▶ Cost? From $36 to $100 without drinks.
▶ Sound level? Hushed, as all the restaurants were half empty.
▶ Date place? Only Helene Darroze if your date is impressed with two-star restaurants.
▶ Inside tip? Request a window-side table at Maison Blanche.
▶ Special feature? The view from Maison Blanche.
If Paris is a moveable feast, it’s becoming a more affordable one, thanks to the economic slowdown. From multi-starred restaurants to neighborhood brasseries, eateries are struggling to lure customers as the recession cuts local and tourist spending and businesses slash corporate accounts. Here are some notable mentions:
Helene Darroze
Helene Darroze, who sports two stars from Michelin, figures the $37 prix-fixe lunch at her eponymous restaurant (www.helenedarroze.com) is just the ticket for gourmet bargain seekers. The light, tapas-style offering is made up of seven petite dishes all gleaned fresh from the market that day.
Mori Venice Bar
Giving Darroze a run for the money is Mori Venice Bar (www.morivenicebar.com). The high-end Italian restaurant next to the Paris bourse targets stockbrokers and businessmen with a “CAC-40” menu, using the name of the benchmark stock index and offering a varying price of $50 to $60, according to its performance. Diners are mostly offered only pasta choices for the main dish.
Maison Blanche
The eatery, which features a 13-foot floor-to-ceiling glass window that looks out over the Seine, offers a $100 “New Deal” menu. Named after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan to resuscitate the economy during the Great Depression, it’s a four-course meal featuring French classical food with an exotic touch (www.maison-blanche.fr). bloomberg