Kosher in Paris: The Complete Guide to Kosher Keepers in France (Updated for 2024)

By: Yagil Henkin

In recent years, I have been to Paris several times for work. Accordingly, I have compiled quite a few materials related to kosher and Shabbat in Paris: what is allowed to eat without kosher, kosher bakeries in Paris, recommended restaurants, places to eat on Shabbat, hotels with kosher breakfast, regular and electric key issues, and more.

Kosher staples in France

Even if the product looks the same as in Israel, it doesn't mean it's kosher. Sometimes the ingredients are different, and things you can't identify contain animal fat, for example. Unfortunately (for me), this is also true for ice cream.

There is usually no external kosher marking on products in France. Don't look for kosher marks, because you won't find any. Therefore, there are kosher lists, and there are products that are considered kosher. More extensive details can be found in the lists of the Constitutio (below), on which I base myself here.

• Baguette: The regular model, without the fat (Moulé Non), is kosher. You can't trust baguettes with toppings (onions, tomatoes, olives, etc.). Please note: The kashrut rule applies to fresh baguettes from bakeries. Industrial baguettes packaged in plastic, which you can buy in supermarkets and sometimes have all sorts of things added to them, are considered non-kosher. In other words: a fat-free baguette that is made locally is fine, a baguette that comes in plastic packaging and is made elsewhere is not.
• croissants: In general, not kosher.
• butter: Kosher, but not light butter.
• Milk: For those who are not strict about Israel milk.
• white And yogurts without fruit and without additives.
• Canned carrots, peas and cornPickled cucumbers in salt are kosher (with vinegar, there is a slim chance that they will use wine vinegar, in which case it is not kosher).
• Hagen then: But only those with the American kosher mark.
• Kellogg's Cornflakes: Even without a kosher mark (quite a few other manufacturers are kosher too, but I can't vouch for all of them). Please note – colored breakfast cereals (pink, green, etc.) are generally not kosher.
• Tuna in oil, tuna in water: Kosher, (provided it is not tuna with toppings, but just tuna).
• Soft drinks Kosher: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Seven Up, Schweppes, Sprite, Orangina.
• Natural juicesGrape juice is prohibited unless it is kosher. The rest are permitted, provided they are without food coloring or artificial additives (or the addition of grape juice – rare but does happen).
• Cheeses Boursin's (A brand big enough that you'll find it in lots of supermarkets): Natural, Herbs, Pepper, Chives and Shallots, and in French: Poivre – Herbes Fines & Ail – Nature- Échalote & Ciboulette – Figues & Noix -Coffret: Ail & Fines Herbes / Poivre– – Échalote.
• Smoked Salmon No extras.

If you find a product you are not familiar with, check the kashrut list of the Chief Rabbinate of France.

Sweets from abroad – kosher or not?

• After Eight Mint Chocolate Kosher if produced in the UK. Not kosher if produced elsewhere in Europe.
• Lindt chocolates: Not everything is known, but the following list is kosher.
  Kosher for sure, fur:
  Excellence Dark 70%
  Excellence Dark 85%
  Definitely kosher, dairy (Akkum milk):
  Excellence Extra Creamy
  Excellence Intense Coffee
  Excellence Intense Mint
  Swiss Double Milk Chocolate
  Swiss Milk Chocolate
  Swiss Milk Chocolate Hazelnuts
  Swiss Thins Milk
• M&M products Kosher if they are from the United States, but not if they are from Europe. (But M&M ice cream made in Germany is kosher for non-German milk eaters, hooray!) Every Hershey's product is kosher.
• Almost all Cadbury chocolates.
• The Leonidas chocolate company has several branches in Paris, and they have quite a few kosher chocolates.

Food coloring and additives

Almost every processed product has additives or food colorings, marked with the letter E and a number. Quite a few of these food colorings or additives are composed of non-kosher ingredients, from ground beetles to… never mind, you don’t want to know. There are sometimes alternative methods for extracting the same food coloring from plants, or the substance is present in both plants and animals.

If the symbol appears on a product that is labeled as kosher – there is nothing to worry about, it was probably produced kosher. But as a general rule – if there is no kosher marking, and in France there is usually no kosher marking on products, then any of the following components usually means that the product is not kosher:
E120 E422 E430 E431 E432 E433 E434 E435 E436 E441 E442 E470 E470a E470b E471 E472a E472b E472c E472D E472e E472f E473 E474 E475 E476 E477 E481 E482 E483 E491 E492 E493 E494 E495 E542 E570 E572 E1441
(Source of the list – London Kosher Beit Din, LKBD).

