This Jacques Garcia-designed, aubergine velvet cocoon lives up to its name: boudoir restaurant. You do feel a bit naughty and like you're having just too much luxurious fun when you sit having a meal - lunch or dinner - as you overlook the Tuileries Gardens across the street. The main dining area is spacious and offers corners where groups can settle in and claim as their own. For planned gatherings the food and beverage department of the Westin Vendome hotel will work with you to create a set menu, with a fixed price per person, that can be served during your lunch or dinner meeting.
Recommended for Group Friendly because: On the rue de Rivoli, across the street from the Tuileries, for a meeting place in Paris, this is ever so convenient.
Paige's expert tip: Be prepared to feel enfolded by the deep purple velvet oversized chairs and the sumptuousness of the décor.
This location is the newest, and fifth, restaurant in the Ly family empire. The menu is more inclusive than just Chinese, though you will find a fine selection of Hong Kong/ Cantonese dishes to choose from. Thai and Vietnamese fragrant and fresh plates round out the lunch and dinner offerings. Just opened in December 2013, this former Johnny Halliday restaurant location (Balzac) is a comfortable and elegant place to gather with friends and colleagues. Being just off the Champs-Elys�es, and serving until just shy of midnight every day, makes it also a convenient choice when taking in a show, a club or other late night activities in the neighborhood.
Recommended for Group Friendly because: Welcoming of groups and not merely because Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese cuisine is designed for sharing, but also the ambiance of large round tables invite shared conversation.
Paige's expert tip: The newest location of the Ly Asian restaurant empire in Paris, this one, their fifth, opened only in December 2013.
The Avenue Gabriel is the small street that fronts between the American and British Embassies. This is where you will find Laurent, the quiet and classy 1-Michelin starred dining establishment that counts Presidents, Ambassadors and the elite of international business among its regular clientele. Chef Alain P�gouret creates dishes that marry flavors and colors in perfect harmony. Ever imaginative, he comes up with 30 new dishes each year, following the seasons. A perennial on the menu is his medley of Roots Vegetables, so colorful that it appears as a painter's palette. The terrace is the true gem of the restaurant and at once offers soothing seclusion and the feeling that you are ensconced somewhere off in a private villa in the French countryside. This oasis was restored by Hittorff in 1842, at the same time as he was commissioned by King Louis Philippe to design the Champs-Elys�es.
Recommended for Group Friendly because: The upstairs room offers an elegant and sumptuous meeting facility while the outdoor terrace has always provided informal meeting grounds during balmy summer afternoons.
Paige's expert tip: Dining on the terrace in the summer time is a Parisian experience absolutely not to be missed.
As one of the landmark luxury boutiques on Place de la Madeleine, Caviar Kaspia tucks its legendary restaurant upstairs, above the boutique. The sumptuous banquet up agains the wall serves as a welcoming meeting corner of the room for riotous groups of friends, family and colleagues. Of course the caviar, served with small dollops of créme fraiche, tiny potatoes or blinis is what is in the spotlight, the vodkas and champagnes that wash it all down are to be thoroughly enjoyed along with. The dining room itself is a study in art déco décor and caviars that imitate Russian varieties from the 1800s. Aficionados are especially pleased to sample from the selection, which includes sevruga, geluga and ossetra. The extensive wine list carries an appropriate vintage to accent any appetizer or meal you choose.
Recommended for Group Friendly because: Friends, good caviar, quality vodka and a flute of champagne into the wee hours of the night are Parisian memories that remain with you forever.
Paige's expert tip: For a late night winter meal after a vernissage (opening) at the Grand Palais or the Pinacothéque, there are few that can top this.
Since 1686, this historic cafe has welcomed a who's who of history, literature, art, and politics, including Balzac, Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Robespierre and even Benjamin Franklin. It remains a sophisticated place to dine, and patrons, while they wait, soak in the ambiance in rapt admiration of all that's gone on before. Shellfish and seafood are popular options, along with grilled beef, roast chicken or duck, and classics like coq au vin. Dessert delights range from chocolate sorbet to profiteroles. But the best time to come is in the afternoon well after lunch is over. That is when, during tea time, you can leisurely sightsee through the many different rooms of the three-storey establishment. There are plaques denoting the rooms where the historical figures once dined and even a framed letter from Louis XVI to Marie Antoinette, and vice-versa, bidding each other adieu before they were dragged off to the guillotine.
Recommended for Group Friendly because: The many small dining areas and rooms in this three-storey historical establishment offer cozy spaces for both large and small group gatherings.
Paige's expert tip: Best to drop in either before or after lunch when the premises are available for touring through, like a living museum.
La Cantine du Faubourg is a vast space that you enter by going down the stairs from its posh entrance on rue du Faubourg St. Honoré, just near the Rond Point Champs Elysées. It's a good choice for large gatherings, groups of friends and even for hosting parties. The ambiance is club-like so if you're looking for a gathering place where your group can get together, enjoy a few bites and a meal of appetizers and light entrées, this is a perfect choice. The many nightclubs that encircle the Champs Elysées are within easy walking distance from here so you can even save yourself the hassle and expense of hailing taxi cabs as you go forth into the rest of your night.
