Parisians, as we all know, love to eat well, so you’ll find a boulangerie, a pâtisserie, a fromagerie and other food shops in just about every neighborhood. But there are a few streets in Paris where you’ll find an especially dense concentration of these shops, streets I call culinary streets (like Rue Montorgueil, which I wrote about before). Still, none of them impressed me quite like a relatively unknown street in the heart of the Batignolles neighborhood, with an almost Jewish-sounding name: Rue de Lévis.
What’s so impressive about a street that’s neither long nor short, and has no buildings with any special architecture? The food, of course. I’ve visited quite a few culinary streets in Paris, and I don’t remember a concentration like this one, with several shops whose owners have earned the MOF title (Meilleur Ouvrier de France, awarded to the best professionals in their field) per square kilometer.
So if you consider yourself a foodie, I invite you to join me (virtually) on a visit that’s one long love letter to French cuisine (and not only French, as you’ll see): a tour that will wake up your taste buds and make you want to run out and eat something.
So forget your diet for a moment, and let’s get going.
The history of Rue de Lévis
As some of you know, my love for Paris comes first and foremost from my love of its history, so before we head out on our culinary journey, let’s step into the time machine for a few minutes and learn a bit about this street, which has existed in one form or another for hundreds of years.
Let’s go back in time, many years before Baron Haussmann (Georges-Eugène Haussmann, 1809-1891) rebuilt Paris and annexed quite a few villages that became its outer arrondissements. In those days, the whole area was essentially a forest, containing a few villages that would later become parts of the 17th arrondissement: Clichy and Batignolles.
An ancient road ran through the forest, dating back to the days when Paris was called Lutetia, leading west to the village of Argenteuil and east to the Porte Saint-Honoré, which once stood not far from Rue Royale. In 1429, Joan of Arc (c. 1412-1431) marched along this very road with her army on her way to Paris, trying to free it from the English and their allies (an attempt that failed). This is Rue de Lévis.
How did this road get the name Lévis? No, despite the Jewish-sounding name, the place wasn’t named after the Levy family. The street is named after the House of Lévis, one of the oldest noble families in Paris, which some claim had a member baptized alongside Clovis, the first king of France, in the early 6th century.
This was a very large family, with no fewer than 12 branches (only one of which survives today), that gave France quite a few dukes, generals and more. One of them, the Marquis de Lévis (Marc-Antoine, marquis de Lévis, 1739-1784), owned the Château de Monceau, which once covered a large part of the neighborhood and was demolished in 1840. This is the Lévis who gave the street its name.
Speaking of the Marquis de Lévis, it’s worth noting that his wife, Madeleine Grimod de La Reynière (1744-1776), was the sister of Alexandre Balthazar Laurent Grimod de La Reynière (1758-1837).
Alexandre is considered one of the great gastronomes in history, and he certainly deserves an article of his own on this site. It’s interesting to note that Alexandre was the one who invented the concept of shops that buy directly from farmers and sell their produce in the city (until then, buying and selling took place only in the markets). As we’ll see, whether by coincidence or not, this street, named after his brother-in-law, became a “mecca” for exactly these kinds of shops.
Before we dive into the food shops, it’s worth noting that although much of the area became an upscale neighborhood during the 19th century, home to quite a few of Paris’s “who’s who” (you can explore the area on the walking route The Secrets of the Courtesan Quarter), this particular street was considered a street of working-class people.
So it’s no surprise that at number 8 on the street there once stood a club frequented by some of the most famous left-wing figures of the 19th century, including the feminist Louise Michel (1830-1905) and the famous writer Victor Hugo (1802-1885). There, they used to float radical political ideas, and when tempers flared, the club’s members would take to the street shouting “death to the bourgeoisie.” Today, the place has become a shop selling coffee, spices and more, and nothing is left of that political fire.
Instead, we’re left with a street of bakeries, cheese shops, fruit, vegetables and meat, alongside cafés and restaurants. In my opinion, a good meal beats political arguments any day, so all that’s left for us to do is walk among the food shops and build ourselves the ultimate meal.
The culinary stronghold of Rue de Lévis
Before we start our tour of the street, I want to point out that because of the sheer variety of shops, cafés and restaurants, I decided to focus only on the food shops located on the street itself, and didn’t visit the shops on the side streets branching off from Rue de Lévis. I also barely mentioned any restaurant or café on the street, since I haven’t actually eaten there. If I ever have a good meal at a restaurant there, I promise to add it to the list of recommended restaurants in Paris.
Instead of a map: under the heading of each stop you’ll find its address, and every address is a link. Click it, and the place will open right away in Google Maps.
Maison Marques
Address: 6 rue de Lévis
This is a boulangerie owned by Carlos Marques, with two more branches, one in the suburb of Asnières and the other in Malmaison, where Joséphine, Napoleon’s wife, once lived.
The first thing you notice is the line snaking outside the shop (I’ve been in the area several times, and the line never changes). Since, as far as I know, they’re not handing out free gold here, the reason for the shop’s popularity must be the quality of its products.
What will you find here? Breads of every kind (including a gluten-free loaf, the shop’s pride), classic cakes (like the Paris-Brest) and more modern ones too. The shop also serves a sweet brunch and a savory brunch, and you can enjoy its cakes at the tables outside (perfect for a coffee break).