Kosher lists and kosher apps

In case of doubt, it's worth turning on the Internet. Many of the products in France are kosher, but as mentioned, there is no marking on them. How do you know? Check. How do you check? Here we have kosher lists, at your service: all kosher products in France. But before the databases, an application: Is It Kosher.

This app, for both iPhone and Android, allows you to search for products and find out the current kosher status. It includes databases from most of the world, and the disadvantage is that it requires an internet connection; that is, it does not download databases to a computer, but checks via the internet. Other than that, it is very simple and easy to use, and allows you to search by product or company. It also recognizes where you are and adapts the database to that country. What's more, it has the option of scanning barcodes to see if the product is kosher. Sometimes the scan fails, but it can save a lot of time.

Apps for kosher restaurants in Paris and France

iPhone apps

Two apps, both of which are essentially the iPhone version of large sites that aggregate reviews and places. Mangercacher can also give you restaurants that are close to where you are, I don't know about cacher123 (I don't have an iPhone).

Android apps

The only app I'm familiar with is GPS Kosher, which keeps an up-to-date database of kosher restaurants in France (and Amsterdam and other places). You can also use the very comprehensive Cacher 123 website . Another app for locating kosher around the world is Kosher Near Me.

Food is ready for Shabbat.

If you are in Paris on Shabbat, but are not staying in a kosher hotel, and you planned to eat alone – the Shabbat Box is the service for you. You can put together a menu or choose a pre-set menu. Place your order a few days in advance and it will arrive at the address of your choice. The kosher is from Chabad.

Another service that offers ready-to-eat meals for Shabbat in Paris is Atelier Niel . Orders must be placed by Friday noon, and payment can be made online or by phone.

There are also a selection of kosher delicatessens and restaurants in Paris that sell pre-prepared food that you can take with you for Shabbat. Here are some of them:

• Douieb Restaurant – A kosher restaurant offering Tunisian Jewish food in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Address: 11 bis Rue Geoffroy-Marie
• Manhattan Restaurant – Kosher restaurant in the 11th arrondissement. Here you can buy various grilled meats, couscous, challah, wine, etc. Address: 231 Bd Voltaire
• Vicky Restaurant – A kosher restaurant in the 17th arrondissement. A large selection of dishes prepared for Shabbat, including couscous, roasted chicken, and beef bourguignon. Restaurant website

Kosher hotels in Paris

There are a number of kosher hotels that I have reviewed and written about. You can find more information here: Kosher Hotels in Paris – Recommendations and Tips.

Kosher restaurants in Paris

First of all: if you’re not sure, head to the 4th arrondissement ( Marseille district ) which is full of kosher restaurants and stalls. In fact, it’s hard to walk around Rosiers des Rue without coming across more kosher shops or restaurants, and there’s no exaggeration here – falafel, shawarma, restaurants, pizza, deli, you name it.

Half of the places are closed on Sunday afternoon. So, for those of you who are staying in Paris for the weekend – if you are counting on business on Sunday, call ahead to find out. The review is completely subjective, and I haven’t been to all the places in Paris – so the fact that a place isn’t listed here doesn’t mean anything bad about it. The fact that a place is listed here, on the other hand, says good things about it.

Kosher Restaurants in Paris – The Complete Guide

Shabbat in Paris: Information for Sabbath-keepers in the City of Lights

There are about 100 active synagogues in Paris, and a very large Jewish community, numbering about a quarter of a million people. If you want to pray on Shabbat in Paris, here are some synagogues you can go to:

Synagogue La Victoire – the Great Synagogue of Paris

This is the largest synagogue in Paris and indeed in all of France. It was inaugurated in 1874 and was recognized as a historic building in the 1980s. The Great Synagogue is located at 44 Rue de la Victoire (9th arrondissement of Paris). It has room for about 2,500 worshippers. The prayers in the main hall are Ashkenazi, but there is a small hall for Sephardic prayers, and in the hall on the upper floor prayers are held according to the Egyptian Jewish tradition. There are several hundred worshippers here every Shabbat, and about 3,000 people come to the Great Synagogue in Paris during the High Holidays. Visit the synagogue website.

