While Paris is exceedingly well-known for its markets, the same cannot be said for market dining, the likes of which you find so easily everywhere from Bangkok to London to New York. My theory? The French have historically been a bit phobic of dining in the street, so much so that even at weekly marchés, cooked food like tartiflette, paella, and roast chicken is packaged and sold with the assumption it’ll be enjoyed at home. French people like to sit at a table for meals – so much so that they even have a word for it: s’attabler.
But of late, this has been changing, with street food surging in popularity across France and even markets like Le Food Market dedicated to all things eating on the go. But perhaps the epicenter of dining in markets can be found at Paris’ oldest covered one: the Marché des Enfants Rouges, has become a hot spot for not just street food like the now-famous bulging crêpes and sandwiches from Chez Alain, which first took root in the market before moving just across the road, but also for a finer sort of dining that aligns more closely with the way that the French traditionally eat.
Let’s lend credit where credit is due. The first to really implant this sort of dining in the market was Les Enfants du Marché, a natural wine bar founded in 2017 that’s since become known for its creative (and expensive) small plates. Of late, however, I’ve been even more intrigued by the offerings at the Butcher of Paris.
This contemporary butcher shop is known for its dry-aged beef, which it sources from just two farms – one in the Morvan, the other in the Aisne. Both farms raise a specific breed of Salers crossed with Angus for beef that’s richly flavored and far more well-marbled than most traditional French beef.
The team dry-ages the beef right in the market in a massive dry-aging fridge, and you can either purchase cuts to prepare at home or dine on-site.
The menu here is resolutely simple: a few cooked dishes like a croque-monsieur (22), steak tartare (22) and a charcuterie board (25) join the real prize: beef, pork, veal, or lamb cooked to order. Since I was here for the purposes of scoping out excellent steaks for an article I was writing for the Infatuation, we zeroed in on the beef.
The first thing I loved about this experience was the way it kept the market aspect alive – and this without any kitsch or inauthenticity. After taking a seat at the counter, you’ll be beckoned to the butcher case to choose your own steak. And while you really can point at your own steak, if you want, I recommend doing as we did and simply giving the butcher a price you want to pay – which, as I share with my tour clients, is often how Parisians purchase anything from flowers to cheese.
We asked for steak for two for a total of about 40 euros and regained our seats while the magic happened.
A few minutes later, we received this board bedecked with some steak du boucher at 48 euro a kilo and some rib steak, priced at 68. While both were delicious, we both preferred the former, which, despite having less fat, was richer and almost minerally in flavor.
The steaks come, not with the traditional fries, but with a side of seasonal roast veg – in this case (I visited in September), pumpkin, carrots, the last of the season’s peppers, and a few potatoes, all cooked to perfection. But the icing on the cake was that instead of a more classic creamy sauce like béarnaise or pepper sauce, the steaks were paired with a more zingy, vinegar-based accompaniment, which on the day of our visit featured loads of mustard seeds and a touch of chile.
Bread isn’t included, but the five-euro bread supplement is totally worth it. It features hearty slices of Léonie sourdough and loads of salted butter from Vendée.
It’s hard to recommend this spot in the dead of winter, seeing as, while covered, the market is indeed outdoors and thus kind of exposed to the elements. But as the weather gets nicer, steak fans should definitely find their way here to enjoy some of the city’s best steak in a bustling ambiance. And since they serve en continu, going in the off hours between French lunch and dinner (i.e. from 3pm to 6:30pm) basically guarantees you a front-row seat.
The Butcher of Paris – Marché des Enfants Rouges, rue de Bretagne, 75003