After a massive renovation by the restaurateur Gérard-Joulie Les Grandes Marches reopened late in 2012. Adjacent to the Paris Opéra Bastille it can accommodate over  300 diners on two levels and the 60 seat terrace. An ideal spot for a pre-performance cocktail or post concert dinner we arrived for dinner while the sun (long absent) this year was still shining and were seated at a booth underneath a photograph of Maria Callas and facing the winding staircase that leads to the upper salon reminiscent of a 1920s ocean liner.

It was Friday night and this recently hip section of a very large arrondissement was hopping. A young crowd was packing the bars along the rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud that had heretofore been boucheries and boulangeries.

Since the 1950s the intellectuals, writers, actors, filmmakers who form the cultural elite of Paris have made Rosebud a preferred spot for late-night cocktails or a cozy meal.

Off the beaten tourist path in the 15th arrondissement discerning diners are discovering pleasures worth the trip. Young chef Guillaume Delage brings an innovative approach to classic seasonal dishes and his wife charms the front of the house.

I first heard about this quaint bistro nestled off the beaten track in the 13th from my pal Alec Lobrano, author of Hungry for Paris but my introduction was from Barbara Wild of French gardening.

At the end of a morning of shopping for Sunday dinner at the Marché d’Aligre I can often be found sipping a glass of red from the extensive list of wines, some for as little as 2.5 euros a glass, accompanied by a plate of rillettes de porc with a bowl of cornichons that could easily satisfy two persons at this local institution.

Just a few blocks from the République metro station at the junction of the northern end of the Marais and the 11th arrondissement Frederic Hubig of Café Moderne has applied his talents into turning this classic old Paris bistro into a vibrant bistro du coin that attracts diners from all over Paris or like the couple seated to my left from Mexico City.