Tournelles Synagogue in the Marais district

An old and ancient synagogue located in the Marais district, built in the Roman-Byzantine style, and has even been described as an “architectural gem.” The original community that prayed here was mainly French Jews from the Alsace- Lorraine region , and was later joined by immigrants from Poland, Russia and the rest of Eastern Europe. The Tournelles Synagogue is located at 21bis Rue des Tournelles. The synagogue’s website.

Nazareth Synagogue, Third Arrondissement, Paris

This synagogue is located at 15 Rue Notre Dame de Nazareth, and is considered the oldest synagogue in Paris. The Synagogue de Nazareth was originally built to accommodate a congregation of several hundred worshippers, including a women's section, but the building was demolished and rebuilt in 1852. In this synagogue you can find an organ, a unique musical instrument not usually seen in synagogues. The place used to be the residence of the chief rabbis of Paris. The synagogue's website.

For a list of all synagogues in Paris

Where do you eat on Saturday in Paris?

When I happened to be in Paris on Shabbat, I ate at the Chabad house on the Champs-Elysées , which is right next to the Arc de Triomphe. The food is very good, and not expensive: 30 euros per person for a Shabbat meal (20 for a child, only five euros for a student). You have to register in advance for the meals, because the food is prepared according to the quantity. You also have to read the website carefully when you need to arrive (they will be happy to explain, in better or worse Hebrew), for security reasons it is not always open.

Most reasonably priced kosher hotels are not near the Arc de Triomphe , so if you eat at the Chabad House, you will likely have to walk about half an hour to an hour from the hotels you will be staying at (unfortunately, the legends about traveling on the subway with a halachic permit on Shabbat are just legends). Anyone who manages to find an apartment near the Champs-Elysées (sometimes it is a reality) will solve their own problem. Anyone who does not pay attention to the location of the hotel may walk much too far (and there was already an incident where a guest had to walk six kilometers from the hotel to the Chabad House – and then return the same distance).

More options:

Beth El Community

Not far from the central synagogue of Paris . They have a prayer and then a meal, 25 euros per person. If you are staying in the Opera area , this is a good and more convenient option than walking to the Chabad House.

Address : rue Saulnier 3

Metro: Cadet

Note: A review that arrived claims that this is actually an outside meal, not in the synagogue, and that the price is double what is stated on the website; that review was very negative. It is recommended to inquire directly with the synagogue before booking – so far no response has been received.

Central Synagogue of Paris

There is a Shabbat meal here (35 euros for tourists and 10 euros for children) and kiddush in the morning after prayer. As usual, registration is required.

Kosher patisseries in Paris

 The XXV

An exceptional pastry shop, even their fur desserts are exceptionally excellent. On Fridays they also make excellent challah for Shabbat. The owners speak fluent Hebrew, but they are not always there and not all the employees speak Hebrew.
Great location – not far from the Eiffel Tower and two minutes from its observation deck.

Address : Avenue Paul Doumer 25.

Damiel

Emphasis on chocolates. There are also, of course, pastries and wines and champagne. All chocolates are kosher under the supervision of the Chief Rabbi of Paris. Since they have five different stores in Paris itself and one in the suburbs, here is the link for details on all of them. The store in the 16th arrondissement is within reasonable reach for those walking around Paris on a Tuesday, and the store in the XNUMXth arrondissement – ​​for half of those who will stay for Shabbat.

Berthillon Ice Cream (and a double warning note)

This is the temple of French ice cream , but what – the ice cream is not considered kosher. French kosher-observant people usually eat the sorbet (of course, if a sorbet with wine appears there, then no; but the fruit flavors. And again: not the ice cream, but the sorbet), and therefore you can trust them. On their recommendation I went there and it is indeed excellent, but the portions are not large.

The second caveat is that the place is listed in tourist guides, so there is often a horrendous line. In a very French way, the ice cream shop is closed in the summer.

Address : 29-31 Rue Saint-Louis en l'Île (not that far from the Marais and the falafels I mentioned earlier).

Kosher grocery stores in Paris (relatively) close to the center

Kosher Shop

It is located 1.6 km from the Trocadero (or, if you prefer, a XNUMX km walk from the Eiffel Tower).

Address : rue de Longchamp 125.

Cash Easy

An even better location: the closest grocery store to the city center – about 400 meters from the Trocadero and the same from the Arc de Triomphe.

Address : rue Lauriston 104.

K Market

Branch 1 : rue Rennequin 39.

Branch 2 : rue de la Pompe 26.

