Restaurant in Paris, France
Serious south-west French cooking, fair price.
Jacques Faussat is one of Paris's stronger cases for serious French regional cooking without a €€€€ price tag. Michelin's Remarkable designation and a 4.6 Google rating across 658 reviews confirm consistent delivery on south-west French produce anchored in the Gers tradition. Book for a celebration dinner or long weekday lunch, request counter seating if dining solo, and reserve at least a week ahead.
If you are weighing Jacques Faussat against the bigger-name Gascon table in Paris, Le Violon d'Ingres is the obvious comparison. Both occupy the €€€ tier and champion French regional cooking with genuine conviction. The difference is that Jacques Faussat, on a quieter stretch of Rue Cardinet in the 17th arrondissement, operates at a more intimate scale and with a more personal stamp. For a special meal that does not require a €€€€ budget, this is one of the stronger cases in Paris for booking without hesitation.
Jacques Faussat has been cooking the food of Gers here long enough that the address and the chef have become effectively synonymous. His training lineage runs through Michel Guérard and, most formatively, Alain Dutournier at the Trou Gascon — a decade in that kitchen, under another Gers-born chef, clearly shaped both his palate and his philosophy. What that lineage produces at this address is a cuisine rooted in south-west French produce: intelligently sourced, handled with restraint, and priced at a level that Michelin's own assessors have flagged as eater-friendly for the quality on offer. The Michelin Guide designates the restaurant in its Remarkable category, which in practical terms means the cooking clears a meaningful bar without the price tag of a starred room.
The dining room itself is small. That matters for how you should plan your visit. At this scale, every seat feels considered rather than incidental, and the pace of service is slower and more attentive than you would find at a larger bistro. For a celebration dinner or a serious business lunch where conversation matters as much as the food, the format works in your favour. The room is not a backdrop for a scene — it is a room built around the cooking and the people eating it.
Counter or bar seating at a restaurant like Jacques Faussat changes the meal in a specific way: you are closer to the sourcing conversation. In a kitchen this focused on produce from a particular region of France, the opportunity to ask about what is on the plate and where it came from is genuinely part of the value. If you are dining solo or as a pair with an interest in French regional cooking, counter seating here is worth requesting specifically. It is a more direct version of the meal , less theatre, more transparency. Compare this to the counter format at a technically ambitious room like Kei, where the counter is primarily about watching precision; at Jacques Faussat, it is more about proximity to the ingredients and the logic behind them.
For context on what counter dining at a high-conviction regional French table can look like elsewhere in France, Flocons de Sel in Megève and Bras in Laguiole both reward guests who engage directly with the kitchen team. Jacques Faussat operates at a different price point, but the underlying philosophy , produce first, technique in service of flavour , is recognisably in that tradition.
Reservations: Book ahead, particularly for dinner mid-week. The room is small and fills consistently given the Michelin recognition and the Google rating of 4.6 across 658 reviews , a signal of steady, reliable quality rather than hype. Hours: Monday to Friday, lunch 12 PM–2:30 PM and dinner 7:30 PM–10 PM. Closed Saturday and Sunday , plan accordingly if you are visiting Paris on a weekend itinerary. Budget: €€€, with pricing described by Michelin as eater-friendly for the category. Address: 54 Rue Cardinet, 75017 Paris.
The 17th arrondissement is not the first neighbourhood most visitors think of for a destination meal, but that is part of why Jacques Faussat is worth considering. Nearby, Anecdote and 19.20 by Norbert Tarayre serve the same part of the city, but neither operates with the same depth of regional focus. For traditional French cooking anchored to a specific terroir, this address is the more committed choice in the arrondissement.
If you are building a broader Paris itinerary, see our full Paris restaurants guide for the complete picture, and our Paris hotels guide if you need a base nearby. For evenings that extend beyond dinner, our Paris bars guide covers the options.
For those interested in how Jacques Faussat's regional French approach compares to other serious traditional tables around France, the cooking shares a common thread with Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern, Troisgros in Ouches, and Paul Bocuse in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or , each representing a different strand of French regional identity cooked at a high level. Also worth cross-referencing for similar produce-driven conviction: Mirazur in Menton and Cave à Vin & à Manger in Narbonne.
If traditional regional cooking beyond France interests you, Coto de Quevedo Evolución in Torre de Juan Abad is a comparable exercise in serious regional produce-led cooking at a thoughtful price point. And for a Paris lunch that offers something adjacent in spirit but different in format, Allard and 20 Eiffel are both worth considering depending on what you want from the day.
