I have not been in a year or so. Other places have been vying for my attention. I have had many, many great meals here. My wife is a pescatarian and we have never had a problem but we have dined here many times in the past and know Inaki.
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I love the hipster wines! I only wished Au Passage and Septime were open during our stint 
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Yard is where all the cool kids hang to drink Natural wine these days. And it is open on Sunday.
Also here is a tip I am hearing raves about this place from locals in the know:
Left Paris this morning. Not a ton of options given the August holiday but a memorable trip. Le Dauphin is just t place and was a great book end around Chateaubriand which was pretty good. Can throw some suggestions when I’m back stateside if anyone would find it helpful.
We left last Saturday. Le Cinq was the only high-end place open for August and lunch there was outstanding. So was the Ravenau Chablis at a decent price.
L’Ardoise and Lorraine were also very good.
Paris in August has much less traffic and it seemed like fewer tourists. It was hot but wonderful.
Hi Jerry;
I’ve been looking forward to the Le Cinq - Epicure comparison. Did you already dine there?
Thanks!
Yes - Epicure last December and Le Cinq just recently in September. More inventive modern style food at Le Cinq with the gratineed onions and black market beef, two outstanding dishes. Epicure has a better and more reasonably priced wine list, and also some classic dishes. Both are top tiered restaurants with great service and either would be a memorable night.
Just back from a trip to Paris. We decided to skip the higher end restaurants this trip and go more casual with less planning. It is amazing how fast the Paris restaurant scene changes.
First meal was at Les Enfants Du Marche in the open market in the Marais. Just outstanding French cuisine and overall experience. Despite the 40 or so degree weather it was a wonderful lunch and exactly the type of experience we were looking for this trip. My friend Aaron who joined us wrote one of the first reviews earlier this year.
For dinner we went to C.A.M. which is a Korean inspired, very casual, small plates restaurants frequented by many of the top chefs in Paris. The food inventive and overall excellent. The Chef from Les Enfants Du Marche joined us for dinner.
http://www.parisfoodaffair.com/c-a-m-import-export/
More to come…
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Some pictures from Lunch at Les Enfants du Marche on my instagram:
On to the next day. The only planning I did was to make a reservation at Septime. When we are arrived to a very warm welcome we were delighted to hear the Chef has prepared a special meal for you.
The “mashed potatoes” with caviar was particularly moving since it was Thanksgiving.
I’m interested going in early August next year.
A few more meals to add. We met a friend at Saturne for lunch. Chef greeted us warmly and asked if he could cook for us. The meal was absolutely stunning from top to bottom with every dish having what seemed like two very unique ingredients that just worked perfectly. I highly recommend checking out Saturne especially for lunch.
This ravioli dish with saffron was delicious:
Dinner that night was at Le Chateaubriand where we have been many times but have not gone on our last couple of trips. It was great to see Chef Inaki and the food was as delicious as always.
Lunch the next day was at Tour D’Argent. We go for the wine and my wife does not like the food however we have discovered if we ask for a vegetarian meal it actually seems to inspire the kitchen.
And lastly we had dinner with friends at Sur Mur. Sur Mur is owned by Thomas of Verre Vole and his wife Chef Olive. It is 100% seafood and it was spectacular for a casual meal of multiple types of fresh perfectly prepared seafood.
First, check the holiday schedules carefully. A lot of places will be closed and there won’t be easy tools like Yelp that us Americans lean on. Call if you can converse, will make your life much easier. In short, you’ll be slim picking, but can get by. The food blog linked here (Paris by Mouth) is thoroughly excellent
I would also pay attention to what service is truly open (e.g., for only lunch, both, or only wine shop in some cases). We had stopped by for lunch at Yard only to find the wine store was open but they were only serving dinner. We weren’t about to shlep back to Pierre Lachaise!
Places that were open: Chateaubriand, Freddy’s, Semilla (lunch iirc), Yard (dinner but missed it!!), Coutume (casual coffee / bite). Closed places include Au Passage, Compagnie vins sur naturrels, Ellsworth, Les Enfants Rouge, Buvette, Septime, Gare au Gorille, Juveniles, Verjus, Mr T. YMMV next year.
Cheers
@Tom - I’d be most concerned about smaller, independent shops, especially if they’re family owned. I’d go NUTS because my 75% of my local bakeries and butchers were closed. So, if you’re doing things like croissant challenges or hitting up cheese shops that “somebody told you about” (i.e. not Androuet), then you’ll want to call ahead before leaving for the day. You also may consider landing “Paris by Mouth” tours now, as they’ll plan an itinerary that takes these things into account.
Paris in late July/August is just a different beast and I guarantee you’ll be surprised at how much English you’ll hear in the streets and parks 
Other strong piece of advice, given August - grab a bottle of champagne and a back-up rose (look for Clos Canarelli at Le Bon Marche or Galleries), some cheese and charcuterie and do at least one night on the lawn at Jardin du Luxembourg. I don’t know that there’s an official “it’s ok to drink wine here” policy on the lawn between the hedge trees, but we had zero problems (and there is definitely a police presence). You’re going to have a blast!
Edited to include a picnic pic 
Thanks all.
Tom–My wife and I spent a week in Paris last August. Most 3 star restaurants were closed as well as many small shops. It was still wonderful and much less crowded than usual. Traffic was light all over the city and Uber worked well.
Before you go make sure you check Wendy Lyn’s website, she regularly posts about places that open in August (and during/after the end-of-year holidays). She lives there and does high-end tours of interesting places.