Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau

When you lived by the rue Montorgueil for nearly two decades, as far as food stores are concerned, one gets hard to impress. However, when Chef Gregory Marchand launched his now famous Frenchie restaurant, he moved the neighborhood’s food center of gravity. And contrary to the river it is named after, it’s a very short street, nonetheless packed with a high density of exceptional quality food.

You will find all you need rue du Nil, starting with fresh seasonal produce, bio label of course. Do not, under no circumstances, ask for strawberries in March, or asparagus in June. Just pick what’s offered on the stands, you can be sure they are the best you can get at the time you will prepare them.

Then there is the cheese monger, with an incredible fresh buratta twice per week, a clear competitor to our bellowed La Fermette, of the rue Montorgueil.

For the bread … let’s just say that the prices there aren’t only driven by the Ukrainian war-induced shortages. These bread are hard to equal and are worth every penny (euros, sorry).. The pastries are simple, but equally good, especially the Tarte aux pommes.

Fish monger of course, only local, only in season. You better get your seasonal fish straight before going there, or you’ll be nicely frown upon.

You prefer meat ? No problem.

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We mentioned earlier Gregory Marchand’s Frenchie, but forgot to say how difficult it is to actually eat there. Reservations need to be secured months ahead (yes, check it out).

And if you want to go last minute, an actual option, well, the waiting line starts around 6pm. For this reason, and also because one gets really hungry rue du Nil, he created Frenchie to go, which is to fast food what Mozart is to chamber music.

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So this is when you get to think nothing better can come toward a foodie’s life than those little 50m of street, right? Wrong, a few years later, Plaq came by, right in front of the boulangerie. But this need to be another story.