Jacques Faussat is the right booking if you want serious south-west French cooking in a room that takes the food as seriously as you do, without spending €€€€ to sit there. The Michelin Remarkable designation and a 4.6 Google rating across a large review base both point in the same direction: this is a restaurant that consistently delivers on what it promises. Book it for a celebration dinner, a long business lunch, or any meal where you want the cooking to be the conversation. Do not show up without a reservation.
Yes, and counter seating makes it a better solo experience than most restaurants at this price point. Dining alone here puts you closer to the kitchen and its logic, which suits anyone with a genuine interest in south-west French produce and technique. The room's small scale means solo diners do not feel marooned at a table for four. Request counter seating when you book.
The room is small, so groups of more than four should contact the restaurant directly before assuming availability. At this scale, a large group booking needs advance coordination. For groups wanting a private or semi-private experience in Paris at the €€€ tier, it is worth asking specifically what the room can accommodate rather than assuming flexibility.
The Michelin assessors flag produce quality and flavour coherence as the kitchen's strengths, rooted in ingredients from Gers and the south-west French tradition. Follow what is being pushed on the day , this is a kitchen that cooks to its produce, not to a fixed greatest-hits menu. Trust the set menu format if it is offered; it is likely to show the cooking at its most deliberate.
Lunch is the stronger value play. At the €€€ price range, a weekday lunch at a Michelin-recognised table in Paris almost always delivers more for your money than the equivalent dinner. The hours run 12 PM–2:30 PM Monday to Friday, giving you a genuine sit-down window. Dinner suits special occasions where the pace matters as much as the price. Either service works; lunch wins on value.
Counter or bar seating is worth requesting if available , see the counter experience section above. At a room this size and this focused on regional produce, proximity to the kitchen adds something to the meal that a standard table does not. Confirm availability when booking, as counter seats are limited at a venue of this scale.
No dress code is published, but the Michelin Remarkable designation and the €€€ price point set the tone. Smart casual is the right call , Paris dining at this level expects you to make an effort without requiring a jacket. Avoid anything you would wear to a casual bistro lunch; err toward the neater end of your wardrobe.
Three things: the kitchen is rooted in south-west French cooking from Gers, not a broad Parisian brasserie menu, so expect a focused and regional point of view. The room is small, which means the experience is quieter and more personal than most Paris restaurants at this tier. And the pricing, flagged by Michelin as eater-friendly, means you are getting more on the plate than the €€€ bracket often delivers. Book in advance, engage with the menu, and let the kitchen lead.
Book at least one to two weeks ahead for dinner, and a few days ahead for weekday lunch. The restaurant's Michelin recognition and consistent Google rating mean demand is steady rather than spiked by hype. That said, the room is small enough that last-minute availability will be unpredictable. Booking early costs you nothing and removes the uncertainty.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Jacques Faussat | €€€ | — |
| Plénitude | €€€€ | — |
| Pierre Gagnaire | €€€€ | — |
| Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen | €€€€ | — |
| Kei | €€€€ | — |
| Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V | €€€€ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Yes, and it is one of the more comfortable solo options in the Paris €€€ bracket. The room is small, the service is close, and the chef's Gascon cooking gives you something to think about between courses. A table for one at lunch is the lower-commitment entry point given the mid-week hours.
Groups are possible but the room size works against you. Parties of four or five are manageable; larger groups should call ahead to check availability, since the dining room fills consistently and isn't built around big-table formats. This is a better booking for two or three than for six.
The menu follows Gascon tradition shaped by Jacques Faussat's decade at Le Trou Gascon under Alain Dutournier, so expect produce-led south-west French cooking rather than elaborate tasting menus. The Michelin recognition specifically notes flavour-forward, intelligently sourced dishes at eater-friendly prices — follow that logic and order what reads most seasonal.
Lunch at €€€ in Paris almost always offers the stronger value proposition, and Jacques Faussat fits that pattern. Service runs 12–2:30 PM Monday to Friday. Dinner (7:30–10 PM) is the more relaxed, less time-pressured sitting if you want the full experience without the midday clock. The restaurant is closed Saturday and Sunday.
Counter or bar seating, if available, gets you closer to the kitchen and the sourcing conversation — a different dynamic than a full table. check the venue's official channels to confirm bar availability, as the venue database does not specify seating formats.
The €€€ price point and Michelin recognition suggest a neat, pulled-together look rather than formal dress. Jacques Faussat's cooking is rooted in Gascon simplicity rather than haute ceremony, so treat it like a serious Paris bistro: no tie required, but trainers and shorts would feel out of place.
The restaurant is in the 17th arrondissement, not a neighbourhood most visitors target first, which keeps the room feeling local rather than tourist-facing. The cooking traces a direct line from Michel Guérard and Alain Dutournier through ten years at Le Trou Gascon — if you know that reference, you know what register to expect. Book ahead; the room is small and fills on Michelin reputation alone.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
