Favorite bar/brasserie in Paris close to my apartment.

Yorgaki is my brainchild. I felt there was a need for a place to share my culinary passions with others, and help people discover the uniqueness of Greek coffee traditions. And of course the adventure serves as a design experiment, with napkins designed like the paper tablecloth maps of the Cyclades, with a humorous take on Paris’ neighborhoods. Freshly opened in the 9th Arrondissement, Yorgaki is the first « Kafeneion », or Greek Café, in Paris. Serving Greek coffee cooked on hot sand, Frappés, Fredo Expressos and more traditional hot and cold Hellenic drinks, it also has a selection of fresh food prepared on spot. Tzatziki, Melitzanosalata, Tarama, Greek Choriatiki salad, marinated anchovies and kalamata olives can be shared around a Fix or a Mythos, the classic Greek beers. For dessert, Loukoums and Kourabies sourced in Greece, a locally-produced Portokalopita, and the legendary Caprice biscuit are here as reminders of the taste of Greece.

The Porte Saint-Denis marks a multi-cultural spot in the city. Pick any place for food and drinks in Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis.

Paris, unlike London, Brooklyn and err Chester, isn’t famed for its zoo. That’s because there isn’t anything quite as big here, but if its quality as opposed to size you’re looking for then the zoo in the Jardin des Plantes won’t leave you disappointed. There are about 1800 animals here, a third of which are endangered species, like the Amur leopard, pictured. The reptile house has big snakes and snap-happy crocodiles. There are even kangaroos and some other animals you wouldn’t have thought hardy enough to adapt to the cold chill of the Paris winters. The only drawback is the monkey house, which is a rather forlorn place with depressed-looking chimpanzees and gorillas gazing through shit-stained glass cages.

I go to the flea market in St Ouen to look for old cameras and expired film. But it’s also a great place to see all the different walks of life from Paris’ extreme social scene. At the top of the ladder you’ve got the aristo-bourgeois crowd acquiring Louis XV furniture at the indoor antiques markets; the thirty-something bobo set paying way over the odds for mid-century designer chairs and formica tables; the banlieusards from the Neuf Trois getting kitted out with the latest sneakers and hoodies along the rue des Rosières; then at the very bottom you’ve got people trying to scratch a living selling second hand food at the Carré des biffes at Porte Montmartre. It’s an eye opener for sure.