Lev Cash

Address: 54 rue Gabriel Peri, less than 100 meters from Mairie de Montrogue metro station

Trouble with the courtyard mix, and trouble with hotels

There is no mixing in Paris. Nowhere. This means that you should really not bring any baby who requires a stroller, because you won't be able to leave the hotel, and if you don't have a kosher restaurant in the hotel, you've eaten it. The only solution for moving a child who can't walk on his own on Shabbat, who will only work with a folding stroller (unless someone is waiting for you in Paris with a stroller), is the one that Rabbi Elyakim Levanon suggested, and generally involves raising partitions up to ten tefas around him. Not practical for you? I didn't think otherwise.

Another meaning is that all the clothes you might need, you will have to wear all the time. It may not be particularly fun if you went out with a coat and a raincoat and gloves because it was terribly cold, and suddenly the weather changed and became relatively warm, but it is what it is. It is advisable to leave keys (more on this later) at the hotel. If this is not possible – a common method among our brothers from abroad is to make them part of the belt buckle. This is not practical for you, but in a pinch you can put them, for example, under the insole inside the shoe and walk on them. In short, it is better to leave them at the hotel.

Another problem that many hotels (especially large ones) have is that they replace the lock with a magnetic card, small hotels usually do not have this problem – but it is essential to find out in advance and of course there is a problem opening on Shabbat (once, in Canada, I found myself stuck in a room in such a hotel for a whole Sabbath. Luckily for me the first time the room was on the ground floor and I could get in and out of the window, and luckily for me the second time no one noticed me). This is not a bad reason to prefer apartments in Paris , except in hotels where this problem does not exist. Pay attention when taking an apartment – ​​make sure in advance that not only the apartment door opens with a regular key, but also the door of the building – there are many cases where the first is regular and the second is electric.

For sources, explanations, and additional matters regarding Shabbat business, see, for example, Beit Hillel or Rabbi Eliyahu Birnbaum, who talks about an electronic key on Shabbat . Rabbis Eli Reif and Dror Pixler tended to permit it, while my brother Rabbi Eitam Hankin strongly disagreed. Those interested in delving deeper into the various claims should consult issues of “ Be’amonot Atich ” 104, 105, and 110. Those who are not satisfied should ask a rabbi. If you intend to forgo hotels and use, for example, AirBNB, then in addition to kosher utensils, it is very advisable to bring a folding plate.

This section is here because if you're walking around on Shabbat, at some point you'll probably need to go to the bathroom, and you don't always want to go back to the hotel for it. As mentioned, Paris has quite a few public toilets on the streets, and some are free - the problem is that the facilities are electric, and a significant portion of the other services are paid. Therefore, here is a partial list of regular services without charge:

• next to Eiffel TowerWhen you stand with your back to the Trocadero, the toilets are to the left at the foot of the tower.
• At the entrance to the Louvre, although you have to queue to enter the entrance hall (where the box office and entrance are). It's better to enter from the Tuileries Gardens, there's less queue.
• Museum of the History of the City of Paris, God-Carnavalet Museum . Okay, here we need to expand. The Carnaval is a very nice and free museum dedicated to the history of the city of Paris. It is located in the Marais district (not far from the kosher food area), displays rooms from different periods of Paris' existence, photos and exhibitions, it is worth a visit even for those who are not particularly fond of history, and the museum has a wonderful garden with benches for resting. And of course, there are also toilets. The fact that the museum is free and without any electronic traps makes it very suitable for a visit on Shabbat.
• Another option for free toilets is to go into a large department store (such as the famous Galleries Lafayette at 40 Haussmann Boulevard, not far from the Opera) or into a McDonald's or KFC store, and hope that there is nothing electronic there (the toilets are usually in the back, sometimes a floor above or below). It is better to go into a junk food chain, because they are constantly serving food and do not notice who has ordered and who has not; in French cafes they may notice that you have only entered for the toilets and send you away with the best French manners. It is worth checking before Shabbat which branches are near the area where you intend to travel. Note: Starbucks and McDonald's usually have a code for the door, and the code appears at the bottom of the menu - so that people can buy - but if you are standing near the toilet door, usually someone is entering or leaving and you can enter without the door closing and without using the code at all.

The article you are reading is part of a tips page that also contains information about bicycles in Paris, outlets, and more. The page can be found here.

More on the subject

• Missia, Queen of Paris, Part II: Madame Edwards Gets Divorced
• Living in Paris – for or against?
• Basilica of Saint-Denis – the burial place of the kings of France (or at least most of them)