temples of cool

Paris may be the fashion capital of the world, but its bars and restaurants have always tended to forego fashion in favour of tradition. But that’s all changing…

by Adrian Moore

When it comes to cutting-edge places to party hard, Paris has sometimes been accused of falling behind other world capitals. Recently, however, it has seen a renaissance, with one exciting venue after the other opening its doors.

The Murano Urban Resort got the ball rolling by setting up its ultra-cool design hotel in the not-so-trendy district near the place de la République. A slew of new places to sleep, eat and party followed, with hotels that are so much more than just hotels being a focal point of this new energy...

* Black Calavados Opened earlier in the year by newly Parisian rocker Chris Cornell (from Audioslave and Soundgarden) and partners, the BC is surely one of the hottest nightspots in the city. Located in a 17th-century building, it has a restaurant on the upper level offering the requisite pricey French food dreamed up by a former Nobu Paris chef – think mini wagyu cheeseburgers, foie gras with popcorn and vodka gelée, and rock lobster tempura. The basement level club is where the young, wild and trendy congregate to drink, dance and pose until dawn. BC is flavour of the month for cutting-edge clubbers.

* Kube Rooms and Bars Sister property to the innovative Murano, this hotel opened last year in the La Chapelle neighbourhood, an area formerly known for its abundance of drug dealers and working girls rather than design temples. The Kube is in a former mansion, not too far from the Montmartre, and is dominated at the entranceway by an enormous, transparent glass cube that serves as a reception and welcome area – a striking combination of old and new.

The hotel contains the only ice bar in France (sponsored by Grey Goose vodka) which draws trendy crowds nightly. Everyone has to put on a stylish, high-tech overcoat to be protect against the –5° temperature of the bar. Then you have 30 minutes to guzzle as much vodka as you can swallow out of solid ice cups. A before-and-after bar is located in the hotel lobby, replete with faux fur coverings, classic design furniture and a DJ playing ambient electronic music to heat the crowd up again. The cube concept extends to the hotel’s bedrooms, which have cubic bathtubs and furniture as well as underlit “floating” beds.

* For an uncomplicated, more bohemian option, check out the new Hôtel Amour, located in the Little Athens quarter between the place Saint Georges and Pigalle districts. This 20-room boutique hotel, complete with courtyard restaurant and 24-hour bar, is the brainchild of grafitti artist, designer and entrepreneur André and one of the omnipresent Costes brothers (Paris’s coolest restaurateurs).

The hotel boasts its lack of services (no bellboy, receptionist or even televisions!), and has a remarkable vibe with its funky design sense, flea-market furniture, Terry Richardson photographs and – dare we say it – soul. When the sun shines, this place has one of the most happening terraces in the city.

* OZU Located within the recently reopened Trocadéro Aquarium complex on the Chaillot hill, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, this restaurant serves up the freshest of traditional Japanese raw cuisine to diners who are surrounded by immense aquarium walls teeming with aquatic life. The modern dining room is decorated with white oak furniture and overseen by life-sized samurai warriors in traditional garb. Go during lunchtime for prix-fixe meals (starting from €25) or in the evening for (much more expensive) gourmet tasting menus.

* The past few months have seen the opening of several unique museum restaurants, including the roof-level gourmet eatery in President Chirac’s new world culture museum, the Musée du Quai Branly. Les Ombres – so named because it’s literally in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower – has a magnificent view of France’s best-known landmark, and the chaotic, lattice-work ceiling is directly inspired by it.

The dining room, as well as the rest of the museum, was designed by cutting-edge architect Jean Nouvel, who oversaw everything, right down to the silverware. The kitchen, which serves a version of French fare inspired in part by the multi-cultural collection, is run by Arno Busquet, a young protégée of Joel Robuchon, one of France’s most highly regarded chefs.

* Hôtel du Nord Considered by many to be the headquarters and heart of the painfully hip Canal Saint Martin neighbourhood in the 10th arrondissement, this place used to be a hotel, made famous in a pre-war film of the same name. Now it has been taken over by a group of young promoters and investors and turned into a cosy, eclectic bar-cum-lounge-cum-restaurant complete with period furniture and a terrace with romantic canal views. The back room ‘library’ offers a charming escape from the bustle of the city, while seats on the terrace provide an ideal opportunity for people watching.