French women, plates to share and amazing cocktails

Les Françaises is the restaurant that's waking up the 17th arrondissement with fabulous sharing plates, prepared from top-quality produce, and grandiose cocktails.

Paris's 17th arrondissement is slowly becoming a popular spot for Parisian gourmets, thanks to the many bars and restaurants that are opening their doors.

Les Françaises is one of them, and once we've shown you that this restaurant is the new gourmet spot in the 17th arrondissement, you won't have an ounce of hesitation about taking an extra few minutes on the metro to discover this under-appreciated region.

Les Françaises, which opened a year ago, has everything you could wish for in its sober, pastel, green decor. Not to mention a great soundtrack and friendly owners who offer customers a little pick-me-up as soon as they arrive!

And you haven't even seen the menu yet! The idea here is to share. So you'll find a multitude of small plates to share with friends and family.

The restaurant also offers 4 more imposing dishes, such as red tuna tataki with ginger (43€) or low-temperature lamb shoulder with rosemary (40€). Not that these dishes don't make our mouths water - quite the opposite, in fact - but we decided to play along and try only the small plates .

The à la carte menu features 16 small plates to share. The owners recommend 4 plates per person for gourmets, but we were tempted by 5 plates each. Suffice to say, we left the restaurant with full bellies and delighted taste buds.

But let's not skip any steps. Here's what we tasted:truffled potato mashed potatoes (6.6€), very good and lightly truffled for those who can only stand the smell of truffles in small doses; organic mimosa eggs (7.1€), a bistro classic twisted with trout roe and boutargue; gravlax salmon with avocado cream (6.8€); ceviche of lean meats with clementines (8.5€) whose leche de tigre marinade really woke up our taste buds.

Shall we continue? We also tried the crab tarama from Maison Petrossian (8.7€), a sure bet; the beef tataki (8.2€), the timbale of duck confit (7.8€), a beautiful marriage with the slightly sweet roasted pears that accompany it; Charolais beef tartare au couteau (8.9€), subtly enhanced with mustard seeds and a horse egg; and Cecina de boeuf de Galice, aged 24 months (9.9€), a finely sliced meat with character.

Finally, two cheeses on our plates. On one side, an excellent truffle-flavored Gouda (7.7€); on the other, an absolutely creamy and flavorful Pugliese burratina (13.5€), with a hint of Petrossian dried caviar. A real delight.

The other highlight of Les Françaises is its cocktail menu. Created from A to Z by the restaurant's barman-mixologist (who also makes all his own syrups), the menu features 8 fabulous cocktails named after great women.

We recommend the Thérèse Peltier (matcha tea-infused Tanqueray gin, soy milk, yellow lemon, agave syrup, Schweppes premium mixer tonic, 15€); the Françoise Sagan (Mezcal Vida, Cointreau, jalapeño syrup, lime; 15€); the Olympe de Gouges (Ketel One vodka, passion fruit, vanilla syrup, lime; 15€), which the bartender brings to the table while the passion fruit is flaming; or the Amandine Dupin (Vanilla-infused Bourbon Bulleit, Partagas cigar syrup; 17€), brought under cloche to contain the smoke (and for show!).

So if you're looking for a place to dine and drink cocktails in the 17th arrondissement, consider Les Françaises. The food is of the highest quality, and you'll leave with a smile on your face.

(Oh, and if you weren't quite convinced by Les Françaises yet, you should know that raclettes are organized there every Sunday. Much better than brunch!)

Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health. Drink in moderation.

Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.