The rue de Turenne in the Marais is one of those streets built in the exact direction the wind blows. On a freezing evening in January with every wholesale fashion warehouse steel-shuttered, there’s no refuge from the gusts that bowl right along its length. About halfway down, I was so grateful to find the Café des Musées open on a Sunday night.

Despite being right by the Picasso museum in too-cool Marais, this Belle Epoque café, smartly restored by Pierre Lecoutre, owner of the Dôme du Marais, is determined to remain untouched by its location. Sit amongst (ok, rub up against  – the dining room is long and narrow as a railway carriage) the predominantly French diners, for the best “hand-cut” steak tartare in Paris, “artisanal” (?!?) frites and raspberry dacquoise (raspberry meringue cake).

49, rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris. Tel.: 01 42 72 96 17.