Le Tout-Paris – brasserie soul on the roof of the old Samaritaine

On the seventh floor of Cheval Blanc Paris, inside the Art Deco riverside wing of the old Samaritaine department store, Le Tout-Paris turns the rhythms of a Parisian brasserie into a rooftop event with one of the most complete views over the capital. The kitchen is run day to day by executive chef William Béquin, working under the guidance of Arnaud Donckele, the chef who leads every restaurant in the hotel, including the three-starred Plénitude one floor below. Le Tout-Paris holds one MICHELIN Star, the distinction that marks it out as the house's brasserie register rather than its gastronomic summit, yet the cooking is precise enough to carry the view rather than hide behind it. Open from breakfast through a cocktail bar that runs until midnight, it works equally as a restaurant, a belvedere and, on Sunday, a stage for Béquin's own version of the family Sunday lunch.

01The room and the setting

The hotel occupies the Seine-front section of Samaritaine, the department store wing finished in 1928 by architects Frantz Jourdain and Henri Sauvage, who dressed their steel-framed structure in monumental Art Deco façades. Closed for sixteen years and rebuilt at a cost of 750 million euros, the building reopened as Cheval Blanc Paris on 7 September 2021. French architect Édouard François oversaw the restoration of the historic exterior, while New York-based Peter Marino was brought in to design the interiors, including Le Tout-Paris itself.

Marino split the restaurant into three distinct moods. The dining room, bathed in primary colours and pop in spirit, opens onto a terrace with sweeping views toward the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame, and finally a south-facing garden that looks out over the rooftops of Paris. At night the terrace empties onto the Seine and the Pont-Neuf, with sightlines that run from the cathedral to the tower on the far bank.

02The chef

William Béquin holds the title of executive chef, working under what the house calls the affectionate watch of Arnaud Donckele, the three-MICHELIN-starred chef who has directed every kitchen at Cheval Blanc Paris since Plénitude itself was awarded its third star in 2022. The arrangement gives Béquin a brasserie register to play with rather than a tasting-menu format: playful, simple or classic specialities built for a room that moves from breakfast trays to midnight cocktails. Pastry is signed by chef Maxime Frédéric, who also desserts the hotel's other dining rooms.

Insider tip

Book ahead for terrace tables at sunset; the cocktail bar itself takes no reservations.

03The cooking

The kitchen reinterprets the classic Parisian brasserie repertoire with a contemporary edge rather than reinventing it outright. Lunch runs on the "Buissonnière" menu and an à la carte built around dishes such as lobster and langoustine carpaccio, pearly turbot with seaweed, and truffled foie gras macaroni, adjusted to the mood of the moment. Dinner leans into heartier brasserie classics as the sun drops over the rooftops: pigeon en crapaudine, sole meunière, and a pain perdu finished with vanilla ice cream. Seasonal set pieces punctuate the year, including a spring menu built entirely around blue lobster, conceived by Béquin under Donckele's direction.

04What to order

From the à la carte: carpaccio of lobster and langoustine, pearly turbot with seaweed, and the truffled foie gras macaroni that has become something of a house signature. For dinner, pigeon en crapaudine or the sole rôtie meunière, finished with pain perdu and vanilla ice cream. On Sundays, look for the monthly rotating "Dimanches du Tout-Paris" menu, built on canaille, bourgeois and popular family classics chosen by Béquin.

05When to go and booking

Le Tout-Paris runs breakfast from 07:00 to 10:30, a Sunday lunch service from 12:15 to 14:30, weekday lunch from 12:30 to 14:30 and dinner from 19:00 to 22:00, with the cocktail bar open from noon until midnight; the bar itself does not take reservations. The terrace and garden are weather-dependent and the most contested tables in the house, so booking ahead for sunset is worth the effort, especially since Cheval Blanc Paris was awarded France's official Palace distinction by Atout France in 2026, adding to demand across every one of its dining rooms.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.