My 10 Favorite Dishes in Paris, Curated by Chef Emmanuel Peña
In 2011, I graduated from law school in Mexico—and that very same day, I realized I didn’t want to be a lawyer. What I actually wanted was to work in kitchens, learn the craft, and one day be the chef at my own restaurant. So, I moved to Paris to begin the first chapter of that dream. Septime had just opened, and Le Chateaubriand was already six years in—two restaurants that would become huge sources of inspiration for me. To my surprise, though, it wasn’t only fine dining that shaped me. Paris had exactly the kind of cultural diversity I needed—a place where my own Mexican culture could collide with the way people cooked here, and something new and exciting could come out of that clash. In 2024, I finally opened Tarántula restaurant. Since that golden year of 2011, countless restaurants have opened, and just as many have closed. Along the way, I’ve had the chance to eat at—and be inspired by—so many of them. These are 10 of the dishes in Paris that have stayed with me most.
