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Go Inside Paris’s Latest Hot Spot, Les Grands Verres

The gorgeous new cocktail bar and restaurant opens at Le Palais de Tokyo 

By Jacqueline Terrebonne
Fall 2017
Modern restaurant interior with wooden chairs, long tables, hanging lights, and booth seating in a spacious, well-lit space.
Les Grands Verres, the new eatery in Paris’s famed Le Palais de Tokyo art museum. Photo: Takuji Shimmura, Courtesy of Lina Ghotmeh

Modern restaurant interior with high ceilings, sleek wooden furniture, and pendant lighting creating an elegant dining atmosphere.
Parisian architect Lina Ghotmeh conjured the 170-seat restaurant. Takuji Shimmura, Courtesy of Lina Ghotmeh

Les Grands Verres, the new restaurant in Paris’s hallowed Le Palais de Tokyo art museum, has the refreshingly quirky, funky vibe of hot spots in the Marais. That’s not surprising, since the group behind it, Quixotic Projects, is responsible for many of the chic places that have reinvigorated the city’s once staid dining scene (like speakeasy-taqueria Candelaria). Chef Preston Miller, an alum of the Breslin in New York City, has created a menu of Mediterranean brasserie dishes such as a Lebanese-style chopped salad and house-made spinach bucatini. Sustainability is a theme that carries through both the interiors and the food.

In the heart of the space, architect Lina Ghotmeh (whose past collaborators include Ateliers Jean Nouvel and Foster & Partners) inserted a showstopping 40-foot bar of compacted earth with beautifully preserved layers of sediment. And the kitchen uses every part of the vegetable, like eggplant juices strained from a side dish that get mixed into a foamy verjus-rum cocktail. palaisdetokyo.com

Modern coffee shop interior with colorful seating, wooden tables, and hanging lights in a spacious industrial-style setting.
The eatery has morphed into Paris’s latest hot spot since opening in July. Takuji Shimmura, Courtesy of Lina Ghotmeh

Modern restaurant interior with wooden furniture, hanging lights, and large glass windows. Tables set with utensils and napkins.
The airy space features chic X-shaped banquettes and dangling light pendants. Takuji Shimmura, Courtesy of Lina Ghotmeh

Spacious modern restaurant with wooden tables, hanging lights, and large windows creating a warm, inviting atmosphere.
The 40-foot-long bar was crafted with rammed earth. Takuji Shimmura, Courtesy of Lina Ghotmeh

Modern cafe interior with large windows, wooden furnishings, and high ceilings, featuring a cozy seating area.
Ghotmeh’s use of untreated wood adds to the industrial aesthetic. Takuji Shimmura, Courtesy of Lina Ghotmeh