January 2026 Recap

• We ended 2025 and began 2026 at our favorite Le Voltaire. For New Year’s Eve I’m either team at home or team Le Voltaire – period. We went several times in January – I loved the soup of the day, onion soup, and of course beef with mustard sauce.
• Romain picked up the limited edition caviar burgers from Junk – we had to try them. We got nuggets for our son but he wanted to try a bite of the burger and proceeded to finish it. Needless to say it was a great unexpected combo with basically a hash brown in the burger that the caviar was on top of.
• Les Antiquaires – another of course spot!
• Café Nuances for my weekend treat rose matcha.
• Mersea and it was awful. Like a level of bad where I’m never going back. McDonald’s would have been better.

• Aux Prés multiple times. Everything is good and I’ve tried almost everything on the menu. The burger is one of the best ever, we loved the tuna tartare, and the croque monsieur with truffle is also very good.
• Le Bar des Prés for our favorite sushi in Paris. The quality is truly insane.
• Love a cocktail at Le Bar – we went a few times when my brother was in town. Either get there right at 7:00 pm when they open or go after dinner because it’s tiny.
• Cassaro’s. We went with a group so shared a little bit of everything and I was honestly very impressed with the quality of the food. We went to the first seating and by the time they needed our table for the second seating you could tell the atmosphere was really getting more festive. They now have a club room open which honestly I’m glad wasn’t open when we were there because it would’ve been tempting!
• Le Grand Café – I’ve never not had a great experience. The atmosphere is great and the food is really good.
• Sant Ambroeus for drinks – I’m still dying to go for lunch or dinner.
• We had another great meal at Ojii – my only thing to note is it can feel a little cramped inside. I love the toro nigiri with caviar and soba.

• I finally tried Chez René. In terms of a classic French bistrot I really thought the food was good. The onion soup was delicious. It was however very cold in the restaurant and a little bit dark which took away from the overall experience. I want to give it another chance.
• Le Relais Plaza is “French grandmother” cooking in a refined way and atmosphere. I loved it.
• Every time I stop at Café de la Mairie I’m pleasantly surprised by how sweet and accommodating they are to me with a stroller and baby.
• Specimen. We do love smash burgers in this family. I love the seasoning Specimen has for their fries and the burger is very good. My only gripe (and this is because I’m a burger snob) is that the top bun is too thick.

Where I Shopped in January

• I ordered my absolute favorite chocolate galette des rois from Jacques Genin. You have to order it in store but trust me it’s worth it.
• La Grande Epicerie. When I don’t cook for our toddler I phone it in and get something premade from La Grande Epicerie. They have everything he could ever want and I feel better about it than making him Goodles – which I also do occasionally but to be honest Romain and I like them more than he does.
• My brother came to visit so we strolled along Rue de Seine to look at the various galleries, walked until Jardin du Luxembourg and then ended up at Le Bon Marché.

• Took advantage of my brother coming to visit and placed a huge Baby Gap order. I got the babies these love cardigans and these absolutely adorable checkered sweater polos. For what it’s worth I think Baby Gap runs very generously…our 10 month old baby can still fit into 0-3 month sizes and our two year old is fine in 18 month sizes.
• La Veste
• I bought these ultra washable markers at the Fondation Louis Vuitton gift shop. I didn’t understand the importance of ultra washable before…but now I get it. 10/10 recommend.
• The pharmacie of course. Loaded up on sérum phy for the boys which I swear keeps them healthy during the winter and more of my favorites from Krème.
• I’m convinced Rôtisserie Segar makes the best roasted chicken in Paris. I’m dying to try their sandwiches but when we’ve gone they’ve already been sold out. I save the carcass to make bone broth.
• Flabelus had a January sale and I sprinted towards it. These are my absolute favorite shoes for walking around Paris (when I’m not in sneakers or rain boots let’s be clear). I got these flats for spring and summer.

What I Did in January

• Got serious about finding a new apartment. To recap, we have to be out of our apartment in October because the owner is selling it and we don’t want to buy it (although it is almost perfect). Most of the apartment “action” happens in the summer, but I don’t want to wait until the last minute if we can avoid it because finding in apartment is always challenging, especially if you’re very specific like we are.
• Played Mexican Train for the first time in a long time and I forgot how much fun it is, especially for groups. I have this set but would love to eventually upgrade to this set.
• Put the boys in the same room. We avoided it for the longest time because I selfishly loved my baby snuggles every night after our toddler went to sleep. Both boys are great sleepers and I was worried moving them in the same room would mess that up but so far it’s been great and they are so happy to be together.
• It was beyond cold starting around Christmas and through the first week of January, which meant when it snowed in early January it actually accumulated. It was gorgeous beyond belief truly – photos don’t do it justice. We bundled up and especially enjoyed our morning walks with Boomer.
• Got film back from the fall and Christmas. I’m just obsessed with film photos and wish I took more. Knowing that this was our last Christmas in this apartment made these photos extra special. I get my photos developed at Arka in Paris.
• Celebrated my birthday in the most low key way possible. I had coffee with a friend who brought me the most gorgeous pink bouquet and Romain and I had a special dinner at home. He shared caviar he got for his birthday and he made a caviar pasta (he loosely used this recipe). It was divine but we decided next time we’re not mixing the Volzhenka into pasta.
• Went to Gerhard Richter at Fondation Louis Vuitton which is on through March 2nd. I generally love the exhibits at FLV but this was largely not for me.

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