Caméléon

Le Caméléon
6, rue de Chevreuse, 6th
Tel 01 43 27 43 27
M° Vavin

I ate here in November with Laura of Cucina Testa Rossa (in the fabulous gold and red scarf), just a week after it officially opened. It’s on the same street as my old art school, Academie de la Grande Chevreuse, so I was automatically all nostalgic. But this upscale, contemporary bistro is a breath of fresh air in this dusty old district near Luxembourg Gardens (the bottom of the 6th close to Montparnasse). The décor is minimalist, with wooden floors, white table cloths, huge picture windows and red and orange velour-covered seats. At the entrance is a beautiful zinc bar, which clashes somewhat with the flat-screen TV showing fashion and design shows.

 

Our exquisite main dishes...I had the pork, Laura tried the fish.

 
The animated gentleman greeting everyone and orchestrating the seating is owner Jean-Paul Arabian, a boisterous Parisian character who welcomes everyone as if into his own home. The food is deceptively simple and unfussy, made with the finest, fresh seasonal ingredients. I absolutely adored my pork chop with baby carrots, and the pain perdu with fig dessert.

 

I could have eaten my weight in this dessert...yum!

With a glass of wine the bill was just about €30 for lunch. Count on €45 for dinner. If you sit in the main dining room, you get to watch the chefs in the kitchen through the window. Seating by the bar seems like it would be a bad idea in winter with the door opening and closing. Reservations ideal.

Comments

[Lilia Dignan]

What a coincidence that you reviewed this new restaurant. Dined with Parisian friends during my last visit in November and it is just as you have mentioned. It was delightful! Sat in the main dining room and watched the preparations in the kitchen. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. I had a duck dish with the freshest, good tasting vegetables. I will eat there again the next time I'm in Paris!

[Daniel]

Just FYI, this restaurant may have just remodeled when you visited it in November 2006, but it certainly was not opening for the first time. Sounded interesting so I Googled it and found a New York Times review from 1988!

Love your web site Heather!

[Isabel]

Would this "dusty old district" be changing ? A new boutique hotel opened one month ago across the Cameleon with the most surprising façade I have ever seen in Paris... You should go and have a look. Besides, the Cameleon, is still a wonderfull restaurant, with to my opinion the best food you can have in the area.

[orso]

Cameleon is the hottest restaurant in Paris. Jean Paul Arabian has just created his website. Have a look at http://cameleonjeanpaularabianparis.com

[larz swamberg]

We went to Cameleon soon after it opened. OK, one makes allowances for a new place before it works out the kinks, but there's no excuse for rudeness. When the couple next to us (a father and his daughter) asked Arabian whether there was a problem because their wait for the first course was so long, he responded that this was a real restaurant, the cuisine must take time before it comes out, and it was obvious that the couple was not used to eating in finer places. He left the daughter in tears. So don't tell me he welcomes everybody as if into his own home, unless his home life is worse than I thought.

[Surprised Tourist]

Personally, I find it surprising that the summer seating arrangements include putting his tables in the gutter outside filling all the spaces allocated for scooter parking. I'm not sure what the attraction is to sit in the gutter (not a table on the pavement) with cars passing by the table so maybe the food must be great if you are happy to sit in the gutter to eat it.