Le Musée Du Parfum
Fragonard Parfumeur has set out to educate people about fragrance with its new Paris museum, which opened this month near the Opéra Garnier. The downstairs space, which has vestiges of the theater it once was, culls pieces spanning 3,000 years of perfume history from the Costa family’s collection, which was begun by Fragonard founder Jean-François Costa.
Here it’s possible to learn about each step of the fragrance process, through raw materials, manufacturing — including extraction and distillation — formulation and industrialization. The museum also chronicles scent history in the West, with sections devoted to Antiquity and flacons from the 16th through 20th centuries. Videos sprinkled throughout help animate the story of scent. At the end of the visit, people pass through rooms filled with ornate fragrance bottle labels displayed in frames and can, of course, visit the gift shop. — Jennifer Weil
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Le Musée du Parfum
3-5 Square de l’Opéra Louis Jouvet, 75009
Tel.: +33-1-40-06-10-09
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Ober Mamma
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A Sicilian patio meets “Alice in Wonderland” at the whimsical Ober Mamma, the second Italian eatery in Paris from Victor Lugger and Tigrane Seydoux in the Oberkampf neighborhood.
“We’re Italian food lovers. I grew up with Italian food. In fact, I am off to Piedmont to visit my buddies who are winemakers,” Lugger said. “There’s value for money. Everything here is homemade and comes straight from producers. The storyline is 100 percent Italian, which certainly contributes to setting the ambience.”
On the menu are appetizers such as smoked mozzarella, creamy burrata and coppa, all priced at 7 euros, or $8 at current exchange. Marguerita pizza and fresh pasta carbonara are main courses going for 12 euros, or $13.50. And dessert options, including “limonemisu,” a tiramisu with lemon in lieu of the traditional coffee, and panna cotta, are priced between 6.50 euros and 8 euros, or $7.30 and $9.
Nicola Battafarano, formerly of London’s Chiltern Firehouse, mans the bar, where there’s a wide choice of spritzes — the drink of the moment — including Summer Spritz, with prosecco, seltzer, grapefruit juice and ginger. — Laure Guilbault
Ober Mamma
107 Boulevard Richard Lenoir, 75011
Tel.: +33-1-58-30-62-78
Hours: Open daily 12:15 to 3 p.m. and 6 to 11 p.m.
In the Museums
From Toulouse-Lautrec to Edvard Munch to Vincent van Gogh, the world of prostitution and its development in Parisian society inspired many a master in the second half of the 19th century. Such artists’ works now make up the Musée d’Orsay’s exhibition “Splendor and Misery: Images of Prostitution 1850-1910.”
Romantic relationships of another sort are the subject of the Jean-Honoré Fragonard retrospective (pictured: “Le Baiser,” 1770) being held at the Musée du Luxembourg. Often portrayed as a libertine, the 18th-century painter and his contemporaries audaciously investigated representations of the feelings of love.
Mixing old and new, the Louvre is putting on “A Brief History of the Future,” a show that travels in time through four themes and about 200 works in a wide array of media. It juxtaposes artists such as Guido Reni and Ai Weiwei. The show, which is based on a book by Jacques Attali, has a counterpart in Brussels, where a more contemporary version of the concept is on display.
At the Galerie Agnès Monplaisir, there’s a Blondie comeback of sorts. Twenty-eight photographs of Debbie Harry lensed by Chris Stein will be displayed there Oct. 3 to 11, in a show called “Chris Stein/Negative: Me, Blondie and the Advent of Punk.” The songstress and her Blondie cofounder are slated to be in town to attend the opening party. The book “Chris Stein/Negative: Me, Blondie and the Advent of Punk” was published by Rizzoli last year.
Meanwhile, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster creates a past, present and future between 1887 and 2058 through installations and multidisciplinary creations inside and outside of the Pompidou Center. Viewers are also invited to interact with artistic environments at the Monnaie de Paris through more than 40 works by contemporary artists. These make up an updated and enriched show that had been presented in London’s Serpentine Gallery in 1995. — Anne-Aymone Gheerbrant and Jennifer Weil
“Fragonard in Love — Suitor and Libertine,” through Jan. 24
Musée du Luxembourg, 19 rue Vaugirard, 75006
Tel.: +33-1-40-13-62-00
Hours: Open daily 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Monday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
“Splendour and Misery: Images of Prostitution 1850-1910,” through Jan. 17
Musée d’Orsay, 1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007
Tel.: +33-1-40-49-48-14
Hours: Open Tuesday and Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday until 9:45 p.m., Friday to Sunday until 6 p.m.