La Fine Marée
Address: 7 rue de Lévis
An excellent fish and seafood shop, owned by Stéphane Minot, who was awarded the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF for short) for his work. The shop carries catch from the Atlantic Ocean, fished off the coasts of Brittany and Normandy. You’ll find plenty of types of fish, salmon smoked right there on the premises, and they’ll even happily put together a seafood platter for you! What more could a seafood lover ask for?
Italian Cucina
Address: 9 rue de Lévis
Love Italian food? This shop exists just for you. You’ll find Italian cured meats, fresh pasta, dishes like lasagna, and of course homemade tiramisu. A quick stop here and you’ve got yourself an excellent lunch (true, it’s not exactly French cuisine, but I’ll forgive you for that).
La Maison des Cyclades
Address: 21 rue de Lévis
A deli selling fresh Greek food, free of artificial flavors, scents or preservatives. You’ll find excellent taramasalata (fish roe salad), phyllo pastries with spinach, and hot food too, all served with a smile and excellent service.
If you like, you can sit outside and enjoy the shop’s delicacies for lunch (stuffed grape leaves, octopus salad, and much more).
Arnaud Delmontel
Address: 25 rue de Lévis
Arnaud Delmontel is considered one of the best bakers in France, and he even won first place in the baguette competition in 2007. Beyond excellent bread, you’ll find mousse cakes here too, like La Framboisine, and dry cakes, with the shop’s pride being its Cake Citron.
Link to the pâtisserie’s website
Le Bilot du Coin
Address: 25 rue de Lévis
Almost every shop I’ve mentioned so far is part of a chain, but not this one. This is a butcher shop that, since it opened, has existed only on this street.
Here you’ll find everything you’d expect from a self-respecting Parisian butcher shop: beef, lamb, pork, poultry, sausages and more. True, if you’re not staying in an apartment (ideally nearby), you won’t be able to buy much beyond sausages. But if you have an apartment and even a little will to cook… what a culinary feast you could create from everything on offer here!
Boucherie Centrale Lévis
Address: 26 rue de Lévis
Not far from the previous butcher shop, there’s another family-run butcher shop selling beef, poultry and more.
You’ll also find several kinds of homemade pâté and grilled chicken, whose wonderful smell made me want to stop everything and sit down to eat it right there (sadly, I had nowhere to do that, otherwise my walk would have ended right there).
Jeff de Bruges
Address: 27 rue de Lévis
True, this is a chain with quite a few shops across France, and sure, there are more highly regarded chocolatiers out there, but… if you’re looking to bring a box of good-quality pralines to the office (or home) without going broke, Jeff de Bruges is a perfectly legitimate option.
Poilâne
Address: 39 rue de Lévis
The legendary Poilâne shop is on Rue du Cherche-Midi, in the Saint-Germain neighborhood, but if you’re craving its special bread and happen to be in the area, you won’t need to trek all the way to the 6th arrondissement.
For those who don’t know, Poilâne’s “flagship” is a country loaf (pain Poilâne), each one weighing about 2 kilos. Pierre Poilâne first baked this bread in 1932, and the chain has been run by his family ever since.
But man cannot live on bread alone, so you’ll also find chausson aux pommes and a pear tart here, which over the years has also become legendary. In short, you’re fully covered on the carb front.
Fromage et Détail
Address: 43 rue de Lévis
Bought bread at Poilâne or at one of the other bakeries I wrote about here, and now it’s time to spread some butter and add cheese? After all, you can’t eat bread with nothing on it, right?
That’s exactly what Fromage et Détail is for: a shop where you’ll find a long list of cheeses from every region of France, fresh eggs and of course bright yellow butter, cut to order with a wire.
Chocolate Alain Ducasse
Address: 44 rue de Lévis
They weren’t especially friendly, and unlike the other shops, they wouldn’t let me take photos inside (even though I told them I was the long-lost brother of a famous chocolatier). But hey, this is Alain Ducasse’s chocolate shop, and since they make heavenly chocolate, they can probably afford to be like that.
Le Cacaotier
Address: 46 rue de Lévis
Looking for very high-quality chocolate without the salesperson looking down on you? All you have to do is walk a few steps from Alain Ducasse’s shop and step into Hubert Masse’s shop, called Le Cacaotier.
Hubert is passionate about everything related to cacao, and since 1995 he has been considered one of the best chocolatiers in France. Hubert is involved from the very start of the chocolate-making process (meaning the growing of the cacao beans) all the way to the end, and the result is superb chocolate. You’ll find dark chocolate, milk chocolate, pralines and even jams. In short: everything a food lover needs to finish off a good meal (or just to snack on during the day).
Link to Hubert Masse’s website
La Belle-Iloise
Address: 49 rue de Lévis
This is a family-run factory shop for a company from Brittany, which produces canned fish caught around Quiberon and Belle Île, which also gave the company its name.
Here you’ll find not just sardines but other fish too, like tuna, and the company takes pride both in the quality of its catch and in the different artwork on every can (they hire a different artist each time to illustrate the cans). In my opinion, this is one of the best gifts you can bring friends from France, since it’s a gift that doesn’t spoil, looks great, and tastes wonderful too. In short, your friends will thank you, and they’ll send you right back to France for more.
Maison Le Bourdonnec
Address: 51 rue de Lévis
True, we’ve already visited a few butcher shops on our walk down Rue de Lévis, but you really shouldn’t skip this one, since this is a butcher shop that takes itself very seriously.
The motto here is quality first and quantity second, and you’ll find excellent cuts of meat, sausages and more. The prices are accordingly high, but you pay for quality, don’t you?
Link to the butcher shop’s website
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