Le Bar
The bar at the Four Seasons Hotel George V is essentially the platonic ideal of a hotel bar. It’s slightly hidden off the lobby; inside, it’s all wooden panels. There are paintings of boats and horses, and a long, no-nonsense bar top with a captain behind it constantly cracking blisteringly cold martini shakers over martini glasses. Crafting a hotel bar is, apparently, a lost art—way too much attention is paid in the States to making the space archly designed. Which is totally unnecessary. Make no mistake: This place is fancy. It’s just not gaudy in any way. A good goal, in general.
Le Petit Journal
Jon Neidich is New York’s leading downtown hospitality guru, and he loves a French bistro. Manhattan has two locations of Le Dive, a Paris-by-way-of-Dimes-Square wine bar, and his new spot, Saint Denis, is on Houston Street. So perhaps it was inevitable that he’d make the leap and open an actual spot in Paris in the storied jazz-head haunt Le Petit Journal, which will still offer full-band performances on select nights.
Bar Vendôme
Never count out the bar at the Ritz. It’s the only place I’ve ever seen the world’s two biggest art dealers, Larry Gagosian and David Zwirner, coincidentally seated for lunch at the same time.
Hôtel Costes
Late at night, you go to Costes. Conveniently located right by Gagosian’s Place Vendôme gallery, it’s the reliable post-dinner hang in Paris—though bear in mind that dinner around here wraps up around 1 a.m.
