Savoir Faire: Discover DTLA’s Fabulous French Food Scene

Bastille Day is right around the corner. The French National Holiday, celebrated every year on July 14, marks the storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the birth of the French Republic. But the French connection takes on a whole new meaning as the City of Light meets the City of Angels. Did you know that during the second half of the 19th century, the French community in downtown Los Angeles was one of the most robust in Southern California. In fact, by 1860 French was the second most-spoken language in LA. Today, the French population in Los Angeles is represented by a fresh new wave of artisans, entrepreneurs, and restauranteurs who are making an impact on our culture and dining habits. From Parisian-style bistros and wine bars to delectable pastry shops – many close to Circa – get ready to discover French savoir faire in DTLA.

Le Petit Paris French food near Circa residences in Downtown Los Angeles

Le Petit Paris 418 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Housed inside the historic El Dorado Building, Le Petit Paris is the vision of Cannes-based restauranteurs David and Fanny Rolland. The 300-seat restaurant brings a quintessential brasserie dining experience to Downtown LA’s Historic Core. The restaurant is an architectural marvel, designed by the Rollands, featuring multiple skylights, two bars, a mezzanine level, and a large outdoor patio. During the daytime, Le Petit Paris provides a tranquil, bright venue, and at night it transforms into an upscale fine dining restaurant with a lounge. 

Garçons de Café French food near Circa residences in Downtown Los Angeles

Garçons de Café 541 S Spring St. Los Angeles, CA 90013

Garçons de Café is a wine bar to go shopping, and is a retail store to have a drink. A piece of France in downtown LA, Garçons de Café is the beautiful aftermath of what happened when three French traveling friends were united by their big dreams, expensive tastes and love of California. Their passions joined to set up shop in Downtown Los Angeles, and to bring the United States the most exquisite products of what France is known to do best. 

Mignon French food near Circa residences in Downtown Los Angeles

Mignon 128 E 6th St. Los Angeles, CA 90014

True to its name (mignon roughly translates to “small and cute” in French), this elegant little food and wine bar in DTLA’s Historic Core aims to be an oasis for anyone who is weary of the ubiquitous bar experience. Mignon specializes in small production, offering natural wines from all over the globe with an emphasis on the Old World. Mignon serves seasonal, rustic French cuisine, including a three-course pre-fixe option, small plates, and fine artisanal cheeses and charcuterie. The space is also a retail shop, so make sure you grab some bottles to go.

Air Food L’Appart French food near Circa residences in Downtown Los Angeles

Air Food L’Appart 130 E 6th St. Los Angeles, CA 90014

Air Food L’Appart will make you feel that you flew straight to Paris and landed in an intimate Parisian apartment, where you’ll enjoy an exclusive French culinary experience. Created by two passionate visionaries, Marc and Thierry, Air Food takes your tastebuds through a miraculous  journey from traditional French cuisine to French & World Fusion from Europe, Middle East, Africa, and North Americas. 

Oriel Chinatown French food near Circa residences in Downtown Los Angeles

Oriel Chinatown 1135 N Alameda St. Los Angeles, CA 90012

For lovers of authentic French wine and food, Oriel is a chic, comfortable wine bar styled to please even the most homesick Parisians. Located just far enough away from Chinatown’s main drag, Oriel might be a little hard to spot hidden beneath the Chinatown Gold Line Metro stop. But once inside, you’ll be charmed by the sleek black and rose interior, lush hanging plants, and soft pink neon lighting. Oriel offers a curated selection of French bottles and some 20 wines by the glass, along with a classic bistro menu featuring French onion soup, steak tartare, chicken liver mousse, steak frites. escargots, and gnocchi à la Parisienne.

Zinqué French food near Circa residences in Downtown Los Angeles

Zinqué 939 S Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90015

Inspired by the zinc-topped bars found all over France, Zinqué is a high design, low-key all-day neighborhood restaurant serving French-inspired dishes and small plates, along with a craft cocktail menu and uniquely curated wine & beer selection. Soak up the atmosphere at a wooden table on their sidewalk patio or sidle up to the beautiful bar.

