Géosmine

If you can’t get into Septime—which, unless you know someone, is almost certainly the case—then book a table at this new tasting menu spot instead. It’s in a different part of the same restaurant-packed 11th arrondissement, but has a similar look and feel: there’s exposed stone, wooden wingback chairs, and hip-hop playing overhead. The ground floor tables look down into the wine cave, but if you come during the day, the best place to sit is upstairs under the skylights. Fish is the focus for the 5-course, €79 lunch and 8-course, €109 dinner, where you’ll find things like Normandy scallops fermented in tomato sauce, smoked eel with spinach and sage, and a red mullet in a bouillabaisse dressing. Pace yourself, because if the simple-sounding chocolate mousse is still on the menu for dessert, it’s anything but.