Underground in the foyer of la Madeleine you will find the best meal deal in Paris. It is favored by bankers, shoppers, “ladies who lunch,” and the financially challenged who gather in an ambience of conviviality that crosses all cultural barriers.

As the capital of cuisine and birthplace of the restaurant, Paris is a destination for “foodies” and cooks but it also represents a Paris state of mind where an elegant design, amiable service and an air of sophistication are as important as the food–Welcome to Le Boeuf sur Le Toit.

In the heyday of les années folles you might have discovered Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, Man Ray, Fujita, or the irrepressible Kiki at the bar, or, on the terrace. And today, Terrance, M, Martin Walker, and Tiffany Hofstetter, discussing politics, art, theatre, literature-ah well, the gamut of culture. We had just seen a a great play at the Lucernaire, on the life of the acerbic critic and author Dorothy Parker, and perhaps inspired by her ever present bottle of Jack Daniels, M and I trotted around the corner to Select for a drink.

It was one of those far niente days and I was meeting my friend Albert on the just remodeled Emporio Armani Caffé for lunch and a view of the passing parade. Across the blvd. Saint-Germain from the Café de Flore it attracts many of the same clients: actors, actresses, writers, and elegant shoppers who choose it for a business meeting, a quiet meal with a friend or lover or even alone as the charming woman to my left.

Walk in and take a step back in time to 1952-George Plimpton , Richard Wright and the ever lingering ghost of Josef Roth. Fortunately the new owners have done nothing to update the café and it looks much as it did in the halcyon days of the 1950s.

What do you give a man on his 67th birthday? M had the answer: dinner at La Méditerranée.

It was Saturday Jan 2 and most bistros were closed for the extended New Year’s holiday. Sandwiched between Huiterie Regis and the Golfe de Naples we discovered the Mandarin, a family-owned and operated Thai restaurant with a Chinese name and a few Vietnamese dishes.

Often proclaimed as Paris’ first café, it was opened by Francesco Procopio Del Cotelli in 1686 and was the meeting place of Ben Franklin, Denis Diderot and Voltaire, who was known to consume up to 40 cups per day. Many of the great thoughts of the Age of Enlightenment were developed here.