Tosca at Splendide Royal: Paris’s smallest 5-star boasts a large kitchen
Behind an almost confidential emerald-green façade, nestled at 20 rue du Cirque in the 8th arrondissement, lies one of Paris’s best-kept culinary secrets: Ristorante Tosca. An address that insiders share in hushed tones, just a stone’s throw from the Élysée, like sharing a rare treasure.
An Italian table that combines mastery and spontaneity
Led by chef Paolo Ambrogio, Tosca is the embodiment of Italian cuisine d’auteur, generous, readable but always subtle. A native of Rome, trained in the rigors of the Michelin-starred establishments of Bergamo and Orvieto, and having passed through Alain Ducasse’s La Cucina, Ambrogio has created a culinary score that is both precise and inhabited. Each dish tells a story – that of a gourmet Italy, reinvented with exceptional products.
At lunchtime, the menu offers agile formulas (from €30), designed for an efficient yet tasty business lunch, in a hushed setting conducive to conversation. In the evening, the experience expands further: tasting menu at 140€, chef’s new signature grilled dishes, exclusively transalpine wine list, fluid and refined service. A vegetarian menu is available at 105€. All in an atmosphere that blends Mediterranean warmth with Parisian sophistication.
Staging Italian gastronomy
At Tosca, service is never distant. Stéphane Bouillet, a discreet and passionate orchestra conductor, ensures that every customer feels welcomed as if in an “Italian house in the Faubourg”. His background (from the Bristol to the Axel in Fontainebleau) shines through in the precision of his gestures and service, but also in the rare humanity that emanates from the overall experience.
Special mention goes to head sommelier Erik Seiller, who makes the wine list vibrate like a map of the Italian territory: nearly 200 references covering the major regions (Piedmont, Sicily, Puglia…), enriched by house cocktails served in the adjoining salon, La Loggia. Every evening, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., this small glassed-in showcase offers a fine aperitif, accompanied by appetizers designed by the brigade.
A discreet jewel case in a “pocket palace”.
Tosca wouldn’t be Tosca without the setting that envelops it: the Splendide Royal Paris, the capital’s smallest 5-star hotel (12 suites), a member of Relais & Châteaux and former home of Pierre Cardin. A hotel for insiders only, at once eminently Parisian and subtly Italian, housed in an 1897 townhouse a stone’s throw from the Palais de l’Élysée.
No flashy lobbies or excess. Here, luxury is in the detail, the silence, the tightly woven fabric, the discreetly chosen works of art. Each suite, between 35 and 110 m², cultivates this Italian elegance, with classic furnishings, veined marble and soft lighting. Service is as attentive as it is invisible.
It’s in this confidential atmosphere that passionate manager Benoît Saudemont instills a house spirit of refinement, sincere hospitality and absolute respect for the customer’s pace.
A rendezvous for gourmet aesthetes
With its discreet façade, meticulous menu and impeccable food and wine pairings, Ristorante Tosca is for those who shun flashy addresses. Here, people come for the depth of a cuisine that yields nothing to fashion, for sensitive service, for an atmosphere that has nothing to prove.
At a time when so many addresses are copying each other, Tosca is asserting its style – an assertive, controlled Italy, warm without vulgarity, designed for those who like to be spoken to gently. A total experience, from cellar to dessert, from table to suite.
📍 Ristorante Tosca – Hôtel Splendide Royal Paris
20 rue du Cirque, 75008 Paris
🕰 Lunch Wednesday to Saturday & Dinner Tuesday to Saturday
🔗 splendideroyal.fr | @ristorantetoscaparis
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