“A Brief History of the Future,” through Jan. 4
Musée du Louvre, Sully Wing, Rue de Rivoli, 75001
Tel.: +33-1-40-20-53-17
Hours: Open Wednesday 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Thursday to Monday until 5:45 p.m., Friday until 9:30 p.m.
“Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster — 1887-2058,” through Feb. 1
Centre Pompidou, Place Georges Pompidou, 75004
Tel.: +33-1-44-78-12-33
Hours: Open Wednesday to Monday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
“Chris Stein/Negative: Me, Blondie and the Advent of Punk”
Galerie Agnès Monplaisir
8 bis Rue Jacques Callot, 75006
Tel.: +33-1-56-81-83-51
Hours: Monday 2:30 to 7 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Hôtel Bachaumont
Samy Marciano, chief executive officer of French fashion label Rodier, is behind the revival of the Hôtel Bachaumont in the Montorgueil neighborhood.
The Grand Hôtel de Bachaumont was an institution in Paris in the Twenties. Its location by Les Halles, once the largest market in France, made it a vibrant place. But when the market moved to Rungis, outside of Paris, the hotel was left deserted and became a private hospital.
“There are many bridges between fashion and the hospitality industry. We target the same customer, whether you dress, host or feed them,” Marciano said.
The lobby has a marble floor, Parisian carpentry, moldings and mirrors. There are 50 rooms, including some with balconies and terraces overlooking Paris’ rooftops. Furniture includes marble-and-wooden desks, headboards with Pierre Frey fabrics and retro wall lamps. Bathrooms boast vintage taps and lavish tiling in a nod to the Roaring Twenties.
Prices per night range from 200 euros, or $225, for a classic room to 900 euros, or $1,015, for a suite.
The Experimental team, whose first cocktail bar Experimental Cocktail Club is a stone’s throw away, oversees the hotel’s food and beverage, including Le Bachaumont restaurant with a French cuisine menu and the Night Flight bar. — Laure Guilbault
Hôtel Bachaumont
18 Rue Bachaumont, 75002
Tel.: +33-1-81-66-47-00
Restaurant Le Bachaumont
Tel.: +33-1-81-66-47-50
Bar Night Flight
Tel.: +33-1-81-66-47-55
Freddy’s
Chef Eric Trochon of Semilla, the successful bistro-restaurant on the Left Bank’s Rue de Seine, is now also manning the kitchen of Freddy’s, the wine bar next door. It serves tapas, including arancini, cauliflower tabouleh and falafel with cheese, with prices ranging from 4 to 15 euros, or $4.50 to $17. There’s a long list of wines by the glass, too — including a crisp Cheverny white — bubbly and La Bière Parisienne, a draft beer brewed in Paris. Freddy’s seats 40 and has countertop drinking and dining only, and does not take reservations. — Laure Guilbault
Freddy’s
54 Rue de Seine, 75006
Hours: Open daily noon to midnight, with last order at 11 p.m.
Codage Paris
Five years after they launched online the Codage Paris bespoke skin-care brand specializing in serums, brother-and-sister team Julien and Amandine Azencott have introduced their first brick-and-mortar boutique.
Nestled in the Marais district, the 833-square-foot shop with marble, wood, glass and copper details offers the personalized service on which this brand has been built. Along one wall are black-and-white panels indicating the 23 Nutri-Elements that are used to create the Codage products.
Visitors can get skin diagnostics before being prescribed a beauty ritual, while an in-store laboratory allows for custom serums for the face and eyes to be created on-site.
The store also has treatment rooms for such services as a 90-minute “haute couture” facial for 165 euros, or $184, and a 25-minute “ready-to-wear” iteration for 55 euros, or $61. — Jennifer Weil
Codage Paris
8 Rue du Trésor, 75004
Tel.: +33-1-40-27-80-09
Hours: Open Tuesday to Sunday by appointment 10 a.m. to noon; walk-ins, noon to 8 p.m. Fridays until 9 p.m.
Elizabeth Arden
Elizabeth Arden just inaugurated its first temporary freestanding boutique in Paris. The 890-square-foot pop-up in the heart of the 16th arrondissement carries the label’s full product portfolio — including 250 units of makeup, 100 of skin care and 50 of fragrance.
