Christine takes a gastronomic turn, and it's a huge success

Nestled on the street bearing the same name in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Le Christine opened its doors in 1997. On the eve of its 30th birthday, owners Boris and Émilie Bazan, alias Les Becs Parisiens, bet on the arrival of a new chef to take the establishment in a gastronomic direction... and what a success!

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Christmas Eve 2025 and New Year's Eve 2026 menu at Christine
€159/person, €95 food and wine pairing for Christmas
€165/person, €105 food and wine pairing for New Year's Eve

Appetizers

Roasted celery, chestnuts, black garlic, and lovage sabayon

Barbecued lobster, foie gras, head emulsion, and lobster roll

Puff pastry tart with pigeon, smoked eel, watercress, and poulette sauce

Brie de Meaux, grilled vanilla and truffle

Brioche dessert, toasted bread and cornflakes

Petits fours

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The man in question is none other than Rodolphe Despagne, a young chef who has worked at Michelin-starred restaurants (Garance, Le Grand Véfour), where he was trained in the finest French techniques, at the Copenhagen Paris restaurant, where he discovered a passion for ancestral techniques such as fermentation and smoking, and then at ChoCho, where he became Thomas Chisholm 's right-hand man and perfected his creativity.

Classified as a Maître Restaurateur, a state-approved title that rewards the quality of products and guarantees entirely homemade production, Le Christine is committed to concocting its dishes from French and seasonal produce, and Rodolphe Despagne intends to continue in this direction and push the envelope even further.

The chef developed a passion for bread while in confinement, and self-taught himself in fermentations, sourdough and baking in general. The result is a real emphasis on brioche and bread, with a special bread for starters and a flaky brioche - and what a brioche it is!

In the dining room, Rodolphe Despagne has surrounded himself with a close-knit, warm-hearted team during service, under the aegis of restaurant manager Thibaut Anger (ex-Bristol, ex-Lazare) andErwan Mevel, the establishment's sommelier, who oversees a menu featuring 500 carefully sourced references, from small and large estates, all driven by a sustainable philosophy, respectful of people and the environment.

For lunch, Le Christine is available à la carte, with a lunch menu at €39 or €45 (starter/main course/dessert and full menu). At lunchtime and in the evening, if you want to go into more detail and discover the chef's personality, you can opt for 5-course (75€) and 7-course (95€) tasting menus, with the option of an all-vegetable menu andfood and wine pairings at 45€ (4 glasses) and 75€ (6 premium glasses).

To understand the richness and creativity of Rodolphe Despagne's cuisine, we recommend you try one of these two tasting menus. Each of his dishes is brimming with personality and delicacy, with an emphasis on cooking, the right juices and - sometimes unexpected - combinations.

Especially since the chef takes as much pleasure in cooking noble products (stunning snacked langoustines, tender pink pigeon and its lacquered leg) as he does in bringing less obvious products up to date, such as mussels (the starter containing them is simply fascinating), cabbage and salsify.

A change of gastronomic direction maneuvered to perfection, pointing the way to a star-studded future. We loved it. The rest, in pictures!

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