What to Eat, See, and Do in Paris This Winter
January’s Chef’s Kisses
Watching CBP and ICE agents harass, detain, and murder Minneapolis residents from abroad has been gut-wrenching. I’ve gathered a couple of links; please check them out to find places to donate, and get involved (regardless of where you are in the world).
Support community-led orgs in Minnesota
Trainings: know your rights, in-person NYC training, ACLU recording – “Document & Record”
This trip to Paris wasn’t planned. Every time Théo brought up going to Paris on vacation, I insisted we needed to save money, work more, etc. But then, the day before Christmas, he got very sick. It was clear to me that he had worked too hard and pushed himself to his limit, coming down with a 104f fever after his final day of work before our planned Christmas staycation.
So, once he awoke from his fever dreams, I admitted I had been a Christmas Scrooge and that we should, in fact, go to Paris in January and see his grandparents. It soon snowballed into a longer vacation – I’m sending this email out from Tokyo (and will have more on this leg of the trip for you next month)!
Being in Paris was lovely. In this Chef’s Kisses newsletter (my favorite food-adjacent moments from the month), I want to share with you all the delicious bites we had, the meals we ate, the shops we stopped in, and other favorite activities. Highlights include dishes that warmed me from the inside out, my favorite croissants (based on years of research), and nearly a dozen brioches.
If you’re looking for more Paris recommendations (older tried-and-true spots), you can find them on the AMIGO app. Use the code PARISGO to skip the wait!
And–friendly reminder–if you would like access to the entire Playing With Food archive for a month, you can unlock it by getting involved with food access in your community. See more details here.
Paris – January 2026
Dining:
When Théo and I go back to Paris, there is one place we always return to, Urfa Durum. It was our first bite of this trip, and Théo remarked that this place really “hits the spot every time” – I can’t think of a better 5-word description.
L’assiette has about 50 wines to choose from, and 12 food menu items. Despite the 12 options, I come here for one thing: a 1kg pot of cassoulet (perfect for splitting with another person). The cassoulet is crispy on top and creamy underneath, made simply with beans and many pork products (two kinds of sausage, lardons, and multiple cuts of braising pork) working in beautiful harmony. It’s the perfect meal for a chilly evening.
Another chilly evening recommendation: Le Quincy. Their cassoulet also looks fantastic (and is similarly giant), but I opted instead for one of my favorite French dishes, the choux farci – tons of cabbage roasted with delicious porky filling. It was delicious indeed, as was the scallop starter. This restaurant doesn’t just have good food, it also has great vibes. Amazing linens, a teensy tiny space, and cart service for the menu items. While a part of me wants to keep this spot all to myself (worrying already about future reservations), I cannot gatekeep it – enjoy!
At Elbi, the falafel scotch egg is a stroke of genius, the pigeon is a truly fantastic dish, and the hawawchi is pure pleasure.
Cafe Courtial makes a delicious crepe. It’s very intense: tangy buckwheat batter, fried in butter, and topped with a mélange of delicious ingredients. It always reminds me of a salad with copious amounts of dressed greens on top and chunks of different ingredients throughout. Each bite is deliciously different than the one before.
La Petite Chaise is (according to them) the oldest restaurant in Paris, and it just got a lovely makeover. The food is delicious too – I appreciated the number of vegetables on the menu, and the sauce work on all of the dishes we tried was fantastic.
Croissants:
If you ask me what the best croissant in Paris is, I have recently been quipping that it’s whichever one is still hot from the oven... I say that because we all prioritize different things in a croissant. For me, it’s the feuilletage flakiness (I do indeed want it all over my shirt), butteriness, and savoriness. One thing that we can all agree on, however, is that a fresh and hot croissant is better than a cold one.
The warmth of a croissant really makes a huge difference, as the butter goes from solid → liquid, making the whole thing taste more buttery, have a better mouth feel, and flake better. Unfortunately, it’s hard to organically find a warm croissant in Paris, but it’s always worth asking to see if a bakery can warm it for you (I know at several of The French Bastards locations, they will warm the pastries if they can).
