✈️Sunday Brunch for Too
One afternoon at 120 meters indulging in the highest brunch experience in Paris.
👨✈️ The Briefing Room:
Notes and open topics from the editor’s desk.
Welcome Departures. The place to be for where to go and what to see.
Autumn is mostly a wet and cloudy affair in Paris. Dark moody skies consistently reign supreme for several months and whenever there’s a break in the clouds, I will not think twice to make the most out of it. Specially if said break happens to land on a Sunday. So it should be no surprise that when I saw the weather forecast calling for clear skies last weekend, I made a beeline to my never ending restaurant bucket list and after a little deliberation made a Sunday brunch reservation for 2 at Too Restaurant (get it now). Cheeky play of words aside, I’ve had this spot pegged for several years but never had the opportunity to visit as it’s located a bit out of the way from where I normally hangout while in the city. In hindsight this might also explain why so many people I’ve talked to have never even heard of it and why the place remains so underrated.
Now without further ado, let’s take it away!
Alvin
☕️ The Location:
With its strict zoning and urban planning regulations, Paris has never really been known for having a bustling rooftop scene compared to what you find in other major cities. To make matters a little more complicated, of the limited rooftop options available, many are only cocktail bars with light fare menus. For many years, sitting on top of Montparnasse Tower at an altitude of 210m / 698ft, Le Ciel de Paris held the crown for the city’s highest full service dining room with a view. But after its permanent closure last summer, it left a pretty glaring vacancy in the already niche rooftop restaurant category.
Overlooking the Seine river and the historical parts of the city, on top of the striking DUO-2 tower of Jean Nouvel’s Tours Duo project, TOO Restaurant sits at an altitude of 120m / 394ft. Making it one of the highest full service dining rooms in Paris, second only to Windo Skybar at the Hyatt. The restaurant and upstairs bar called TacTac are part of the 139 room Too Hotel that occupies the lower levels of the DUO-2 tower. Aside from taxi or ride share, I find the easiest route to get here from the city center is to take Metro line 7 at Châtelet toward Mairie d’Ivry and changing at Porte d’Italie to the Tram T3a towards Porte de Vincennes. The tram’s Avenue de France stop is 50m across the street from the entrance.
Access to the restaurant is through the hotel’s main entrance located on Rue Brunessau. Just walk through the lobby and head straight to the elevators. The restaurant is clearly marked on the elevator selection display.
☕️ The Ambiance:
Once you arrive at the restaurant level you are greeted by a host who will verify your reservation and seat you. There is free coat check available if you happen to visit during that time of the year. As you make your way to the table, you will pass by the bar on the right which on Sundays doubles as the brunch buffet. On the left you’ll see a row of double tables and large chairs facing south west. As you make your way to the main room it is hard to miss Philippe Starck’s fingerprints throughout the space. If you’ve been exposed to his work the look will be familiar. It is bold, in your face and a touch hallucinating. If Salvador Dali was still around, he would probably be a regular here.
There is an explicit “chic-elegant” dress code listed, which I was very happy to see everyone abide by. Combined with the ample window lighting, soft conversations throughout the room and attentive service that mostly stayed out of the way, the overall ambiance was very pleasant. When compared to its closest contender Windo, you would be forgiven to forget you were at a hotel here. At Windo, you would need to be seriously visually impaired to miss the fact you’re in a Hyatt.
☕️ The Experience:
As a fan of Starck, I could keep going on about how much I loved the room, but the main reason you go out of your way to visit a place like this is for the view. In that regard Too delivers and then some. The space is lined with mostly north west facing floor to ceiling glass, giving you a crisp view of Montparnasse, Eiffel Tour and Sacre Coeur. This is something that clearly distinguishes Too from the south eastern facing view at Windo. From there you are facing the sun and the entire city is backlit. This accentuates the haze and flattens the view. From Too the sun drapes light from the side in a way that sharply carves every detail of the city’s architecture.
We picked a corner window table that gave us a bit more of a panoramic view, but it is really hard to go wrong anywhere in the restaurant’s floor plan. The window tables are a bit on the smaller size, but this allows both chairs to face the window and get the same unobstructed view. I think it’s a good compromise if you don’t mind playing the inevitable tableware Tetris required for buffet.
🍽️ The Menu & Final Thoughts:
The buffet has a good range of the usual suspects with plenty of both sweet and savory options. In these situations I tend to lean heavily into the more stereotypical North American fare, as these have become a bit of a rare treat in my diet these days. But there is enough variety to satisfy most palettes regardless what side of the Atlantic you’re from. I included a .PDF transcript of the full brunch menu below that you can download and dive in a little closer.
One thing that stood out to me from the brunch menu at Too was the inclusion of 1 a la carte dish in addition to the buffet. You can choose between eggs Benedict, teriyaki salmon, Angus beef gyozas and chakchouka with eggs and feta. I went for the Benedict but unintentionally made a bit of a mess of it after it made it to the table, so I skipped the photo. Let’s just say it tasted a lot better than it looked.
One thing I would’ve loved to see more of is fresh fruit. Though there was a small fruit salad plate on display, I feel like fresh seasonal fruits would have made the buffet that much better overall not to mention a great complement to the cereal, pancakes and waffles. While in the subject of fresh fruits, I tried the grapefruit and orange juices included as part of the brunch menu. They were both fresh squeezed, both really good. That lemon tart on the last photograph was amazing. Definite must try.
Overall I was very happy with the entire experience. Online reservations open 3 weeks out and the process is very straight forward. No spam after signup just a reservation confirmation / reminder email a few days prior. The servers were attentive without being overbearing and the menu has a good amount of options for the price point. I think that is where Too hits its sweet spot. Given the limited rooftop options in the city, at 60€ per person for 1 a la carte dish, buffet and drinks you will not find a dining room that offers this much value. Specially with the stunning view at this altitude.
Cielo Bar: 65 Rue Bruneseau, 75013 Paris
Phone: +33 01 78 90 79 90
Reservations: toohotel.com
Instagram: @toohotelparis
🛫 About Us:
Departures is a free newsletter about photography, travel & lifestyle. To find out more about what this is, who I am and why should you be here, visit our dedicated about page here: