Maison Rostang – the stained-glass ceiling that survived four decades of Paris

Twenty rue Rennequin, two streets back from Place des Ternes, is where a twenty-nine-year-old Michel Rostang opened his own dining room on 24 August 1978, inside a former three-star address that the pre-war years had left stranded in an industrial corner of the 17th arrondissement. He took his first MICHELIN Star within a year, a second in 1980, and spent the following four decades filling a run of intimate salons with Art Nouveau glass, Lalique crystal and a porcelain Robj collection assembled piece by piece. Since 2020 the house has belonged to Nicolas Beaumann, who arrived here as a young apprentice in 1999, trained under Yannick Alléno at Le Meurice, and returned in 2008 to lead a kitchen he now co-owns with restaurateur Stéphane Manigold. The glass-walled cellar still stands inside the dining room, the stained-glass ceiling still filters the light, and the carving trolley still does its slow, theatrical work table-side. It holds two MICHELIN Stars.

01The room and the setting

For over forty years the house has welcomed guests through a sequence of intimate salons built from stone, brick and marble, crowned by an Art nouveau stained-glass ceiling, with a cellar you can see from your table. A recent renovation by architect Michel Amar has brought contemporary lines, natural materials and greenery into those rooms without erasing them.

The decor remains, as one inspector noted, hushed and rejuvenated, with its glass roof open to the kitchen, Art Nouveau touches, an art collection and, now, exposed brickwork. Chef Nicolas Beaumann enthusiastically perpetuates the tradition of delicious food that has always been synonymous with this emblematic establishment, albeit while increasingly embracing the modern, as reflected in the newly refurbished dining room. Four named salons – Art Nouveau, Lalique, Robj and Contemporary Art – still display four privatisable salons, all embellished with striking collections of objects and original artworks selected by Michel Rostang himself.

02The chef

Nicolas Beaumann was born in 1979 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, and began his culinary career with apprenticeships at small Parisian establishments including Le Picton, before joining Michel Rostang's two-starred kitchen in 1999 as an apprentice and chef de partie. He left to spend several years as sous-chef under Yannick Alléno at Le Meurice from 2003 to 2008, then returned to rue Rennequin as head chef the same year.

Insider tip

Closed Sunday and Monday; book ahead for the tableside duck press and the 268€ tasting menu.

In 2020 that long apprenticeship turned into ownership: Beaumann became a partner with Michel Rostang, and in 2020 co-acquired the two-Michelin-starred Paris institution with Stéphane Manigold. He now runs the kitchen as the man the house itself once called its designated heir, a cooking built on his training as a saucier and his ability to conjure intensely flavoured jus, with an incredible articulation of seasonal produce.

03The cooking

Service here is still performed, not just plated: poaching, flambéing and carving of classic dishes are performed tableside, an integral part of the dining experience. The MICHELIN inspector singled out a poivrade artichoke in a velouté of its leaves with caper and olive stuffing, their classic pike quenelle with lobster cream, and Bresse chicken with salsify and a yellow wine jus as the dishes that carry the house's identity furthest.

On the sweet side, pastry chef David Boudinet – who trained at the 1947 restaurant inside Cheval Blanc Courchevel and at Alain Ducasse's Louis XV – received the MICHELIN Guide's Passion Dessert distinction for 2026, building desserts where the produce, rather than technique for its own sake, leads.

04What to order

The à la carte opens with the lake pike quenelle in lobster cream with puffed rice, Grandcamp scallops cooked in a lime leaf with salt-crusted celeriac, and Persicus caviar over an Agria potato moelleux with smoked cream and watercress. Among the mains, confit John Dory comes with crisp fennel and Solliès figs, smoked blue lobster arrives in a spiced consommé with a briny emulsion, and the crispy veal sweetbread is dressed in walnut essence with olive jus.

For two, there is duckling in blood sauce pressed at the table in the old style, served with beetroot and a cranberry gel; the grade-5 Wagyu sirloin comes barbecue-cooked with confit Charlotte potatoes. To finish: the quince scented with meadowsweet and vin jaune, the Solliès fig with Voatsiperifery pepper and prickly-pear sorbet, or Boudinet's 65% Indonesian chocolate with cardamom ice cream.

05Wine and drinks

The cellar is built into the dining room itself, glass against stone, so guests choose a bottle by sight before naming it. The house keeps a list of 1,500 wines spanning grand appellations and smaller, more confidential estates across every budget, with a sommelier guiding the pairing from one course to the next.

06The neighbourhood

The address sits in the quiet residential grid of the 17th arrondissement, between Place des Ternes and Place Pereire, a short walk from the Arc de Triomphe and well away from the grand boulevards' tourist traffic. The Ternes, Wagram and Pereire metro stations are all a few minutes on foot, and the surrounding streets keep the restaurant's own low-key, residential register.

07When to go and booking

Maison Rostang serves lunch and dinner Tuesday to Saturday, from midday to 1.30pm and 7pm to 9.30pm, and is closed on Sunday and Monday. Lunch menus run from 85 euros for three courses to 105 euros for four; a Jeune Prestige menu at 135 euros is reserved for guests under thirty on weekdays and Saturday lunchtimes. A single sitting on New Year's Eve, paid in advance, costs 420 euros.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.