Fashionably Lite
It is important to keep your model figure in Paris during the fashion shows. Sarina Lewis finds out how it’s done.
With the Paris fashion shows bringing out the coltish coathangers in force, there’s no better time to explore the food world of the ridiculously rich and sublimely skinny. From biodynamic bistros to guilt-free gourmet, eating for pleasure (sans pounds) is easy when you have the right addresses. So, without further ado, consider this your little black book for Paris fashion week feasting. Eat well without anxiety - we promise that curve-hugging Gaultier will still zip.
Budget bio
“See,” says my slender Parisian lunching companion, “here, we are 90 per cent women.” Located just off the rue Montorgueil in the fashionable Etienne Marcel district, Eat Me (38 rue Leopold Bellan, +33 142 361 828, EUR12.50 three-course lunch) is as close as you will find to a calorie-counting salad bar in the city of Paris. The brainchild of chefs Didier Oudill and Edgar Duhr, the focus is on fresh, light and creative cuisine free from every model’s nemeses - sugar and fat. No surprises, then, at the groups of slimly chic young women surveying the day’s beautifully presented offerings: perhaps tangy feta and cucumber soup, or a salad of citrus-marinated chicken and fresh herbs. The space is as elegantly modern as the menu and - with Etienne Marcel forming the heart of the urban fashion district - great post-lunch shopping is assured.
Across the Seine, Les Quatre et Une Saveurs (72 rue Cardinal-Lemoine, +33 143 268 880, EUR10 main or EUR20 three-course lunch) attracts a more eclectic crowd with its macrobiotic, organic and mainly vegetarian fare (Gwyneth would feel right at home.) Clear-skinned boho-types sip organic wine before digging in to a tofu souffle - an interesting take on the classic French dish - or getting their Omega 3 fix with a flaky fillet of steamed fish and ginger. But while the cuisine is au naturel, you had best leave the tie-dye at home: behind the Pantheon and around the corner from the hip Mouffetard quarter, the dress code is strictly avant-garde. So you can have your macrobiotic cake and still fit your Miu Miu, too.
Establishment
Welcome to Avenue Montaigne, where dark glasses are de rigueur, furs are not faux and bodyguards, not Birkins, are the accessory of choice. In the midst of these high-end boutiques and luxe-loving ladies is L’Avenue (41 av Montaigne, +33 140 701 491, EUR30 two-course average), the famed brasserie where everybody’s a somebody and fashion is as much a talking point as the food. Just a hop, skip and a strut from the Grand Palais - venue for many a fashion show - the off-duty models and fashion-industry insiders know how to keep lunch light: think a glass of fresh carrot juice, tuna steak in a balsamic reduction, then a good coffee to finish. Follow their lead and save the gluttony for Gucci.
From eighth arrondissement elegance to St Germain groove, the Alcazar (62 rue Mazarine, +33 153 101 999, EUR25 lunch menu) is another long-standing brasserie where the fashionably slender will always find sustenance. In the heart of the quarter’s famed shopping district, the sleek interior is the perfect backdrop for an entertainingly haughty clientele. Ever-popular here is the “menu minceur”, a calorie-conscious selection for those seeking something more than naked lettuce leaves and sparkling water. Or try the scallop Caesar, a lighter take on the traditionally richly dressed salad.
Gourmet
Two of the biggest names in French culinary circles, Alain Ducasse and Joel Robuchon lay claim to a constellation of Michelin stars between them. But while restraint is hardly an haute cuisine signature, both Ducasse and Robuchon have seen fit to establish guilt-free gastro temples for those firm in their belief that legumes do not a legitimate lunch make.
At Spoon Food and Wine (14 rue Marignan, +33 140 763 444, ?25-38), elegant couples and coolly clad business types go for tapas-size tastes of steamed shrimp ravioli, seared scallops on a Thai salad or soft-boiled eggs with sea urchin. The menu encourages mixing and matching, the perfect alternative for those seeking a way out of the three-course conundrum. Just a few metro stops away, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (5 rue de Montalembert, +33 142 225 656) operates along similar lines. The bar set-up centres around the open kitchen where sassy Left Bankers sample smoked Norwegian salmon, carpaccio of scallops or Spanish ham.
Lacking nothing in flavour, the smaller portions confirm what every good Parisian fashionista knows - a little bit of what you fancy does you good.
Where to stay
Fashion week calls for fashionable digs. In the heart of the old garment district, the Hotel Petit Moulin was converted from the oldest bakery in Paris (dating from Henry IV). Double rooms in the Christian Lacroix-designed hotel start from EUR180.
Hotel Petit Moulin, 29/31 rue du Poitou, +33 142 741 010. hoteldupetitmoulin.com