessarily mean better than chain.