Irwin – a chef's own name, a life told in three menus

Irwin opened on 14 April 2025 at 22 rue Cambacérès, a quiet address in the Golden Triangle of Paris's 8th arrondissement, between the Madeleine and the edge of Parc Monceau. Within the first month, diners who had come once were already booking their tenth visit. Behind the pass is Irwin Durand, the restaurant's eponymous chef, a former sous-chef to Guy Savoy at La Monnaie de Paris and, from 2020, chef of the one-starred Chiberta near the Arc de Triomphe. He won his own first star years earlier, within six months of taking charge of Alan Geaam. At Irwin, that pedigree becomes something more personal: a room built from a former hundred-seat bistro, pared down to thirty covers, and a kitchen that cooks in three acts named after the addresses that shaped him. It holds one MICHELIN Star, earned within its first year.

01The room and the setting

The space once held a hundred-seat bistro; it now seats thirty, split across two rooms. An eight-cover table d'hôte faces the open kitchen directly, while a second room of twenty-two covers is broken into alcoves for privacy, its walls lined with burnt wood and its banquettes in bronze velvet, in a modernist decor signed by JOD Architecture.

The effect is deliberately quiet rather than theatrical – spaced tables, low light, a room designed to let the plates, rather than the architecture, carry the evening.

02The chef

Irwin Durand trained through some of the grandest kitchens in France: L'Oustau de Baumanière in Les Baux-de-Provence and Le Strato in Courchevel under Sylvestre Wahid, then a stint with Yannick Alléno at Pavillon Ledoyen before taking charge of the newly opened Alan Geaam in 2017, where Gault&Millau awarded him 15.5/20 within two months. At the end of 2018, Guy Savoy himself recruited him as sous-chef at La Monnaie de Paris, before sending him to lead Le Chiberta.

Insider tip

Open Monday to Friday; doors close at 4pm (lunch) and midnight (dinner) by house policy.

He had already tested running his own address, co-launching the revival of Le Petit Rétro with Savoy; selling that stake gave him the means to open his first solo restaurant. He had originally wanted to call it Irma, after the great-grandmother who inspired him, but the name was already taken by a restaurant belonging to the Bocuse family – so his circle suggested Irwin instead, his own first name standing in for hers.

03The cooking

Each menu at Irwin is named for a place that marked his career, from the years spent learning the Atelier side of Joël Robuchon's cuisine on rue du Bac to his time as Guy Savoy's second at the Monnaie de Paris on the quai de Conti – a structure that turns the tasting menu into something closer to a career retrospective.

A meal might open with Migliacciu, a chestnut tart with Brébis cheese and dill, before a vegetable bouillon infused with marjoram clears the palate ahead of a single spear of white asparagus in a lemon-and-thyme cream. Sweetbreads, poached in milk and then roasted in butter, arrive under a Meaux mustard crust with a ragout of fava beans, spring onions and pea pods.

04What to order

On the longer menus, look for the line-caught maigre from Royan, dressed grenobloise-style with braised leek, and a flame-grilled langoustine with green beans and caviar. Fish lovers should watch for the filet of sole with a confit of leeks. To finish, Tessa Ponzo's dessert of vanilla and miso crémeux is the dish regulars mention first, alongside a strawberry tart scented with Nyons olive and rosemary.

05Wine and drinks

Mickael Larrive runs the dining room and the cellar as head sommelier, pairing each course rather than leaving guests to choose. His list leans toward small Loire and Rhône growers – a Vacqueyras 2014 from Domaine Montirius, a Ventoux from Château Juvenal, a Quincy and a Beaujolais from Leynes-les-Magnons – with a Brouilly from Georges Descombes, a Montlouis from Jacky Blot and, for those who want to spend more, a Silex from Didier Dagueneau. The meal often closes with a Verveine Douce liqueur from the Loire's Maison 16.

06When to go and booking

Irwin serves lunch and dinner Monday to Friday, with seatings from noon to 1.30pm and 7.30pm to 9.30pm. For the well-being of the team, the doors close at 4pm after lunch service and at midnight after dinner – a policy the restaurant states plainly on its own site.

07The neighbourhood

Irwin sits in the Parisian Golden Triangle, between the Madeleine and the edge of Parc Monceau, a short walk from Boulevard Malesherbes. The nearest métro is Miromesnil, on lines 9 and 13, in a quarter of embassies, private townhouses and discreet gastronomic addresses rather than tourist traffic.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.