L'Antre Amis – a Rungis-fed bistro between two arrondissements

L'Antre Amis occupies the ground floor of a Haussmannian building at 9 rue Bouchut, on that quiet seam of Paris where the 7th arrondissement gives way to the 15th, a short walk from the Sèvres-Lecourbe métro. It is chef Michel Craca's own address, taken over in 2010 together with his wife, Gaëlle, and run since on a short card rather than a show of trends. Craca trained at the Ferrandi culinary school, spent seven years between Fauchon and Dalloyau, and later cooked for corporate kitchens and the French National Assembly before once owning one of Paris's well-regarded Italian restaurants — a background that still surfaces in the odd ingredient from the boot of Italy tucked into an otherwise classical French repertoire. The MICHELIN Guide recognises the result with a Bib Gourmand in its 2026 selection, the distinction reserved for cooking of real quality at a fair price, which places L'Antre Amis among Paris's dependable bistronomic addresses rather than its showiest.

01The room and the setting

Behind the restaurant's discreet frontage on rue Bouchut, the dining room sits on the ground floor of a handsome Haussmannian building. The decor is a bistro revisited with contemporary paintings, creating a warm and relaxed atmosphere. Tables spill onto a terrace in the warmer months, and a private room for six to eight guests allows the house to receive groups without losing its intimacy.

This is, by every account, an address for people already in the know rather than passers-by. Michel Craca and Gaëlle's restaurant sits in a quiet corner of smart Paris, a protected village-like space between the 7th and the 15th, not a place one stumbles upon by chance — it is a destination for insiders, for friends of the house.

02The chef

Michel Craca came to rue Bouchut by a roundabout route through the grander side of French catering. He trained at the Ferrandi culinary school in Paris, which opened the door to luxury catering, seven years split between Fauchon and Dalloyau. From there he moved into corporate catering, running kitchens for Lafarge and BNP Paribas, with a stint in the kitchens of the French National Assembly and, before that, ownership of one of the capital's better-known Italian restaurants.

Insider tip

Open Monday–Friday only; booking recommended, especially for the tasting menu.

He and Gaëlle took the rue Bouchut address over at the start of 2010, building a card around the chef's own tastes rather than a fixed signature plate. As chef-patron, Craca — of Italian origin and passionate about cooking — relies on seasonal produce bought directly at the Rungis market to compose his short, straightforward-tasting menu.

03The cooking

The card stays deliberately short and seasonal, moving between grand French classics and tapas-style dishes meant for sharing. Craca is as comfortable with a dish that takes a whole service to prepare as with something meant to be picked at over conversation. He excels equally at emblematic dishes of grand French gastronomy — his well-known lièvre à la royale or his beef fillet in pastry — at reinterpreting classics such as the oreiller de la Belle-Aurore, and at everyday tapas-style sharing plates.

Fish gets the same attention as the braises and pastry work: a whole turbot for two, remembered as a standout on a recent visit. On the dessert side, Craca's lemon tartlet made from Menton lemons was nominated for the Lebey prize for best dessert in 2014, a fair measure of how seriously the sweet end of the card is taken.

04What to order

The card, read in October 2026, opens with a terrine de foie gras au Bas Armagnac (€28) and a pâté en croûte of foie gras and duck (€18), alongside lighter options such as leeks vinaigrette with egg mimosa or a butternut cappuccino with foie gras, chestnuts and mushrooms (€14 each). Mains run from a sea bream fillet with vanilla Jerusalem artichoke (€26) to a côte de bœuf matured and carved for two (€79), a scallop risotto (€39), a veal cut sourced from the butcher Hugo Desnoyer (€39), sole meunière from the Breton coast (€72), and a beef Rossini styled as a chateaubriand (€42). To finish, there's a cherry-and-chocolate biscuit with mascarpone mousse and black cherry sorbet, a fig carpaccio with spiced mirror glaze, or the house profiterole (€14 each).

05Wine and drinks

The cellar is the house's other obsession. It runs to more than 1,000 references from upwards of 150 winemakers, kept among wood panelling and soft light so the bottles are served in the right condition. Champagne is a particular strength, with a list running through Billecart-Salmon, Taittinger's Comtes de Champagne, Krug's Grande Cuvée, Bollinger, Ruinart, Louis Roederer's Cristal and vintage Dom Pérignon, alongside still wines from Alsace, Bordeaux and beyond chosen bottle by bottle rather than by shortcut.

06When to go and booking

L'Antre Amis opens Monday to Friday only, for lunch from 12.15pm to 1.45pm and dinner from 7pm to 9.45pm, and closes at weekends — a schedule that keeps the room on the smaller, calmer side of Paris dining rather than a tourist circuit. A discovery menu runs at €42 for starter, main and dessert (€37 for two courses), and a five-course chef's tasting menu is offered at €72, or €96 with wine pairing. Reservations are taken through the restaurant's own site or by telephone.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.