What to Do in Paris for Foodies in May 2025

May in Paris isn’t polite—it’s bursting. Café terraces spill onto the pavement. Strawberries are finally sweet enough to seduce. Asparagus spears stand tall like they own the season. And the city’s appetite? Insatiable.

Whether you’re planning a trip or already elbows-deep in Parisian pleasure, here’s your chef’s-eye view of what to eat, sip, and savour this May 2025—from messy marché snacks to cheeky beer festivals and everything in between.

Here’s what foodies need to know about where to eat, what’s in season, and the best food festivals in Paris this May.

Hungry already? Skip ahead to the bits that tempt your taste buds.

Paris Food Events in May 2025

From wine-soaked weekends to street markets dripping in cheese, May is packed with delicious events for hungry travellers. These are the best food festivals, pop-ups, and culinary happenings in Paris this month—don’t miss a bite.

• 30 April – 11 May 2025 — Foire de Paris — Paris Expo Porte de Versailles
  foiredeparis.fr
• 1 – 11 May 2025 — Paris Bread Festival — Notre-Dame, Paris — A major moment for Parisian bakers and pastry lovers. This is when the city’s best baguettes, croissants, and other specialties are crowned by the Syndicat des Boulangers du Grand Paris. Keep an eye on boulangersdugrandparis.com for announcements and award updates. It’s more than bread—it’s pride, craft, and competition at its most delicious. Read our Guide to the Paris Bread Festival 2025 here!
• 1 May — Fête du Travail (Labour Day)
• 2 May — International Sauvignon Blanc Day
• 3 May — International Sommelier Day — Take the time to spread some joy with your favourite wine geek. This is the perfect excuse to celebrate the unsung heroes of the wine world. I’ll be attempting to cook something extra special for my favourite sommelier—because nothing says ‘thank you for the perfect pairing’ like a homemade meal done right.
• 8 – 11 May 2025 — Taste Paris Festival — Grand Palais
  paris.tastefestivals.com
• 18 – 19 May 2025 — CHEFFES! Paris 2025 – Festival culinaire et solidaire – Le Mazette – Super excited to see this feminist festival by chefs for chefs come back and hoping to snag myself a ticket soon.
  helloasso.com event link
• 19 – 25 May 2025 — Paris Beer Festival — The best beer festival in Paris—and the only one run by an association. A full week of tastings, collabs, and beer-fueled brilliance all over the city, culminating in a grande finale at Ground Control.
  parisbeerfestival.fr
• 30 May — Fêtes de Voisins (Neighbour’s Day) — Nothing says eat like the French quite like a long, lazy afternoon meal shared with the people next door. This joyful celebration of community is the perfect excuse to break bread, pour wine, and finally learn your neighbour’s name. Find out more at fetedesvoisins.fr.

💡 Want the full scoop?
We’ve got chef-written guides to the two unmissable May food events:
🍞 Paris Bread Festival 2025 — Behind the buttered brilliance, what to expect, and how to eat like a local.
🍺 Paris Craft Beer Festival 2025 — Where to sip, what not to miss, and why this isn’t just for beer nerds.

Want every delicious event synced to your calendar? Click here to get our full Paris foodie event calendar on Google or Mac.

🍴 P.S. Still hungry?
I’ve still got a few openings left for private experiences this month. If you’re the kind of person who’d rather eat with a local chef than follow a guidebook, book a Paris food tour and let’s make it delicious. Come hungry.

Seasonal Flavours in Paris This May

Paris in May is a love letter to spring—written in butter, herbs, and strawberries. The markets are overflowing, the menus are lighter, and suddenly everything tastes like a fresh start.

🌿 Coming Into Season

• Spring onions – Mild and sweet, perfect in salads.
• Peas and fava beans – Fresh, bright, and just right with a little mint. Eat them raw or lightly steamed.
• New potatoes – Especially varieties like Île de Ré or Noirmoutier. Creamy and delicate, grown near the sea for extra flavour.
• Strawberries (Gariguette, Charlotte) – Sweet, fragrant, and perfect for dessert.
• Rhubarb – Tart and lively, great in tarts and compotes.
• Chervil, tarragon, wild garlic – Fresh herbs to add a punch to salads, sauces, or eggs.
• Fresh goat cheese (chèvre frais) – Creamy, tangy, and perfect for spring.

👉 Chef tip: Cooking with what’s in season means more flavour, less fuss. This is the moment for salads, soft cheeses, and things that taste like green.

🌺 Going Out of Season

Say goodbye (for now) to the heavy hitters:

1. Endives: Typically harvested from October to April, endives become less prevalent in May.​
2. Celery Root (Céleri-rave): Its peak season spans from October to April, leading to reduced availability in May.​
3. Pumpkins and Squash (Courges): These are primarily autumn and winter vegetables, with their season concluding by late winter or early spring.

