La Rotonde

In 1914, poet Guillaume Apollinaire wrote that Montparnasse (the creative left bank neighborhood) was replacing Montmartre (the bohemian right bank quarter) as the creative class’s preferred locale. And it was at that time that La Rotonde became an institution. In exchange for meals, owner Victor Libion would accept art from the café’s impoverished regulars, including Picasso, Modigliani and Diego Rivera. Nowadays, La Rotonde still does a simple-yet-solid, classic French menu (think onion soup, frisèe salad with lardons and leg of lamb), but payment is required.