Have you ever felt like coming home somewhere, even though you’ve never actually been there before? Familiar scents, musical connotations and talks with old friends definitely aid to this magic – and if any of us ever had the chance to spontaneously being invited over to a (soon-to-be-former) stranger’s family dinner, let’s say at a camp fire on a summer night, hardly anything can beat that warm feeling of hospitality.
And while it might be a more ambitious task to find a camp fire in the capitol of France, this volume of our BSTN Chronicles ‘City Series’ still aims to help you find either the aforementioned coziness or just food so delicious like only an old family recipe can create. For that, we fittingly joined forces with a valued member of our extended BSTN family: With Theodoros Giannitsacis, who not only runs his fashion label Pressure from his hometown of Paris, but also knows a thing or two about the city’s gourmet spots.
So without further ado, in Theo’s own words, here come five hand-picked restaurants in Paris, which are either run by a family, definitely feel like it or who have a high potential to feel like home soon because you want to come back as soon as possible for their mouth-watering treasures:
Colline D’Asie
Location: 21 Rue André del Sarte, 75018 Paris
“Colline D’Asie serves home-made Vietnamese food with an open kitchen. The family are nice people; very peaceful and very polite. A friend of mine started to bring me there cause the food is amazing and the prices are low. It was a pleasant surprise!”
Chez Omar
Location: 47 Rue de Bretagne, 75003 Paris
“An old North African restaurant with Algerian specialities. The owner Omar has the same people working there for a long time, so even though they’re not a real family, they all act like one. Everyone thinks that they are brothers.
The design is very retro and very Parisian at the same time. The couscous is amazing and they have good wines. It’s also a hot spot during fashion week. Personally, I prefer to go on a Tuesday or Wednesday off-season.”
Marias
Location: 77 Rue Sedaine, 75011 Paris
“Of course I have to include Marias, because it‘s my own restaurant. But also because it is real and authentic Greek home-made food. My mom is cooking with an open kitchen; my dad is driving around to find the best vegetables and products. And my brother and I are working here.
A lot of Greeks are coming, which means that it‘s kind of valid. Some fashion people come by too due to our background, and after their first visit, they came back with their families.”
Lao Siam
Location: 49 Rue de Belleville, 75019 Paris
“A great spot for Thai and Laotian family-made, home-made food. The mom is cooking and the children are working. And obviously, the food is amazing and the vibe is very nice.”
Julhes
Location: 54-56 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, 75010 PARIS
“Julhes is not a restaurant, but they have several groceries in Paris with traditional French food, French sandwiches, French wines and more. And everything is of top quality. It’s from a French family, who I witnessed when I grew up in the street where they had their first and unique store. These days, they have seven stores in Paris and they always kept their good quality.
I really recommend to everyone visiting Paris to come by. Because if I’d have to chose one spot to represent Paris in terms of food and family, they are that.”
