Le Pré Catelan

A Pavilion in the Trees

4 of 5

You leave the city's grid and walk into the Bois de Boulogne, and there stands a Napoleon III pavilion with painted ceiling friezes by Caran d'Ache. This is Le Pré Catelan, where Frédéric Anton, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France, holds three Michelin stars for 2026. The surroundings are a stage set. The cooking underneath is not.

Anton calls his food simple, flavourful and sophisticated, and he makes his own desserts, which he treats as classics worth another look. The Paris-Brest and the pear Belle-Hélène are on his list of reworkings. Savory plates like the poached egg with truffled tartlet and the spiced pig's cheek show a cook who respects the old repertoire and still wants to polish it. There is a wine cellar of around 300,000 bottles, which is a sentence I had to read twice.

Open Wednesday to Saturday, lunch and dinner, closed Sunday through Tuesday. Children are welcome, with a kids menu, which tells you the room is less stiff than the stars suggest. Parking and valet service exist, a small mercy in Paris. Go on a dry day, spend the afternoon in the park, and let the dessert course finish the job.

Order this: The poached egg with the truffled tartlet, The spiced pig's cheek, Paris-Brest, or the pear Belle-Hélène
The damage: $$$$
Go: A Wednesday to Saturday lunch, in good weather
Find it: Route de Suresnes, Bois de Boulogne, 75016 Paris