Racines des Prés

Verdict

If you are choosing between Racines des Prés and a €€€€ institution like Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V or Plénitude, the calculus is direct: those rooms deliver grand ceremony and full Michelin-star billing; Racines des Prés delivers precise modern cooking in the 7th arrondissement at a price tier below, with a Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 confirming it is on the guide's radar. Book here when you want serious food in a quieter register, without the four-figure bill that comes with the palace-hotel circuit.

The Room

Racines des Prés occupies a compact address at 1 Rue de Gribeauval, a narrow residential street in the 7th, which sets the spatial tone before you step inside. The 7th is not a neighbourhood that trades on noise or foot-traffic theatre; it draws diners who planned to be there. That deliberate quality carries through to the dining room itself. Based on the address and format of a focused modern-cuisine operation in this part of Paris, expect an intimate, tightly edited room rather than a sprawling brasserie floor. Seating arrangements at venues of this type typically favour proximity between tables, which creates an atmosphere suited to conversation rather than spectacle. If you need a large group table or a semi-private arrangement, contact the restaurant directly before booking, as rooms of this scale rarely accommodate parties of six or more without prior arrangement.

Chef and Concept

Simone Tondo leads the kitchen. Modern cuisine at this price point in Paris, at a venue holding consecutive Michelin Plate recognitions, generally signals a menu built around technique, seasonal sourcing, a tight daily selection rather than an extensive à la carte. The Michelin Plate designation is not a star, but its appearance in two consecutive editions of the guide indicates the inspectors consider the cooking worth noting. For a food-and-wine explorer, that consistency matters more than a single-year appearance: it suggests the kitchen is not coasting. Peer context is useful here — for comparison with Tondo-era modern cuisine in the city, Accents Table Bourse and Anona occupy similar creative territory at comparable price tiers.

Wine Program

The editorial angle that matters most at a venue like Racines des Prés is how the wine list is built relative to the food. Modern-cuisine restaurants at the €€€ tier in Paris increasingly invest in natural, low-intervention, small-producer selections as a deliberate counterpoint to the grand cellar model of the palace restaurants. Without specific list data available, we cannot detail producers or pricing by the bottle, but the Michelin Plate context and the modern-cuisine positioning suggest a list chosen to complement the kitchen's style rather than to impress by volume. For a wine-focused visit, the practical move is to ask the team at booking what the list emphasises — natural versus conventional, French-regional depth versus international breadth, so you can calibrate expectations. If a deep, sommelier-driven cellar comparable to Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen is the priority, Racines des Prés is probably not the right room. If a focused, food-driven selection at prices that do not double your bill is what you need, this fits the profile. Explorers visiting France more broadly can also look at the wine programming at Flocons de Sel in Megève or Mirazur in Menton for a sense of how French regional wine lists are built at the leading end.

Booking and Timing

Racines des Prés is open seven days a week, both lunch and dinner, with lunch running 12:15 to 14:00 and dinner from 19:30 to 22:00. That Saturday and Sunday lunch availability is a practical asset: Michelin-recognised rooms in Paris that open all seven days are easier to schedule around than those with Monday or Tuesday closures. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which means you are unlikely to be shut out at two or three weeks' notice, but do not interpret that as a walk-in destination. For weekend evenings, book at least two weeks out. Weekday lunch is the most flexible window.

Who Should Book

Racines des Prés is the right choice for food-and-wine travellers who want modern cuisine in the 7th without the €€€€ pricing of the institutional French dining rooms, for Paris regulars looking for a Michelin-acknowledged room that is not yet generating long waiting lists. It works as a special dinner for two or a considered weekday lunch. It is less suited to large groups or diners for whom an extensive grand-cellar wine program is the primary draw. For further context on eating in the city, see our full Paris restaurants guide. For where to stay nearby, our Paris hotels guide covers the 7th and surrounding arrondissements. If you are building a wider France itinerary, Troisgros in Ouches, Bras in Laguiole, and Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern represent the benchmark for regional French dining at the three-star level. For modern cuisine outside France, Frantzén in Stockholm and Maison Lameloise in Chagny show how the format translates elsewhere. Paris bar and wine bar options are covered in our Paris bars guide and Paris wineries guide.

Quick reference: