The Last Restaurant in Paris: Completely heartbreaking and gripping World War 2 fiction

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The story paints Marianne one way or another - evil or kind. Sabine wants to understand how to view her. Was Marianne a heroine or was she truly a traitor, a murderer, something believed for decades? This dark story answers those questions while smartly delivering a message of strength, hope and courage. A tragic and heroic story set in one of the hardest times in world history. I’m always amazed at the bravery and resilience shown by people under the Nazi regime and all the lives that were saved. Once I started to read this, it was impossible to leave aside .’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Paris is not called the City of Lights for nothing. When the sun goes down, the city truly comes to life and is ready to go all night long. So, get ready to discover the best places to eat and where to enjoy a fun night out! Here’s what I’ll cover: I marvel at authors who can still be inspired to write diverse, unique and interesting storylines in the world of WWII fiction, however, Lily takes things to a whole new level with this compelling saga. No! It wasn’t perfect, there were a couple of typos and other anomalies… Sabine has inherited Luberon, an old and dilapidated restaurant with a dark reputation. It has been abandoned for the past 40 years because “during the war, when the city was under occupation, the restaurant’s owner poisoned and killed all her customers in one night.”

But when she finds a passport in a hidden compartment in the water-stained walls, with a picture of a woman who looks like her grandmother but has a different name, she knows there must be more to Marianne’s story. As she digs into the past, she starts to wonder: was her grandmother a heroine, not a traitor? What happened to her after the tragic night when she fled from her restaurant? And will the answer change her own life forever? Told over three timelines, including the early 1940s and 1987, The Last Restaurant in Paris is a tragic and engrossing story with love, revenge and retribution being at its heart. Frenchwoman Marianne Blanchet, the owner of the said restaurant known as ‘Luberon’, was regarded as being a collaborator with the Nazis and also a murderer by her fellow citizens. However had they been in knowledge of all the facts, I wonder whether she would have been judged so harshly. A tragic and heroic story set in one of the hardest times in world history. I’m always amazed at the bravery and resilience shown by people under the Nazi regime and all the lives that were saved. Once I started to read this, it was impossible to leave aside.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Advance Praise

When Romain Meder left his prestigious kitchens at the Plaza Athénée last year, he took his sous chef Marvic Medina Matos and his inspiration with him and opened Sapid. A lot more low key than the three-star Alain Ducasse-stamped fine dining restaurant, Sapid is a massive turning point for this earnest chef whose passion has always been to tease out the natural flavors of the best produce he could get his hands on. At Time Out Paris, we’ve been eating and drinking our way around the City of Light for a long time. So we know what we’re talking about when it comes to good food – and right here, you’ll find our absolute favourite spots for 2023. The sweeping restaurant — designed by French interiors outfit Humbert & Poyet tapped for several eye-catching spots — with floor-to-ceiling windows that slide open onto an outdoor courtyard is buzzy with the light chatter of hotel guests and Parisians who have come to feast on the chefs' bright and cheerful dishes hailing all the way from, as the restaurant's name lets on, sunny California. Historical fiction lovers, this story, set in Nazi-occupied Paris and highlighting love, strength and sacrifice, needs to be on your reading list. Since then she has written six novels, covering many topics, her first four novels were a blend of light hearted women's fiction and drama, but in recent years she has found her niche in historical fiction, after she wrote The Island Villa - a story about a secret community of Jews, who some believed were living on the island of Formentera during the Inquisition. It is a story about love, betrayal, and courage.

However, the restaurant was only open for so long. In fact, Marianne's story ended on a very dark note. After the restaurant was closed, words were scratched on the windows - traitor and murderer. Why did the restaurant close so suddenly, and what was the meaning behind those words? Food aside, the number-one selling point has to be Villa Mikuna's location: inside the historic Villa Frochot, a former cabaret opened in 1837 with magnificent Hokusai stained glass windows. The Pigalle neighborhood icon was taken over last year and turned into a pisco bar and restaurant with brightly upholstered banquettes and plenty of plants hanging from the ceiling, that's worth adding to the list for lunch or dinner. The dynamics of a family separated by a stretch of water and the anathema of class distinction, a tragedy so devastating that revenge and vengeance were the only antidotes, the abject guilt and grief of the accidental consequences of actions which were never intended to harm all their victims.

How we choose the best restaurants in Paris

An addicting read that takes you deep into occupied France during WW II and uncovers family secrets left dormant for years. An Excellent read! Whether you’ve been to Paris five times or this is your first time, this guide covers everything you need to know about eating out and having fun at night. I cover some classic spots as well as some not-so-classic. Each of the six courses (as well as the seven amuse-bouches and hors d'oeuvres) has intriguing experimental twists recalling unadulterated nature with every mouthful, from the first amuse bouche of pressed caviar and almond celeriac milk, served like a yin and yang in a metal recipient with a spout you pour into your mouth. Other courses include things like crispy waffle with pollen toum and dried seaweed topped with sea anemone terrine and raw cream and warm puffed lobster spaetzel pasta with creamy burrata and lobster cream made like a foie gras with coral boudin and turbot fish from Brittany lacquered with olive oil tank sediment cooked on embers with parsnip cooked two-ways (under the ash and a pulp galette) and parsnip extraction vinaigrette served with a condiment of pomelo zest emulsion and chilli, parsnip and ginger extraction, wakame sprout, Greek-style seaweed and lemon, and the fish head cold cult on the side. The courses are paired with Dom Perignon champagne served at varying temperatures and other delights by chef sommelier Alexis Bondel, who further brings the experience alive with his vineyard anecdotes and deadpan humour. One for the diary before it closes on March 5.