 are the raft of fresh-faced boutique hotels joining them. This month, I was the first UK journalist off the blocks to see one of the most exciting of these, La Fantaisie. Interiors are by the internationally renowned designer Martin Brudnizki, whose glittering portfolio includes the James Bond-inspired Vesper Bar at the Dorchester in London and Soho Beach House in Miami. La Fantaisie is Brudnizki's first foray into the Parisian market and its location, on a characterful street in the hipster-friendly 9th arrondissement, has given him plenty of inspiration. The hotel sits centre stage on Rue Cadet, a 300m stretch of fine-food shops and family-run cafés named after Jacques and Jean Cadet, 16th-century brothers and master gardeners who supplied Charles IX and his court with their five-a-day. La Fantaisie's choice of chef is even more thrilling than Brudnizki's appointment as designer (for me, at least). The Versailles-born Dominique Crenn opened Atelier Crenn in San Francisco in 2011 and became the first and only female chef in the US to head a three-Michelin-starred kitchen (only 6 per cent of all Michelin-starred places worldwide are run by women). She's a passionate women's rights and LGBTQ+ campaigner and, for added stardust, her partner is the Hollywood actress Maria Bello. At La Fantaisie, her zero-waste menu celebrates seasonal vegetables and sustainable seafood (she stopped serving meat in 2018 as a protest again){kind=link}
The Paris Olympics will be under way this time next year, but the city is already gearing up for the occasion. The elegant Place de la Concorde at the end of the Champs Élysees is getting a makeover and will provide the backdrop for the basketball and skateboarding, the Eiffel Tower is being spruced up to oversee the beach volleyball, and the Seine is being cleaned up for the triathlon and will be swimmable for the first time in 100 years. Naturally, the city’s grandes dames have had some sneaky tweaks too, but more excitingly (and relatively cheaper) are the raft of fresh-faced boutique hotels joining them.
This month, I was the first UK journalist off the blocks to see one of the most exciting of these, La Fantaisie. Interiors are by the internationally renowned designer Martin Brudnizki, whose glittering portfolio includes the James Bond-inspired Vesper Bar at the Dorchester in London and Soho Beach House in Miami. La Fantaisie is Brudnizki’s first foray into the Parisian market and its location, on a characterful street in the hipster-friendly 9th arrondissement, has given him plenty of inspiration.
The hotel sits centre stage on Rue Cadet, a 300m stretch of fine-food shops and family-run cafes named after Jacques and Jean Cadet, 16th-century brothers and master gardeners who supplied Charles IX and his court with their five-a-day.
La Fantaisie’s choice of chef is even more thrilling than Brudnizki’s appointment as designer (for me, at least). The Versailles-born Dominique Crenn opened Atelier Crenn in San Francisco in 2011 and became the first and only female chef in the US to head a three-Michelin-starred kitchen (only 6 per cent of all Michelin-starred places worldwide are run by women). She’s a passionate women’s rights and LGBTQ+ campaigner and, for added stardust, her partner is the Hollywood actress Maria Bello. At La Fantaisie, her zero-waste menu celebrates seasonal vegetables and sustainable seafood (she stopped serving meat in 2018 as a protest against factory farming).
So when I arrive I skip past the smiling team at reception and the library lounge with its smart Missoni-esque sofas and make for the Golden Poppy restaurant at the end of the lobby. Lit by an entire wall of conservatory-style windows, the room is a bouquet of greens and golds dominated by a huge, gnarled olive tree with a flirty skirt of blowsy-headed poppies, boxed in on all sides by dining banquettes upholstered in busy red blooms. It’s enchanting, and Brudnizki loads on yet more horticultural references, with botanical wall panels that manage to make cruciferous and root vegetables look sexy. But the pièce de resistance is the secret garden beyond – the prettiest I’ve seen in the city.