Behind a quiet façade on Rue Marbeuf, where a white awning bears the name in small, discreet letters, one of Paris’s most storied addresses has opened a new chapter. Doobie’s, reborn this September after three years of transformation, wants to be neither a conventional restaurant nor simply a late night bar. It aims to feel like the private apartment of a collector, a place where lunch slides into dinner and dinner drifts, almost unnoticed, into the night.
The address has stories to tell. In 1938, a family from Eastern Europe opened a Russian restaurant here, dressing the room in dark wood and painting a fresco directly on the wall. In the 1970s it became La Caravelle, a hushed dancing spot for night owls and artists of the 8th arrondissement. In 1993, Yannick Noah gave it new life as Doobie’s, and for nearly two decades it was a festive salon of Parisian nights. After several quiet years, the doors have opened again under Must Group.
The design is the work of architect Arnaud Behzadi, who was born in Tehran and raised in Paris. His brief to himself was to make a house where guests feel expected rather than merely admitted. The palette reads like an inventory of a well lived life: lacquered mahogany, burr wood and stained oak, muted and nickel plated golds, orange veined black marble, garnet velvets and a sage green borrowed from a garden. Nothing looks new, and everything seems to have been chosen slowly. In the Grand Salon, which seats 50, honey toned banquettes face dark tables topped with veined stone, and chairs upholstered in a bold animal print add a flash of humour to the hush. Overhead, alabaster pendants cast a low, flattering glow.
The rooms unfold one after another. La Rotonde, the beating heart of the house, sends guests toward its other spaces beneath a ceiling of gathered fabric that glows amber. Le Jardin du Soir, with 15 seats under a glass roof, places diners before the open kitchen, where the flames of the Josper grill and the choreography of the brigade become a quiet spectacle. Le Retour de Voyage, also with 15 seats, offers a more secluded pause for meetings and private conversation. The Petit Salon, with 20 seats, is the most intimate of all, a hushed room with a jewel like cluster of amber lights above the table. Art is woven through every space, with a collection curated by Galerie Strouk that includes sculpture set against velvet drapes, as though each piece had been picked up on the owner’s travels.
The kitchen is led by chef David Mantilla, 40, who spent many years alongside Akrame Benallal and brings more than seventeen years of French and international haute cuisine to the stove. A single menu runs from lunch through dinner, built for a quick meal or a long, shared table. The approach is generous, precise and unafraid of detours.
The section for sharing sets the tone. Blistered padrón peppers with Maldon salt and ghoa cress come at 9 euros, followed by a duo of Cantabrian anchovies, one in escabeche and one salt cured, served with bread chips. Hand carved Ibérico bellota ham is 23 euros, and thin slices of smoked, marinated beef sirloin are 24. Among the salads and starters, the range is wide and confident. A warm octopus salad with heirloom tomatoes and grilled pepper coulis sits beside vitello tonnato with caper berries, a carpaccio of Galician beef fillet with five peppers and Parmesan, and a sea urchin omelette finished with sea urchin butter and nori. A citrus foie gras terrine arrives with mango and tequila jelly and brioche toast, while a King Crab salad with avocado, cucumber and aloe vera is a cool, bright counterpoint. Vegetarian and vegan guests are looked after too, with a roasted beet and lentil salad, a raw artichoke salad with black olive tapenade and Piedmont hazelnuts, and a leek salad with a soft egg.
Then come the indulgences. The oscietra caviar hash brown, a crisp potato galette crowned with crème crue and caviar, is 45 euros. The wagyu sando, layered with A4 Japanese sirloin and confit onions, is 55. For a true occasion, Casparian Oscietra Royale caviar is offered by weight, from 30 grams at 110 euros up to 250 grams at 580.
The house signature is the tuna Milanese, a thin, crisp cutlet of red tuna over a burnt tomato coulis, priced at 29 euros. It captures the spirit of the whole menu in a single plate: a familiar dish reimagined with freedom, made with precision and immediately indulgent. Around it, the mains keep both comfort and craft in view. Sole meunière with brown butter and lemon leaves is 64 euros, steamed salmon with tarragon beurre blanc is 20, and spiced lamb chops with fresh yoghurt and herbs are 34. From the Josper come a veal chop with lemony jus and maître d’hôtel butter at 44 euros, and a Black Angus persillé of beef with a robust jus at 42. Tables of friends can turn to the large formats: lobster linguine in a cognac flambéed bisque sauce at 110 euros, a whole Bresse chicken finished on the Josper with a vin jaune jus at 120, or a Simmental rib of beef with chimichurri at 150, each served with two sides of your choice. Sides, from sweet potato purée to hand cut fries and a green salad, are 7 euros each.
Desserts lean into nostalgia with a wink. Cinnamon sugar churros arrive with chocolate and salted butter caramel sauces for 11 euros. The Doobie’s cheesecake with pecans is 12, and the popcorn sundae, with caramel and caramelised popcorn, is also 12. Seasonal brioche pain perdu with vanilla chantilly and red berries is 14, and the baba is soaked in the house’s aromatic arranged rum, which is poured to taste. A trio of profiteroles with Madagascar vanilla, Piedmont hazelnut and Sicilian pistachio ice creams is 15 euros, and housemade ice creams and sorbets are 10.
As the evening deepens, the house changes pace. The Bar de Nuit, a nocturnal salon that holds 110 guests, takes over with a menu of reinterpreted classics and original cocktails, designed for an aperitif, a nightcap or a night that simply refuses to end. The music is treated as part of the story, moving from 1990s R&B to Chicago house, with Madonna, 50 Cent, The Cure and Daft Punk as markers on a journey through the decades. The selector builds moments rather than playlists, and the room fills with the kind of energy that connects generations.
In the words of the house, you come for lunch or dinner and you stay for whatever comes next.
Doobie’s is at 26 Rue Marbeuf, 75008 Paris, in the Triangle d’Or. Lunch is served Monday to Friday and dinner Monday to Saturday. The restaurant is closed on Sundays. Total capacity is 210 guests, and prices are in euros, taxes and service included.
