For mouth-watering proof of the fact that Paris retains its laurels as the world capital of gastronomy, book a table at the Jardin d’Ampère restaurant in the 17th arrondissement. Only in a city as brimming with young talent could such an excellent restaurant remain such a dark-horse address. I Dine out at least once a day, but somehow this calm, attractive contemporary dining room overlooking a courtyard garden in the hotel of the same name got under my radar, and so it was a delightful surprise to discover the cuisine of talented young chef Yannick Tessier. Tessier, 33, was previously sous-chef at the eponymous Alain Senderens in the 8th arrondissement, and since arriving here a year ago, he’s really spread his wings. On a night warm enough to open the French doors overlooking the garden, my happy introduction to his cooking via a wonderful tasting menu began with a superb miniature starter of beautifully prepared foie gras served with a succulent and savoury cherry chutney. Next a giant prawn from Madagascar, juicy and perfectly cooked, was accompanied by millefeuille of daikon radish and finely chopped mango, an imaginative garnish that showed off both his imagination and his exemplary technical skills as a chef. John Dory filets in a delicate lemon grass jus were delicate and delicious, but it was a steak of Aubrac beef, one of the tenderest pieces of meat I’ve eaten during the twenty-five years I’ve lived in France, exquisitely seasoned with the smoke of a burning bunch of thyme that was really remarkable. Desserts were outstanding, too, including an intriguing cylinder of chocolate filled with slices of banana sautéed in rum. AII told, an excellent meal, which has me eager to return for their good value lunch menus. If the Jardin d’Ampère has a particularly sophisticated and soignée setting, it’s in tiny storefront spaces and former cafes all over Paris that a new generation of chefs is producing some remarkably good food, often for remarkably good prices, too.

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Tucked away in a quiet, cobbled street in the Sentier, Paris’s old garment district, young chef Gregory Marchand’s simple little bistro Frenchie is a perfect example of the latest local trends towards market-menus that change daily but favour fresh seasonal often organic local produce and seasonings and recipes from all over the world. The curious name of this restaurant comes from the fact that Marchand was nicknamed “Frenchie” when he cooked with Jamie Oliver in London and at restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and this Anglo-American experience shows up in Marchand’s ingenuous cosmopolitan menus, too. At a recent dinner, I loved my smoked trout with horseradish, lamb-and-chickpea ragout, and rhubarb and lemon verbena pannacotta, all of which were vividly flavoured and perfectly cooked. Frenchie is a relaxed and friendly service style and good-value for the money.

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Another very discreet but very talented chef is young Cedric Tessier, who cooked with Michel Rostang before opening his very pleasant vest­pocket bistro Le Tourbillon in the Latin Quarter. As is true of many of the best young chefs in Paris these days, Tessier changes his menu regularly, but a recent meal of a creamy omelette filled with wild-mushrooms, a charming old-fashioned French starter rarely seen anymore, and a superb vegetable risotto with vieux jambon (aged ham) was outstanding. Best bet on the wine list is the excellent Beaujolais Villages vieilles vignes.

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Since young chef Christophe Pelé won a Michelin star this year, it’s become a challenge to snag a table at La Bigarrade, his tiny little place in the quiet Batignolles neighbourhood of the 17th arrondissement, but it’s well worth the effort for the pleasure of sampling one of the two tasting menus he serves in this lime-green dining room. Working in a small, open, stainless steel kitchen, Pelé produces two new menus daily, and part of the pleasure of a meal here is watching him at work. He’s a study in concentration and almost military organization as he prepares tasting portion-sized dishes like a plump Gillardeau oyster, sliced and garnished with sorrel puree, cubed fennel bulb, and herring caviar, scallop tartar in a soy-sauced-spiked sabayon with orange zest and micro greens, Spanish free-range pork with a slave of carrot, daikon and reglisse root, and mocha cardamom cream with nougat marcapone.

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Perhaps no restaurant better exemplifies the gastronomic curiosity and willingness of young Parisian chefs to look beyond French borders for inspiration than Yam’Tcha. Occupying a cosy space with exposed stone walls and ancient beams overhead in a side streets in Les Halles, this excellent bistro is runned by chef Adeline Grattard and her Hong Kong-born husband Chi Wah Chan. Grattard trained with Pascal Barbot (L’Astrance) and Yannick Alleno (Le Meurice), and then cooked in Hong Kong for several years, and her cuisine is subtle, delicate and nuanced with Asian flavours, Dishes typical of Grattard’s cooking include foie gras with dried shredded Chinese mandarin orange and shrimp with Korean mushrooms and a jus of emerald-green wild garlic. One of the other originalities of this restaurant is that you can opt to accompany each course with a different tea, all of which are brewed and served by Chi Wah Chan, who acts as both sommelier and tea steward.

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Finally, it’s well worth travelling to a very quiet residential corner of the 15th arrondissement to sample the superb cooking of young chef Guillaume Delage at his Bordeaux-painted corner bistro Jadis. With a quote from the famous French chef Edouard Nignon printed at the bottom of the menu, “The chef who knows and understands the past well, who is inspired by it, will in turn become an innovator,” Delage, who trained with an impressive full house of great French chefs including Frederic Anton, Michel Bras and Pierre Gagnaire before hanging out his own shingle, gives a way the most important reason that the young chefs of Paris are producing such exciting food these days. These young chefs are classically trained in the best and most exacting French tradition and have a disciplined, hands-on knowledge of both culinary technique and the history of French gastronomy. This is why Delage is able to master a two-speed menu that offers a tantalizing assortment of traditional French dishes like lamb roasted with black olives and sundried tomatoes and also propose imaginative new dishes of his own, such as ocean perch in wasabi sauce with sweet potato puree. So, sure other cities may have joined Paris in the global gastronomic sweepstakes, but thanks to its impressive new talent, the French capital continues to reign supreme.

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-       La Bigarrade, 106 rue Nollet,17th, 01.42.26.01.02

-       Frenchie, 5 rue du Nil, 2nd, 01.40.39.96.19.

-       Jadis, 208 rue de la Croix-Nivert,15th, 01.45.57.73.20

-       Le Jardin d’Ampère, 102 Avenue de Villiers,17th, 01.44.29.16.54

-       Le Tourbillon, 45 rue Claude Bernard, 5th, 01.47.07.86.32.

-       Yam’Tcha, 4 rue Sauval,1st, 01.40.26.08.07

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