My real answer on the best croissant in Paris is that many years ago, I went in search of it, trying around 26 boulangeries and three or more viennoiseries at each. But over the years, things changed, and new shops opened! Since then, new go-tos have emerged, but I’m happy to report that many of my favorites from the last two years remain. SAS Boulangerie Moderne provided the croissants for my civil ceremony breakfast with family – and I still love them. They really have lovely flaky and tender layers that fall apart with a light buttery flavor. Boulangerie Polka is another favorite. They clearly use high-quality butter, which soaks into the dough as it bakes, tinging it with a nice butter-yellow color. I also love the flavor of their flour, plus the light-airiness and slight chew in their croissant.
I also have two new favorite pain au chocolat to add to the list (which I am thrilled about). La Panifacture is a new spot that, is just a few minutes away from Boulangerie Polka. Their chocolate croissant is quite airy and lightly buttery, with the chocolate dispersed on either edge, leading to evenly distributed bites.
If you would like to go all in on chocolate, then I would suggest the new Boulangerie Michalak, which is 3x the price and has about 5x the chocolate. While it is light on the butter, it more than makes up for it in the amount of chocolate; it truly feels like a chocolate bar melted inside a croissant. If you’re wondering what that is like, it is indeed delicious. Pro tip: a pain au chocolat needs to be warmed even more than a plain croissant. You really want that soft chocolate experience. If you cannot warm it at the bakeries, I insist on waiting till you’re back at your hotel/rental/apartment before re-warming and enjoying.
Brioche:
Photos by Louis Westerloppe for Madewell
Aux Merveilleux de Fred makes a cramique au chocolat, which is not only huge, but also deliciously warm 3x a day: early morning, 12-12:30pm, and in the evening.
For the chocolatiest babka I’ve ever tried, head to Mamiche.
Babka Zana makes delicious babka rolls (and loaves if you’re taking stuff home): cannelle, chocolat noisette, praliné amande. Everyone in the family has a different favorite; the in-laws love the almond.
Urban Bakery makes a brioche I’ve never seen before: aux amandes. It’s fluffy with a light and delightfully floral/sweet almond top (that may or may not include a frangipane – I can’t quite tell).
Le Pain Retrouvé makes a flaky brioche feuilletée. Be sure to arrive early to enjoy it warm.
The brioche feuilletée at Michalak looks too big, but I promise it is so airy and light that with the help of just 1-2 others, it will be devoured quickly. Plus, their delicious brioche vendéenne perfumed with orange blossom is lovely and topped with crunchy sugar for added texture.
Shopping:
We usually hope our trips to Paris to overlap with les soldes, the designated month-ish 2x a year when things are allowed to go on sale in France. One of those times is now. There are three stores we always go to: the outlet mall, Printemps, and Leclaireur. I suggest you do the same.
Tons of vintage stores in the 3eme got on my radar recently. I would recommend starting with The Statement and working your way up the street, stopping in every store you see until you reach EREM. There are many more in the neighborhood that I didn’t set aside enough time to visit, but just do a quick browse for vintage stores on your map when you get there.
I also stopped by two new-to-me-stores that are next door to each other: Maison Ola and Rubirosa’s. Both shops are really lovely and sell beautiful items. If you’re looking for some colorful button-downs, pajamas, slippers, or hats, please do enjoy!
Museums:
Foundation Louis Vuitton’s Gerhard Richter exhibition was so great that after making my husband go back for a second time so I could see it, I became jealous that he got to see it twice.
Mickalene Thomas’ exhibition All About Love is incredible got me to take my first trip to Grand Palais.
We always stop by Bourse de Commerce, and always recommend it.
A tip for the Louvre: go to the Dutch Masters wing after you see the greatest hits rooms, they are always nearly empty, and there are really great works that we love to see again and again. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Jacques-Louis David exhibit and learned so much.
For more Paris recommendations, including my favorite choux farci, check out my list on the AMIGO app. Use the code PARISGO to skip the wait!
Scrumptious, and glad your husband is better. Thank you for all of the links, here’s one more helping Minnesota restaurants ❤️ https://mspmag.com/eat-and-drink/foodie/the-salt-cure-fund-launches-to-provide-relief-for/