The shop’s design differs from that of Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door Spas and other pop-ups it has opened in Italy, Singapore and Israel. Reminiscent of a New York loft, the streamlined decor is more in keeping with the new image and communication platform Elizabeth Arden launched in July with Karlina Caune as its face. It also offers a more personal experience than a traditional store. The boutique will remain open through Dec. 31. — Jennifer Weil
Elizabeth Arden
53 Rue de Passy, 75016
Tel.: +33-1-45-27-49-32
Hours: Open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
La Gauche Caviar
On the first floor of the recently reopened Le Montana club stands La Gauche Caviar restaurant, whose name is a play on words meaning “caviar socialist” and gives a nod to the fact that it is located on the French capital’s Left Bank.
This is Saint-Germain-des-Prés’ answer to Caviar Kaspia on the other side of the Seine. La Gauche Caviar serves delicacies laced with caviar, including tagliatelle, croque-monsieur and pizza, and has a wide menu of caviar for tasting on blinis and topped with sour cream. There’s nothing socialist about the prices, however: It’s 827 euros and 1,454 euros, or $934 and $1,642, for 125 grams (or 4.4 ounces) of ossetra imperial and beluga imperial, respectively.
Vincent Darré decorated the space with wallpaper with drawings of books from Maison Darré. Look closely and see the name “Elie,” referring to Darré’s partner who is also the designer behind Lanvin’s bold costume jewelry, and “Zahm,” referring to Olivier Zahm, the founder and owner of Purple magazine who was involved in Le Montana’s former iteration. Another name to pop up is “Prous.”
“I didn’t have enough space to add the ‘T,’” Darré chuckled. — Laure Guilbault
La Gauche Caviar
28 Rue Saint-Benoît, 75006
Tel.: +33-1-53-63-79-23
Hours: Open daily 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for breakfast and lunch, 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. for dinner (with two seatings, at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.)
Les Cocottes
Christian Constant, a former chef of the Crillon and the Ritz Paris, just opened a second location of his Les Cocottes concept in the Sofitel Arc de Triomphe hotel involving a restaurant offering traditional recipes cooked in Staub cast-iron casseroles.
As in his Rue Saint-Dominique location, there are bistrot-style dishes, such as caramelized potatoes stuffed with pigs’ feet prepared and served in “cocottes,” and the not-to-be-missed “César Façon Ritz,” a Caesar salad at 12 euros, or $13.50, that’s envied by some since it’s been called the best Caesar in town.
But unlike the first Les Cocottes location, where it’s all about countertop dining, here there’s also an area with large tables and deep wooden armchairs in fauve leather. And reservations are permitted — a plus for the new place. (The Rue Saint-Dominique restaurant often has hungry crowds waiting outside.) When the sun shines, tables are set on the terrace. — Laure Guilbault
Les Cocottes Christian Constant
2 Avenue Bertie Albrecht, 75008
Tel.: +33-1-53-89-50-53
Open daily noon to 11 p.m.
Kinugawa Matignon
Another dining option in Paris’ Golden Triangle is the new Kinugawa Matignon, a replica of the chic Japanese restaurant that bills itself as a contemporary Izakaya on Rue du Mont Thabor, which is a perennial favorite of the fashion set. Like its older sibling, Kinugawa Matignon was designed by French architects Gilles & Boissier. Toyofumi Ozuru, executive chef of the Black Code Group that also owns Orient Extrême, concocted a menu mixing Kinugawa hits and novelties, such as lamb ribs with red miso and scallops with sautéed vegetables. — Laure Guilbault
Kinugawa Matignon
1 Bis Rue Jean Mermoz, 75008
Tel.: +33-1-42-25-04-23
Hours: Open daily noon to 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 to 11 p.m.
Le Grand Restaurant
It’s been a big year for Jean-François and Élodie Piège. First, the couple opened Clover, a pocket-sized bistrot on the Left Bank. This September, they gave birth to a baby boy, and also to a “big” restaurant on the other side of the Seine.
Called Le Grand Restaurant, it’s what Piège describes as his cooking lab and where the chef aims to attain three Michelin stars. (Thoumieux, the restaurant he left in June that he owned with Thierry Costes’ Beaumarly Group, had been awarded two stars.)
Gulla Jonsdottir — an American designer with Icelandic origins — helped him create the new space with a large atrium. The restaurant serves modern stews like lobster cooked in fig leaves or veal cooked on nut shells. The lunch menu is 80 euros, or $90, excluding drinks, and dinner runs between 180 and 220 euros, or $203 and $245. There’s also an à la carte offer in the restaurant seating 25.
Piège is plotting a new restaurant, Clover Grill, for 2016. — Laure Guilbault
Le Grand Restaurant
7 Rue d’Aguesseau, 75008
Tel.: +33-1-53-05-00-00
Hours: Open Monday to Friday for lunch and dinner