Pitchoun Bakery & Café French food near Circa residences in Downtown Los Angeles

Pitchoun Bakery & Café 545 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Pitchoun is a family owned French bakery, pastry store and restaurant, offering fresh artisan breads and home-made pastries and cakes, along with an array of healthy salads, sandwiches, hot dishes, soups, and more. Using traditional French family recipes, everything is home-made daily from scratch, using house-made starter levain and organic or local ingredients. The flavors are crisp, authentic, and clean, and all products aim for pure simplicity and high quality.

Madame Monsieur French food near Circa residences in Downtown Los Angeles

Madame Monsieur 512 W 6th St. Los Angeles, CA 90014

Madame Monsieur is a gourmet sandwich shop run by a Parisian family. The menu is influenced by their culinary heritage, with a focus on quality, from artisanal bread to specialty coffee, fresh pastries, and locally-sourced ingredients. Located in The Heron Building, the inviting space has been created by friends from Lot-H and was inspired by the features of a Parisian apartment. Take your order to-go or enjoy your meal in the pretty outdoor garden.

Perch French food near Circa residences in Downtown Los Angeles

Perch 448 S Hill St. Los Angeles, CA 90013

Perch is a French inspired rooftop bistro that offers unobstructed views of Downtown Los Angeles that will make you feel as if you’re floating over the skyline. The elevated spaces offer outdoor fireplaces, various fir pits, and lounge and table seating. Enjoy classic French dishes with a twist from the menu for dinner, or sip beer, wine or Parisian-inspired cocktails at any one of the bars. Perch also offers a unique and an elegant list of rare Cognacs, Armagnacs, Calvados and French Cordials to pique your palate.

Photo credits:

Photo #1: Le Petit Paris

Photo #2:Le Petit Paris

Photo #3: Garçons de Café

Photo #4: Mignon

Photo #5: Air Food L’Appart

Photo #6: Oriel Chinatown

Photo #7: Zinqué

Photo #8: Pitchoun Bakery & Café 

Photo #9: Madame Monsieur

Photo #10: Perch

Joie de Vivre! French Bistros, Bakeries & Bars in DTLA

Joie de vivre, French for joy of living, takes on a whole new meaning as the City of Light meets the City of Angels! For a bit of historical context, before Chinatown was Chinatown, it was Frenchtown. During the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th, the French community in Los Angeles was one of the most influential and robust in Southern California. By 1860, French was the second most-spoken language in Los Angeles.

Today, the French population in Los Angeles is represented by a fresh new wave of entrepreneurs, artisans, and restauranteurs who are making an impact on our culture and dining habits. From classic dishes like bouillabaisse, steak frites, tartare de boeuf, croque monsieur, and escargots, to new eateries with a French twist, you’ll find your joie de vivre at DTLA’s French bistros, bakeries and bars.

Church & State

Church & State LA 1850 Industrial St, Los Angeles, CA 90021

After reoopening earlier this year, Chef David Féau’s reinvigorated menu at Church & State proves that classics never go out of style. His interpretation of bistronomie is built on the foundation of  the giants of the French culinary pantheon – Bocuse, Blanc, Vergé, Ducasse, along with his personal mentor, Guy Savoy – but is heightened with a lighter, California-driven sensibility. The new Church & State is a place to dine, for sure, but more than anything it is a place for people to come together, enjoy the company of friends, and to live well.

Le Petit Paris

Le Petit Paris 418 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Housed inside the historic El Dorado Building, Le Petit Paris is the vision of Cannes-based restauranteurs David and Fanny Rolland. The 300-seat restaurant brings a quintessential brasserie dining experience to Downtown LA’s Historic Core. The restaurant is an architectural marvel, designed by the Rollands, featuring multiple skylights, two bars, a mezzanine level, and a large outdoor patio. During the daytime, Le Petit Paris provides a tranquil, bright venue, and at night it transforms into an upscale fine dining restaurant with a lounge.