🍽️ On Menus Now

• Asperges à la vinaigrette — A simple yet perfect starter
• Fèves with mint & chèvre — Seasonal peas meet creamy goat’s cheese
• Gariguette tartes — Instagrammable? Yes. Overhyped? Only if you get them from the wrong patisserie.
• Navarin d’agneau — A classic spring stew with lamb and vegetables

Curious how the French shop for ingredients like these? Read our guide to shopping in Paris like a chef and hit the markets like you know what you’re doing.

Hidden Gems & Cheap Eats in Paris This May

Still simmering… This section will be updated with the freshest finds before May kicks off. Expect hidden gems, street eats, and the kind of local recommendations that won’t show up in tourist guides.

Follow along on Substack or Instagram @chef_tris_.

What We’ve Been Cooking Up on the Blog

Need more foodie inspiration for your May trip? Here’s what’s fresh out of our kitchen:

🍞 Paris Bread Festival 2025 Guide – Where to find the best baguettes, what to expect, and why this festival matters more than you think.
🍺 Paris Craft Beer Festival 2025 – A chef’s-eye view of the brewers, bars, and collabs worth chasing across the city.
🥐 Paris’ Best Croissant Judging 2025 – We broke down how to judge a croissant like a Parisian pastry snob. Winners announced May 6th—don’t miss it.
🗺️ New & Improved: Paris Food Tour Map – Based on your feedback, we’ve updated our foodie map to make it easier to use on the go. Now with better filters, clearer pins, and no fluff.
🧺 How to Shop in Paris Like a Chef – Skip the tourist traps. Here’s how to navigate markets, from stinky cheese to seasonal veg.

👉 We’re adding new posts each week—check out all the latest here.

🧭 PSA for Tour Lovers: We’ve rebuilt all our Paris food tour landing pages to make them easier to browse, quicker to book, and juicier to read. Whether you’re craving market snacks, chef tips, or hidden gems—we’ve got a tour (and a table) with your name on it.

What You Can’t Miss Eating in Paris in May 2025

If you eat only one thing this month, make it something that tastes like May in Paris.

Here are this month’s unmissable bites—the dishes, desserts, and drinks locals are lining up for and chefs are obsessed with:

🥐 The winning croissant – Announced May 6th. The best in Paris, crowned by the Syndicat des Boulangers. Once revealed, expect queues and flaky gold. Here’s how we judge a real Parisian croissant »

🧀 Chèvre frais with fresh herbs – Eat it at a market stall with a baguette and a smile. Or pair it with rosé on a sunny terrace. There’s nothing more May.

🍓 Gariguette strawberries – In a tart, with whipped cream, or straight from the punnet—skip the supermarket and find a proper greengrocer.

🍺 A collab beer from the Paris Beer Fest – Small batch, big flavour, made for sipping in the sun. Check our Beer Festival Guide for the freshest drops.

Paris in May 2025: Chef’s Notes & Market Whispers

May is just peeking its sunny head over the horizon. I’m writing this in my shorts, sat on the terrace, watching the cat chase bees through a garden bursting with elderflowers and bearded irises that quite literally bloomed overnight.

Last week, I took some tour guests pastries from Cédric Grolet—yes, I braved the queue—so they could enjoy those sculptural desserts with a glass of bubbles in the gardens of the Palais Royal. And honestly? They were worth the hype. It feels like Grolet has seriously upped his game since the last time I waited patiently for those flaky, reverent creations. The pavlova was off the hook!

I’ve been drinking far too much rosé and crémant. But can you blame me? As soon as the sun comes out, every Parisian I know finds an excuse to toast the end of winter.

May is stacked with bank holidays and long weekends. While the city fills up with hungry tourists, the well-heeled Parisiens are plotting their escape to the countryside. That means the markets and bakeries are wild on Saturday mornings—and quiet come Monday. Plan accordingly, eat shamelessly, and soak it all in.

Coming to Paris in June or looking ahead to July? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Check out:

• What to do in Paris for foodies in June 2025
• What to do in Paris for foodies in July 2025

Got a hot Paris tip for May?

Send it my way or tag me on Instagram @chef_tris_—I’m always hungry for a hot lead.

Still planning your trip?
Book a Paris food tour and I’ll show you where to chase flavour like a local.

Chef Tris

Food Tour Guide

From the bustling streets of Paris to the heat of a professional kitchen, my life has always revolved around food. A Brit who moved to France at 16, I trained as a chef in a Parisian palace kitchen at 18 and have spent decades cooking, eating, and living like the French.

By day, I run kitchens and events, but Eat Like The French is my side hustle—a way to share my passion for French food through writing and food tours. After a detour into tech recruitment, I returned to what I love most: cooking and storytelling—one dish, one tour, and one bite at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions: Paris in May 2025

🌸 Spring / May Emojicon Drop