Gold medal dining: Where to eat in Paris during the 2024 Olympics

The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, better known as Paris 2024, will see millions of sport-loving visitors descend on the French capital.

Athletes will be running, swimming, jumping, rowing and more from Jul 26 until Aug 14, but restaurants are expected to be busy for weeks prior and post, meaning that you’ll need to act fast to reserve some of the hottest tables in town.

We’ve pulled together seven of the very best, across different cuisines, so bon appetit!

114 FAUBOURG AT LE BRISTOL PARIS

Le Bristol is a home of culinary heavy hitters including the three Michelin-starred Epicure, but the hotel’s relaxed brasserie with a luxury twist is another draw for gastronomes in the know – and also boasts a star of its own.

Set over two floors, 114 Faubourg’s lively open kitchen lets you hear ‘Oui chef!’ at regular intervals and ensures that creative energy pervades the dining room.

On the menu, highlights include an elegant fillet of John Dory with smoked tarama, potato gnocchi and a beurre blanc studded with trout eggs. This being France, there are also no fewer than four dedicated sommeliers to ensure the perfect pairing from Le Bristol’s legendary wine cellars.

The brasserie takes its name from the hotel’s famous address on Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, an haute couture destination par excellence, if you feel the need to stock up at Hermes, Givenchy or Yves Saint Laurent following your luxurious meal.

BENOIT

Paris has many bistros, but few can match the storied history of Benoit which opened the same year that the Titanic sank – way back in 1912. For the past two decades it has been under the very attentive gaze of the maestro Alan Ducasse, but the menus continue to celebrate classic dishes which have been loved for decades.

On my most recent visit, a solo diner was tucking into 12 escargots swimming in garlic butter – that she washed down with a bottle of something crisp and white. It’s that sort of truly Parisian place, where there are no rules – other than enjoying yourself.

Stellar onion soup, perfect foie gras and a famous ‘cassoulet maison’ are just some of the distractions, while a three-course lunch menu at just €39 (US$42; S$57) for a starter, main and dessert remains a brilliant bargain.

As you sink further into the red velvet seats and admire the range of copper pans, brace yourself for sensational desserts such as an Armagnac savarin with lightly whipped cream.

BRASSERIE FOUQUET’S PARIS

Few names are as synonymous with French dining as Fouquet’s, an elegant brasserie at the crossroads of the Champs-Elysees and Avenue Georges V that has been serving the great and the good since 1899.

The wood-panelled walls are dotted with black-and-white photos of movie stars, musicians, politicians and sporting heroes from over the decades, while the restaurant’s signature red awning with gold script has become iconic in its own right. While indoors is charming, the terrace is where you’ll want to be, thanks to a legendary backdrop overlooking the majestic Arc de Triomphe.

Today the menu is seriously high-end for a brasserie thanks to the multiple Michelin star winning Chef Pierre Gagnaire overseeing it. Fabulous shellfish, oeufs mayonnaise, cheesy onion soup, sole Meunière and beef tartare are just some of the plates that have France’s beau monde – high society – coming back time and again.

Be sure to leave room for seriously decadent desserts. Because calories don’t count when you’re travelling, right?

HAKUBA, CHEVAL BLANC PARIS

An Art Deco architectural pearl in the heart of the city, the former department store La Samaritaine was turned into the stunning Cheval Blanc property overlooking La Seine.

Its biggest culinary draw is the remarkable Plenitude from chef Arnaud Donckele, which astonished the French culinary world by being awarded three Michelin stars just months after opening. It is fully booked more than six months in advance, however, so during The Olympics, their new Japanese spot Hakuba should be on your list.

At Hakuba, Donckele has partnered with Japanese sushi master Takuya Watanabe and head pastry chef Maxime Frederic for an Omakase menu. Dishes may include marinated red mullet grilled over binchotan with koji, flawless tamago or the finest red tuna available.

Hakuba’s decor also immerses diners in all things Japan thanks to a Tsukubai stone fountain, wood and tableware from Kyoto and Fukuoka.

MARSAN BY HELENE DARROZE

Paris’ always-chic Left Bank is home to Marsan by Helene Darroze, one of France’s greatest chefs – and also the inspiration behind Colette in the Pixar animation smash Ratatouille.

Darroze has returned to the same spot where she debuted more than two decades previously, No 4 Rue d’Assas, today in a new flagship incarnation named after the town where she was born, Marsan in France’s southwestern Landes region.

After opening in 2019, the restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars two years later and holds them to this day for cuisine that reflects the terroir where Darroze grew up. Consequently, expect dishes that celebrate local ingredients like duck and Armagnac, but also involve global techniques and influences like tandoor cooking, Japanese dashi or Vietnamese herbs.

For those seeking more intimate venues, Marsan offers two private dining rooms, but it’s the six-seat chef’s table that is arguably the most coveted.

There, dishes like wild blueberries with Izarra, sheep bush, pastis croutons and sprouts of tagete may well have you asking for an explanation, but creations like

smoked chocolate hazelnut cream with chocolate sorbet and vanilla hazelnut praline need are very clearly the definition of delicious.

MATSUHISA PARIS, LE ROYAL MONCEAU – RAFFLES PARIS

A very familiar brand in the form of Raffles comes at Le Royal Monceau hotel just steps from the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Elysees. They are going all out for the Games, stating with celebratory cocktails named for previous Olympics.

Their Mexico 1968 is a twist on the classic margarita with kumquat and coriander, while understandably London 2012 is a gin-based classic with grapefruit and bergamot.

What’s more, the hotel’s Art Gallery features a special exhibition of Games memorabilia including The Olympic Manifesto by Pierre de Coubertin, Muhammad Ali's boxing glove from Rome in 1960 and a basketball signed by the Dream Team including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing.

But dining is another winner as options include Matsuhisa Paris for contemporary Nikkei – Peruvian-Japanese –  from the master Nobu Matsuhisa.

Expect expert sushi, their famous yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno and yuzu, then maybe Wagyu toban yaki before sublime desserts including Nobu-San’s signature cheesecake, mochi and bento boxes of fruit.

DUCASSE SUR SEINE

Finally, to a way to dine in a whole different light, namely on board a romantic daytime or night-time cruise through the City of Light with cuisine curated by the master Alain Ducasse, the world’s most Michelin-awarded chef with his restaurants totalling an astonishing 21 stars between them.

The boat is a sleek and 100 per cent electric beauty, naturally featuring wrap-around windows, which glides silently and effortlessly to give you a whole new angle on the city’s wealth of monuments and iconic sights. This is a true restaurant on the water, as no fewer than 36 chefs work in the fully equipped kitchen on menus offering multiple choices.

A remoulade of celeriac with green caviar and Kristal caviar is a fine way to start, then maybe slow-cooked lamb shoulder with aubergine, yoghurt and coriander. Desserts are just as beautifully plated, while his rhubarb with goat’s curd and shiso is a masterclass in restraint.

In the evening, your culinary journey ends in true style under the illuminated Eiffel Tower for the ultimate Paris moment.