Les Pépites, maison d'artisans - Restaurant Paris 15

"It’s hard to be unassuming on this street overflowing with tourists in Saint Germain-des-Prés, but this spot manages to play it cool with both a nondescript facade and by being actually cool (it’s located in a 14th-century former wine cellar). Pick from a bottle along the wall and pay the €10 corkage fee, or ask for a glass of whatever’s open that day. That might be a mineral-y white from the Savoie—“natural, but not funky,” the owner may say—or an earthy gamay from the Loire Valley. Then, head downstairs to drink your wine like a Lannister in Game of Thrones." - sara lieberman, tanisha townsend

"It’s hard to be unassuming on this well-trodden rue overflowing with tourists in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, but this spot manages to play it cool with both a nondescript facade and by being actually cool (literally—it’s located in a former 14th-century wine cellar, which makes it the perfect place to escape one of Paris’s canicules , or heatwaves).  Pick from a bottle along the wall and pay the €10 corkage fee, or ask for a glass of whatever’s open that day. That might be a mineral-y white from the Savoie (“natural, but not funky,” says the owner) or an earthy Gamay from the Loire. Then, head downstairs to imbibe like you’re a Lannister in Game of Thrones . If an underground vault of sorts isn’t your thing, you can stand around the tile bar upstairs where a giant projection screen occasionally shows sport matches, or take a bottle to go for a picnic along the quai or Jardin du Luxembourg." - Sara Lieberman