Paris restaurant with a kid

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Shorns

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Hi everyone,

We'll be in paris in september and I'd sorely love to experience a Michelin starred restaurant there (the more stars the better, it's a bucket list thing). Problem is we have a 3 year old and are reluctant to get a sitter (unless anyone has some reliable recomendations).

Soooo, we'd be happy with lunch, some (especially the hotel restaurants) tend to offer kids menus but its not really the food or price that matters, its if any would be ok to sit a 3 year old in, she can handle long lunches, but well, she's three. I was thinking there might be something with private rooms or similar so that if a morsel of duck or frog fell on the ground it wouldn't raise to many eyebrows.

Although it wouldn't get the bucket list tick something that's run by a michelin chef or maybe deserving of one etc etc might also fit the bill. We are also travelling through Hunawihr (alsace), Chamonixe, Briancon, Nice, Saint Remy Aux Provence and Beaune if there's any regional places that fit the bill.

I'll take simple "your dreaming" style statements, the level of outrage that this question seemed to illicit on trip advisor I would rather do without! You might think some AFF people are "opinionated" but try tripadvisor!
Cheers
Sean
 
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Tripadvisor is top-heavy with Americans and they just don't tend to take their children to "up-scale" restaurants. The USA is a very family friendly country, but they seem to do it by segregating the families... I've found the French, like the Italians, etc, are genuinely fine with children in their high end restaurants so I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Also since you're travelling outside of Paris, it's worth noting that the three Michelin star restaurants outside Paris can sometimes be half the price of their Parisian counterparts. Just a thought.
 
I think it may depend on the waiter. We took our nearly 4 y.o. son to a Michelin starred restaurant some years go, so many that I can't remember exactly where - Paris or Lyon, I think. And the waiter was most courteous, addressed him directly "Et pour le jeune homme?". It may have helped that we (parents) both speak French and the jeune homme knew at least 'Please' and 'Thankyou' in French. Although used to eating with adults and happily accepting new tastes (at that time he claimed his favourite food was smoked salmon), he was nevertheless rather over-awed by the experience and behaved perfectly throughout the long meal.

Most French people love children, and most French children are used to eating out with parents, so I think there would be surprise if you wanted to be private simply because you had a child with you.
 
We took our then 18mth old and 4 yr old to a number of restaurants in Paris and Amiens, but no Michelin starred ones.

Generally, French people are fine with children in restaurants, but they do expect the child to behave appropriately. A little bit of food falling on the floor would be fine, but running around would not be fine. I would have entertainment options in case to keep the child happily amused.

In our experience, mostly "family" restaurants in France had children's meals; otherwise you would order off the main menu. A café underneath our apartment in Paris two years ago had a children's fish meal. Little Miss ordered that, expecting deep fried with chips. It was a lovely piece of salmon, still with frites though. :) The waiter also brought over tomato sauce/ketchup while Little Miss and I were upstairs. We managed to hide it from her and tell her that French children don't eat tomato sauce. It worked that night. ;) (She's a sauce fiend).
 
Funny, ours is a mayonaise monster so I reckon she'll do better in france. She's the weird kid that'd rather a piece of salmon than crumbed fish and when we get her prawns from barnacle bills down the road (i believe NOT michelin starred) she pulls the batter off. So i'm fairly certain she might actually enjoy the food, perhaps even more than the wife!

I am leaning towards regional restaurants for both the more casual dining and not that the cost is a big deal for one special occasion but if we can get the same experience elsewhere for less, then maybe we can do it twice!
 
Just remember that unlike Aussie kids, most children in Europe are actually taught to behave and be polite when in public. If your kid is the typical spoilt brat produced by most parents these days then I wouldn't expect a fantastic reception from the restaurant staff or other diners.
 
I agree with everyone about kids. They will be treated like grown ups, but expected to try and behave like grown ups.

In terms of specific restaurants, you're best bets are Paris, Beaune and possibly Nice. Service in France is extremely professional, and even very formal places are still very professional. Beaune is a bit old school and goes for the wooden panel/ chateau kind of feel.

I'd go for Le Cinq at the Four Seasons. It's a 2* palace room, does a great lunch deal and would handle children well. Because its a hotel, you could go for a walk to break up the meal. There's also a big bistronomy movement in Paris, where chefs have abandoned the pursuit of stars, but they cook at 1-2* levels - I'm thinking of places like Le Comptoir du Relais, Chez l'Ami Jean, Au Bon Accueil and Josephine Chez Dumonet. All are very lively and casual and would suit children without having to compromise on the food. It depends what's important for you in the starred experience. There's also regional specialists we don't see here in Australia like L'Auberge Bressanne

Feel free to PM me.
 
Just remember that unlike Aussie kids, most children in Europe are actually taught to behave and be polite when in public. If your kid is the typical spoilt brat produced by most parents these days then I wouldn't expect a fantastic reception from the restaurant staff or other diners.


I'd be a little bit careful with making generalisations as I've seen my fair share of two year olds having a bad day in France but yes, in general, they probably do get a lot more restaurant exposure than a lot of Australian children.
 
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