Welcome to another year of Paris restaurant reviews, favorites, and news!
In this first newsletter of 2026, I’m conscious that this will be our (gulp) fourth year of publishing on Substack. I’ve been writing about food in Paris for almost two decades, but this platform has really changed my life. Enabling you, our readers, to subscribe and support this work has ensured its sustainability.
We can continue to choose our restaurants thoughtfully, book anonymously, pay honestly, and share truthfully. Thanks to all of you who have subscribed, and for those of you who are still on the fence, thanks for reading these free posts! It’s crazy to be part of a community of more than 100k people who love Paris and food.
If I could change anything, or brazenly ask for more, it’s that I’d love to hear more from you. Ask questions! Tell me what you need! This has always been possible in the comments, but I’ve just added another feature to make that easier: the Paris by Mouth chat room.
I’d been waiting to turn on the Chat feature on Substack until I was sure to have the available time. But I think this is a great place for you to ask your questions and let me know what you’re looking for in Paris - a more useful version of the now archived “Ask the Mouth” article that had more than 1,500 comments and replies.
The Paris by Mouth chat room is a conversation space exclusively for subscribers—kind of like a group chat or live hangout. I’ll post questions and updates that come my way, and you can jump into the discussion.
The first question that I’ve just posted to the chat room is asking you whether you want to read the many recent change-ups in the world of Paris fine dining. In the last year, there have been many significant chef changes at fine dining (three star and two star) restaurants. Before I spend the time and money to investigate, do you care? Is anyone going to these restaurants anymore?
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH CHAT
Get the Substack app by clicking this link or the button below. New chat threads won’t be sent sent via email, so turn on push notifications so you don’t miss conversation as it happens. You can also access chat on the web.
Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.
That’s it! Jump into my thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.
OTHER NEWSLETTER NEWS
Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that I’ve never promised a certain publication schedule (a post per week, for example), and that’s been on purpose. I don’t want to fill up your inbox with posts about mediocre restaurants, or make a restaurant sound more enticing than it really is, just to maintain a schedule. I also want to take many weeks off in August and late December when most Paris restaurants are closed. During the periods when I’m not posting regularly, you still have access to the extremely valuable archives and can use them to research and plan. But I don’t want you to have to pay during these fallow periods, so I’ve just extended all paid subscriptions by adding one additional month to your subscription.
Happy new year!
Thanks again to all of you for reading. I’m excited for another year of delicious research and sharing - in the newsletter and now with the chat!
Vegetables, more vegetables, please! I’ve found it hard to get enough vegetables when I eat out in Paris. I’m not vegetarian, but I like half my meal to be vegetables. (Frites don’t count. ;-) ) Maybe others feel the same?
Do you ever do market reviews?