This is a traditional restaurant just a minute’s walk from the Relais Saint-Honoré hotel, ranked 300 out of nearly 14,000 Parisian restaurants. If you like real traditional food served in a family atmosphere, you’ll enjoy it here.

Just a few yards down the charming Rue Saint-Roch you come to the building and notice the facade, and if it weren’t for the parked cars you would think you’d stepped back in time. The restaurant is built into the wall of St Roch church like a Mediaeval shop.

This has been a family-run restaurant serving traditional French cuisine since 1868. As you step inside you see an open kitchen in a dining room containing a few tables, and the chef working behind a medium-height glass screen. There are 4 or 5 more tables in another room. Exposed beams, antique furniture and real tablecloths; the atmosphere is warm and inviting. The restaurant has just 20 covers. It’s a small, intimate place so booking is advisable

Chef Hugo Wolser is at the helm.

Just like his father and grandfather, he runs the place and does the cooking in front of his guests. Nothing is prepared in advance.

Everything is cooked to order, and Hugo Wolser likes to go to the market himself, so it’s all seasonal produce, and fresh every morning.

If you’re hoping for quick service you might be disappointed. This is a family restaurant where everything is cooked to order, which takes time.The menu contains just a few classic French dishes, mainly meat-based. As an entrée you might choose cucumbers in cream (€7), andouille de Guéméné sausage (€8) or duck terrine (€8).

Mains include an excellent grilled Aubrac entrecote steak (€25) and a fine entrecote with shallots (€25). I decided to go for the excellent grilled AAAAA-rated Andouillette sausage with Fallot mustard and house fries.The portions are generous and the presentation is simple.There’s a charming family atmosphere and you get service with a smile.
You come out of the restaurant not having made any great culinary discovery, just with the sense of having had a pleasant meal in a warm, cosy environment and eaten traditional simple food expertly prepared from good produce.

La Cordonnerie
20, rue Saint-Roch – 75001 Paris
Tél. : +33 (0)1 42 60 17 42
Monday to Friday 12 to 2pm and 7.30 to 10pm
Site web : http://restaurantlacordonnerie.fr/