Fontaine Gaillon: flamboyant rebirth of a Parisian gastronomic gem
Just a stone’s throw from the Opéra, a new lease of life takes hold of one of the most emblematic landmarks on the Right Bank. In 2025, the Fontaine Gaillon, which backs onto one of the most beautiful fountains in Paris, will be restored to its former glory thanks to the vision of Guillaume Bénard and the Fitz Group. Already behind such addresses as Vesper and Hollywood Savoy, the group is transforming this heritage site into a resolutely contemporary epicurean restaurant, without denying its past.
A history of French art de vivre
Built in 1672 by Jules-Édouard Mansart, this private mansion was successively the residence of a princess, a duke, then a public loyal to its bourgeois table. From Zola to Depardieu, the Fontaine Gaillon has always brought the Parisian imagination to life. Today, chef Marie-Victorine Manoa takes up the torch. Trained at Noma in Copenhagen and Eleven Madison Park in New York, she has opted for a return to her roots: roguish cuisine, French roots, sincere gestures.
Classic cuisine brought up to date
The promise? To refresh tradition. Burgundy snails are served alongside a fine foie gras terrine and a superb yellowtail crudo in season. On the main course, we’re tempted by liguines with caviar (whose generosity delights) or pearly turbot, with its play of acidity and bitterness. The chef subtly overturns codes. Vegetables are at the heart of the plate, without ever excluding the fundamentals of “good cooking”. It would be a shame to miss out on a dessert, especially the tarte tatin, one of the best in Paris.
Far from folklore, this new Fontaine Gaillon celebrates French culinary memory in a lighter, more committed version that respects the seasons and short supply chains – in keeping with the Ecotable approach adopted by the Fitz Group.
An ambience of subdued elegance and hedonism
The setting, designed by Madrid-based interior architect Lázaro Rosa-Violán, strikes a balance between Parisian pomp and daring decoration. Marble floors, wood panelling, velvet, mirrors and green ceramics: a discreet setting for extended dinners, where journalists, gallery owners and refined night owls meet.
With its five private lounges, small confidential alcoves, intimate cocktail bar and, of course, ultra-romantic 50-cover terrace, Fontaine Gaillon is part of a Paris eager for chosen conviviality, gastronomic stories and sincere places.
A bourgeois table in tune with the times
Fontaine Gaillon doesn’t seek to surprise, but to reconcile heritage and the desire for renewal. The dining room comes alive in the morning, transforms at lunchtime and comes alive in the evening. The service is sharp but never stiff. People come here to celebrate as much as to stroll. Just as Marie-Victorine Manoa’s cuisine is couture, instinctive and deeply human, Gaillon’s renaissance marks a new era for Paris’s great restaurants: livelier, greener, freer.
Read also: Touvabien: a new-generation bistro at the foot of the Pantheon