Mignon

Mignon 128 E 6th St. Los Angeles, CA 90014

True to its name (mignon roughly translates to “small and cute” in French), this elegant little food and wine bar in DTLA’s Historic Core aims to be an oasis for anyone who is weary of the ubiquitous bar experience. Seating about 20 around a U-shaped central bar, Mignon’s inviting interior is rich with midnight blue walls, a pressed tin ceiling, homey book shelves, and framed portraits. Mignon specializes in small production, offering natural wines from all over the globe with an emphasis on the Old World. They also serve seasonal, rustic French cuisine, including a three-course pre-fixe option, small plates, and fine artisanal cheeses and charcuterie. The space is also a retail shop, so make sure you grab some bottles to go.

Oriel

Oriel Chinatown 1135 N. Alameda St. Los Angeles, CA 90012

For lovers of authentic French wine and food, Oriel is a chic, comfortable wine bar styled to please even the most homesick Parisian. Located just far enough away from Chinatown’s main drag, Oriel might be a little hard to spot hidden beneath the Chinatown Gold LIne Metro stop. But once inside, you’ll be charmed by the sleek black and rose interior, lush hanging plants, and soft pink neon lighting. Oriel offers a curated selection of French bottles and some 20 wines by the glass, along with a classic bistro menu featuring French onion soup, steak tartare, chicken liver mousse, steak frites. escargots, and gnocchi.

Pitchoun

Pitchoun Bakery & Café 545 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Pitchoun! is a family owned French bakery, pastry store and restaurant, offering fresh artisan breads and home-made pastries and cakes, along with an array of healthy salads, sandwiches, hot dishes, soups, and more. Using traditional French family recipes, everything is home-made daily from scratch, using house-made starter levain and organic or local ingredients. The flavors are crisp, authentic, and clean, and all products aim for pure simplicity and high quality.

Bon Temps

Bon Temps 712 S Santa Fe Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90021

An all-day restaurant in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles, Bon Temps from Chef Lincoln Carson reimagines a modern French brasserie with industrial roots. From morning until late-night, the menu is refined with an attention to detail that nods to Chef Lincoln Carson’s lineage working in internationally-acclaimed restaurants. Bon Temps is a place for the downtown community to break bread in a space that pays homage to the old and new. Since opening in June, Bon Temps has been recognized as one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants 2019.

Paris Baguette

Paris Baguette 902 S Los Angeles St, Los Angeles, CA 90015

Paris Baguette is an international, premium bakery-café specializing in a yummy assortment of breads, pastries and cakes baked daily. Their mission is to bring happiness to everyone by adapting to people’s ever-expanding palates with decadent, unique and sophisticated baked goods. They serve a variety of treats ranging from coffee, tea, smoothies, and frappes, to appetizing snacks, delicious cakes for all occasions, and chef-inspired sandwiches and salads.

La Boucherie

La Boucherie 900 Wilshire Blvd Fl 71 Los Angeles, CA 90017

Located on the 71st floor of InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, La Boucherie boasts a top-tier, American steakhouse with a French twist. Feast on reimagined dishes and premium steaks, in addition to first-rate seafood sourced from around the globe. The restaurant also features a cheese cave and charcuterie atelier complemented by offerings from their extensive, Wine Spectator award-winning wine list of 1,200 different types, all of which can be enjoyed from the comfort of private dining rooms or discrete Starlight Booths.

Bottega Louis

Bottega Louie Restaurant and Gourmet Market 700 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90017

What could be more French than a macaron – a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond meal, and food coloring. Since the 19th century, a typical Parisian-style macaron is presented with a ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two meringue “cookies.” But you don’t have to travel to Paris to get your macaron fix – Bottega Louis offers literally mountains of these tempting treats for every occasion. Eat yours on the spot, or choose an elegant gift box from their extensive catalog.