Le Repaire de Cartouche

Towering bistronomy chef Rodolphe Paquin has been enthralling and enraging clients at his frank, insidery bistro Le Repaire de Cartouche since 1997. Fans adore its masterfully traditional cuisine and incomparably deep list of natural wines. Others bristle at the occasionally brusque service and the antiquated vibe, which made it all the more surprising when, in 2014, Paquin installed an impressively contemporary wine bar in his downstairs dining room. Repaire de Cartouche bar à vin boasts a small menu of shareable items, a long, cornered bar you can actually use and an open door to the street for standing and smoking. And it has three striking advantages over other wine bars: Rodolphe Paquin himself, his bistrot’s national-treasure wine list and his lauded terrines—the latter of which are among the greatest examples of France’s original bar food.