Recommended for Group Friendly because: A subterranean spacious space that welcomes groups with reservations and even spontaneously, provided there are still tables to accommodate them.
Paige's expert tip: This is a restaurant whose ambiance is more like a bar-lounge. It's a good gathering point before hitting the town.
Because this spot is so famous for its cocktails (and fresh-pressed juices), it's important to remember that it does a quick-paced lunch service and a more lingering dinner service serving up exceptional fare. Here you get to dine in the shadows of the Louvre and also the stately church, Eglise St.-Germain-L'Auxerrois de Paris. Lunch time brings in the crowds and the seating even in the back library fills up quickly. Though if you reserve in advance and don't come too late, you can likely snag one of the gorgeous tables in that back library. Lighter fare could be a chicken salad served with fresh avocados or a heartier choice is braised pork cheeks in apple cider served with seared and then sauteed kale greens. This venerable old Parisian address is at once a cafe, a cocktail bar, a tea salon and a dining room. It is exceptionally convenient for going to the Louvre afterwards or just after finishing a stroll across the Pont des Arts.
Recommended for Group Friendly because: Great food, a traditional atmosphere and a location that is at the center of central Paris puts this one at the top of the list.
Paige's expert tip: Even before fresh-pressed juices became the Hollywood craze, Le Fumoir was senrving up its carrot-ginger-cardamon and also green apple-basil-mint detox. For a place that also presents more than a passing cocktail collection, the non-alcoholic choice is such a nice add. Expect a brisk lunch crowd, a slightly more subdued dinner crowd, and know that for those inbetween times Le Fumoir puts on its cafe and salon de tea cap quite happily too.
Considered one of Paris' most romantic restaurants by locals and visitors alike, Georges offers sweeping views of the city's skyline. In fact, from up so high, on the top of the Centre Pompidou,you get the sense that the whole city is at your feet. Décor is modern in keeping with the museum's thematic of modern art. In the warmer months, the outside terrace seating is one of the best in the city. For the cooler months, the glass walls that surround you when seated inside still afford that breathtaking 180° view of Paris. Dishes here are classics like Scottish salmon and filet mignon, tender and juicy. There are slight Asian-fusion elements throughout so your sea bass will be served in a miso lacquer sauce for example and you can opt for rice as a side in place of the creamy mashed potatoes that come with your choice of meal.
Recommended for Group Friendly because: Unbeatable panoramic views of the city from this 6th floor dining terrace makes it one of Paris' most romantic dining spots and good for groups.
Paige's expert tip: For private parties the Georges offers several options: A smaller dining pod within the dining room that accommodates up to 15 seated guests around a common table. The larger dining pod accommodates up to 30. The entirety can be rented for private parties on Tuesdays, when the museum is closed.
One of the first places to offer small plates (please don't call them tapas) to his diners who didn't make it into his main restaurant, the cult Le Chateaubriand, just next door, Le Dauphin has become its own cult destination. That's mostly to do with Chef Inaki Aizpitarte who has for several years now been the golden bad-boy chef of Paris. And one who delights in breaking all the rules - very successfully, I might add. Though first added as an after-thought, this small-plates restaurant, often standing-room only, caught on so well with Parisian diners that many have made this the main choice for the whole meal, nevermind the appetite teasers. Located in the too-cool-for-school 11th arrondissement, means you'll be well placed to hit the Bastille, République and Oberkampf bars and night spots once you're appetite has been sated.
Recommended for Group Friendly because: Standing at the bar with friends washing down Inaki Aizpitarte's culinary creations with a glass of wine is a spectacular evening in and of itself.
Paige's expert tip: Give yourself over to the experience of nibbling your way through an extraordinary evening of small bites in this Rem Koolhaas designed hipster Paris trendspot.
Drouant is one of the gilded anchors of Parisian dining establishments. Its history dates back a century and its cultural significance is tremendous, as it is the seat of the Prix Goncourt, the prestigious French literary award. Hence the upstairs dining room named Salon Goncourt; There is even one named after Colette, who presided over the jury for many years. Never mind all that, though. Because when a delightful meal is in order, this instantly should be one of the places you think of in Paris. The location is just a few minutes' walk from Op�ra or Palais-Royal and yet its tucked-away little Square removes you from the city's bustle. Alsatian Chef Antoine Westermann is one of France's best. So whether you order the veal cutlet, the roast chicken or the pollock served with braised, roasted tomatoes, you can be certain all will be well.
Recommended for Group Friendly because: Drouant is where the Prix Goncourt (prestigious French literary prize) is decided and announced each year, dating all the way back to Colette's day.
Paige's expert tip: Ask for the Cr�mant d'Alsace as aperitif. It's not on the menu, but if you ask for it, they'll pour it for you.