Automne
“One star bistronomy from Nobuyuki Akishige at prices Paris forgot: €45 lunch, open Sunday. Book it for a first date.”
About Automne
Aki means autumn in Japanese, and Nobuyuki Akishige named the bistro for himself when he opened it in 2017 on rue Richard Lenoir in the 11th. The star arrived in 2019 and has stayed through the 2026 guide, which makes Automne one of the cheapest starred tickets in Paris: lunch from €45, the full tasting at €85. Akishige cooked at La Vague d'Or in Saint Tropez and at La Pyramide before betting on a room of his own.
He calls the style bistrologie: bistro comfort rebuilt with fine dining technique and a Japanese respect for the seasons. Game arrives in autumn, asparagus is worked hard in spring, and the sauces are reduced with a patience that embarrasses grander addresses. Plates look modest and taste engineered. His wife Saeko runs the floor and the wine list, and the room's warmth is hers as much as the kitchen's precision is his.
The practical details do half the selling. The restaurant serves Wednesday through Sunday, which makes it one of the few starred rooms in Paris open on a Sunday night, and the bill for two with wine can stay under €200 at dinner if you let it. Book a week or two ahead on the restaurant's site; the room is small, and Sunday evenings, the quiet luxury of the address, fill first.
The Room
A narrow bistro room: stone wall, dark wood tables, an open sliver of kitchen at the back. Couples fit better than groups, and the best two seats face the room from the rear banquette. No dress code beyond looking like you tried; the 11th does not do jackets. Expect neighbours close enough to envy their plates.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
The reservation is the easy part to explain. The occasion is the part that decides the memory.
For a first date with proof of taste and an exit ramp
A starred dinner at €85 makes the point without the pressure of a palace: the room is candlelit but casual, the courses come at conversation pace, and if the evening soars you can stretch into the wine list Saeko built. If it does not, dinner still ends inside two hours. Book the rear banquette for the best sightlines and take the tasting together; the kitchen paces two menus in step.
For a birthday dinner on a Sunday
Most of starred Paris sleeps on Sunday night; Automne does not, which makes it the birthday answer for anyone whose date lands on the weekend's wrong side. The kitchen will finish the tasting with a marked dessert if you mention the occasion, and the €85 ticket leaves budget for a bottle worth remembering. Book two weeks out; Sundays are the room's open secret and its first seats to go.
For a solo star at bistro prices
The €45 lunch is one of the great solo tickets in the city: a starred kitchen, a compact room where a single diner draws zero attention, and a bill that ends under €100 with a glass or two. Sit facing the open kitchen at the back if you eat alone for the theatre. Lunch late in the week gives the fullest menu at the smallest cost, and the pacing respects an afternoon.
What to order
The menus are short and seasonal, so the decisions are format, season and glass. These are the calls to make.
- The seasonal tasting at €85
The full statement of bistrologie: a handful of courses that read simple and eat precise. Take it on a first visit.
- Game in season
Autumn is the name and the thesis. When venison, hare or pigeon appears from October, the sauces alone justify the trip.
- Saeko's wine calls
The list is short and personal. Give a price and a mood and take what she pours; the glasses punch far above the bill.
- Sunday dinner
The strategic booking: a starred Sunday table in Paris is rare enough to be the plan, not the backup.
Practical
- Address
- 11 rue Richard Lenoir, 11th
- Reservations
- Restaurant site · one to two weeks ahead
- Menus
- Lunch from €45 · tasting €85
- Star
- One Michelin star since 2019
- Chef
- Nobuyuki Akishige · Saeko Akishige on the floor
- Days
- Wednesday to Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday
- Dress
- Smart casual at most
- Metro
- Breguet Sabin or Richard Lenoir
Questions diners ask
Is Automne worth it?
Yes, on value above all. One Michelin star held since 2019, a tasting at €85 and lunch from €45 make Automne the rare starred bill in Paris that reads like a favour. The style is refined bistro rather than spectacle, so diners chasing caviar theatrics should aim at the 8th; everyone else leaves planning the return.
How do I get a reservation at Automne?
Directly on the restaurant's site, one to two weeks ahead for most tables. The room is small, so Friday and Saturday nights and the coveted Sunday dinner go first; midweek lunch usually opens within days. Couples get the best of the room; parties above four should call, because the bistro fits few of them.
Is Automne open on Sunday?
Yes, which makes it one of very few Michelin starred rooms in Paris serving Sunday night; it closes Monday and Tuesday instead. That inversion makes Sunday the strategic booking of the week: the city empties into brasseries, and a starred table waits in the 11th for whoever planned ten days ahead.
What does dinner at Automne cost?
Lunch starts at €45 and the full tasting runs €85, before wine. A couple sharing the tasting with a modest bottle lands near €220 total; a solo lunch with a glass can finish under €80. By the standards of starred Paris, where €200 a head is a floor, the arithmetic is the argument.