Where to Eat in Paris During the Holidays – Christmas and New Year’s
Tomas Kauer - - News Moderator 
Of all French holidays, Christmas is celebrated in heightened gastronomic pomp. This is when the finest French delicacies are on honor, from the finest grade oysters to rich foie gras and from truffled heritage hens to special reserve champagne. These extravagant meals are generally served on le réveillon de Noël, Christmas Eve dinner. However, some restaurants will also be offering festival repasts on Christmas day, mostly at lunch. The following week, the feasts resume on New Year’s Eve, although generally with different food specialties served – and plenty of champagne! If you’re looking for the perfect place to celebrate, these Paris restaurants will be open on December 24th and/or the 25th and the 31st.
PARIS RESTAURANTS Open on December 24th
Recently restored, this famous institution of the Champs-Élysées will be serving a festive meal on December 24th. A gastronomic four-course menu including grey shrimp with caviar, foie gras with quince, sea bass with truffled leek cream, roasted capon with chestnuts and Cévennes onions, and Fouquet’s special bûche de Noël (310€/person, including a glass of champagne).
Le Train Bleu
If you’re looking for an opulent setting to celebrate Christmas Eve, I can’t imagine a more fitting place than the beautiful Belle Epoque restaurant of the Gare de Lyon. This year’s menu will feature scallops with beet and citrus fruit, turbot with caviar, spinach and hazelnut butter, capon with celery macaroni and black truffle and vanilla and apple bûche de Noël (€180.00/person excluding drinks).
Montmartre is a great place to explore over the holidays and you can have a Christmas Eve dinner of exquisite poultry at this poultry-focused restaurant across from the Moulin de la Galette. Their special holiday menu usually includes various poultry dishes including capon, guinea fowl, Bresse chicken, and other exceptionally well-bred French birds.
Cleo – this was on both days – but will only be open on the 24th
If you’re looking for a chic Christmas Eve meal on the Left Bank, consider the stylish restaurant of the five-star Hotel Narcisse. Located between Les Invalides and the Eiffel Tower, it will have a special seven-course festive dinner served on the 24th.
PARIS RESTARUANTS Open December 24th and 25th
Surround yourself in art nouveau glamor at this one Michelin-starred restaurant in Place de la Madeleine. Talented chef Hugo Bourny and his team will be preparing a refined six-course holiday menu. The 350€ meal will start with a glass of vintage Champagne Louise Pommery and you can add a wine pairing for an additional fee.
This alluring art nouveau establishment off the Grand Boulevards is presenting a very reasonably priced Christmas menu of à la carte options. You could start off with cream of mushroom soup or foie gras pâté en croûte, before moving onto filet of seabass with creamy risotto or suprême of roasted capon with shiitake mushrooms and celery purée. These will be available for dinner on the 24th and both lunch and dinner on the 25th.
One of my favorite bouillon restaurants, the Pharamond is another great place for a fairly affordable Christmas meal in Paris. Within its stunning Art Nouveau decor, you can opt to have a three-course meal for 38€ or order à la carte. I’d be tempted by the pumpkin soup with truffle oil and roasted hazelnuts and the duck parmentier and the candied chestnut cream with little meringues for dessert.
Celebrate Christmas in style at this grand Art Deco brasserie in Montparnasse. The three-course menu has a choice of duck foie gras with black truffle, scallop carpaccio or six oysters followed by roasted sea bass with cep mushroom risotto or capon with chestnuts and a dessert of three-chocolate and cherry Christmas log (79€/person excluding drinks).
Christan Constant’s gastronomic restaurant will be offering two separate menus for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day lunch (at 280€ and 260€ respectively, without drinks). The refined meals will tempt you with Galician sea urchins, foie gras with apple and quince marmalade, sea bass with leeks and a champagne and caviar sauce, and roasted beef filet with morel mushrooms, brie de Meaux with truffles and more.
Paris Restaurants Serving New Year’s Eve Dinners on December 31st
While most Paris restaurants close on the 24th and 25th, a lot are open on the 31st. They usually do special meals and reservations are highly recommended. All the restaurants above have a New Year’s menu as well as the following restaurants which are fantastic places to ring in the new year.
The new restaurant of Instagram sensation Eloi Spinnler, which opened in September and is found near Les Grands Boulevards, will be a fabulous place to celebrate New Year’s Eve among a cool Parisian crowd. If I were staying in Paris this New Year’s Eve, this is where I’d like to spend it! The five-course meal will feature radicchio with trout roe and buckwheat, “Colère” rice, scallops with fennel, orange and green chili, farm-raised capon in cotton, chestnuts, mushrooms and truffle jus, and last but not least, his famous chocolate cream with beer caramel and espelette crumble.
One of the chicest brasseries in the city, this iconic Left Bank restaurant is a wonderful option for New Year’s Eve near the Eiffel Tower. Its large space is still cozy thanks to red velvet bench seats and dimly lit green lamps. You can expect a sumptuous feast of oysters, scallops, truffled foie gras, chicken with morel mushrooms, and beef Rossini.
Enjoy a sparkling view over the whole city by spending your New Year’s Eve at this trendy rooftop bar and restaurant. On the top floor of the SO hotel, located south of Bastille, Bonnie has a sweeping panorama featuring Notre Dame, the Panthéon, and the Eiffel Tower. You can choose between two menus at 200€ and 300€ which include refined dishes of lobster tartare, scallops with wild mushrooms, veal tenderloin with potatoes millefeuille and truffled gravy, and chocolate and tonka bean surprise.
Add a little South American spirit to your New Year’s Eve at the hip Colombian restaurant of Juan Arbelaez found in the 6th district. For 120€, you’ll be treated to truffle arepas, shrimp tartare empanadas, yuca bread, tuna and bergamot ceviche, and other delicious dishes. Expect to do some dancing once the meal is over.
Related Links
- Coming to Paris over the holidays? Why don’t you visit our St Germain Fractional apartment for sale while you’re in town?
- Check out our picks for what to do in Paris in December.
- Still have shopping to do? Check out our Francophile Gift Guide. We also have 40 French inspired books for yourself or your loved ones.
- And cozy up at these winter garden restaurants.
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