The LA Times food critic spent some time in Paris and has discovered what many of us already knew:  Parisian restaurants are doing away with the stuffy menus and curt waiters and introducing a more relaxed yet still delicious way of dining.

Here is a link to her reviews.  Among the restaurants reviewed are:

Le Villaret (11e arrondissement): 

13, rue Ternaux (Métro: Parmentier). Phone (from the U.S.): 011-33-1-4357-8976; fax: 011-33-1-4357 -8969.

Closed Saturday lunch and all day Sunday and August. Serves until 12 a.m. weekdays, 1 a.m. Saturday.
“The crowd is hip, as opposed to trendy, boho Parisians and the occasional foreigner, enough off the radar that I didn’t hear a word of English, except for our table.”  Around 60 euros per person including wine.

La Table de Joel Robuchon (16th arrondissement): 

16, Avenue Bugeaud (Métro: Victor Hugo).

Phone (from the U.S.): 011-33-1- 5628-1616; fax: 011-33-1-5628-1678.

Open daily for lunch and dinner.
“But it’s an elegant boîte (in the tony 16th arrondissement) with gold-leafed walls and dark wood shutters. Service from a multiethnic wait staff is crisp but relaxed, some of the best I’ve had anywhere. And hurray, it’s open on Sundays. “  Around 150 euros per person including wine at this 2 star restaurant.

Gaya (6th arrondissement):

 44, rue du Bac (Métro: Rue du Bac).

Phone and fax (from the U.S.): 011-33-1-4544-7373.

Closed Saturday lunch, all day Sunday and August. 
“A meal at this diminutive two-story place with one Michelin star is pure pleasure. The upstairs dining room is painted a seaworthy blue. Tabletops of some kind of fiberglass or resin, sans linen, are printed with images of kelp. The menu is just one page, as is the savvy wine list.” 

Pinxo (1st arrondissement): 

Hotel Renaissance Paris Vendôme, Plaza Paris Vendôme, 9, rue d’Alger (Métro: Tuileries)

 Phone (from the U.S.): 011-33-1-4020-7200; fax: 011-33-1-4020-7202.

Closed August.
“Here, two-star chef Alain Dutournier (Carré des Feuillants) weighs in with a menu of light, smaller plates with a Spanish and Basque accent.”

Benoit (1st arrondissement): 

20, rue St. Martin (Métro: Chatelet).

Phone (from the U.S.): 011-33-1-4272-2576; fax: 011-33-1-4272 -4568;

e-mail: restaurant.benoit @wanadoo.fr. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Closed August.
“With lace curtains at the windows and a collection of porcelain and antique water bottles, it very much looks the part from the street. But then the door opens onto a vision of polished brass, red velvet banquettes and waiters in formal black leaning over tables to serve cassoulet or veal daube from a cart. Someone takes your coat, you slip onto a banquette, open the menu and sigh with pleasure.”

Le Comptoir (6th arrondissement): 

Hotel Rélais Saint-Germain, 9, Carrefour de l’Odéon (Métro: Odéon).

Phone (from the U.S.): 011-33-1-4329-1205; fax: 011-33-1-4633-4530.

Open for lunch and dinner daily; dinner Monday through Friday is a 42-euro prix fixe menu, by reservation only. Menu is a la carte; no reservations are taken for lunch Monday through Friday and for lunch or dinner Saturday and Sunday.

“Le Comptoir, the new bistro from Yves Camdeborde, who used to be the chef-owner of La Régalade, another of my all-time favorites, is a tough reservation. I made one for three people a couple of months in advance, and kept calling to see if I could possibly extend the table to four. Each time, after checking the books, the voice on the phone always said “non.” When we arrive, I see why. Our table for three is actually a corner deuce with the third person (me) crammed between a pillar and the step down to the sidewalk terrace.”  42 euros prix fixe dinner