À l'Improviste – where Eiffel and Bartholdi once lunched

On a quiet corner of rue Médéric, two streets from Parc Monceau in Paris's 17th arrondissement, À l'Improviste occupies a bistro that has traded under the same roof since the 1930s, its room kept close to its original state. It holds a Bib Gourmand in the MICHELIN Guide 2026, the distinction for cooking of real quality at a fair price. Local history gives the address extra weight: it stands close to where Bartholdi and Eiffel shaped the Statue of Liberty, and tradition holds that the two men broke from their sketches of iron and copper to lunch here. Since September 2025 the stoves have belonged to chef Jean-Marc Notelet, who spent more than two decades running Caïus nearby before starting this new chapter. A lick of red paint on the façade and a few touch-ups inside are as far as the change goes: the rest is bistro, through and through.

01The room and the setting

The dining room is an old bistro founded in the 1930s, kept almost exactly in its period state, anchored by a large carved wood bar that still commands the room. Tables seat a modest crowd, with a private salon for around another thirty covers for groups. On the floor, Nicolas Fouques Duparc now greets and serves, having taken over from François Desgres and Yvon Mézou, who had refreshed the décor before him. The address itself sits opposite the Lycée Jean Drouant hotel school, a short walk from Parc Monceau, close to Métro Courcelles, at the corner of rue Médéric and rue Barye, behind a bright red storefront.

02The chef

Jean-Marc Notelet spent more than two decades at the helm of Caïus, a respected table a few streets away, before launching this new venture in September 2025. At À l'Improviste he draws on the wide repertoire of bistro cooking to bring the room back to life. Gault&Millau, which rates the table 13/20, notes that Notelet, who graced Caïus for many long and delicious years, is back in business in a bistro of great age, and advises that reservations are recommended, not least for the pâtés, terrines and marbrés he often prepares after service, once the last customers have left.

Insider tip

Closed weekends; booking advised, especially for the chef's after-service pâtés and terrines.

03The cooking

The chalkboard changes every day, according to the market and the chef's mood. On one visit it ran to rope-grown mussels, shelled and served as a light stew, sharpened with a tomato condiment and mountain honey mustard, and a generous salad of pistachio Lyonnais saucisson with Noirmoutier baratte potatoes. Mains have included veal sweetbread in a crisp viennoise crumb, its caper sabayon lifting a bed of garden spinach, and roast gilthead bream with grilled watermelon, sorrel cream and chorizo. Desserts run to rhubarb baked in a cocotte with red fruit, mascarpone and crumble, or, on other days, an apple and almond clafoutis made for sharing, and a chocolate mousse finished with fleur de sel. Elsewhere on the slate, celeriac remoulade with Chasselas de Moissac grapes, warm pistachio Lyonnais saucisson and a traditional crab bisque have opened the meal, alongside beef cheek braised to melting in a Corbières red wine sauce with salsify.

04Wine and drinks

The list leans toward growers rather than labels: it features bottles such as "Jour de Soif" from Domaine du Bel Air in Bourgueil and a pinot gris "Roche Calcaire" from Domaine Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace. By the glass, pours have included a nutty 2023 Mâcon-Cruzilles Les Genièvrières from Guillot-Broux and a robust 2022 syrah from Château Campuget in the Gard, and a meal has been matched with a glass of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil L'Élégante from Vignoble de la Jarnoterie.

05The neighbourhood

À l'Improviste sits a few minutes from Parc Monceau, facing the Lycée Jean Drouant hotel school, in a corner of the 17th arrondissement built for unhurried living. The Eiffel-Bartholdi story is more than a passing anecdote here: the bistro stood near the former Gaget and Gauthier workshops, where Bartholdi and Eiffel shaped the Statue of Liberty, and it is said that the two men used to stop here for lunch, between sketches and dreams of iron and copper. The welcome still rests on conviviality taking its place at the table, between memory and the present.

06When to go and booking

The kitchen works lunch and dinner, Monday to Friday, and closes for the weekend. Booking matters: the bistro's success already means you cannot simply turn up unannounced, and reservations are advisable if you want to catch Notelet's pâtés, terrines and marbrés, often finished once the last tables have gone.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.