THE JOURNAL
Caramelised pork belly, celery root, mushroom, peanut and herbaceous condiment at Baieta. Photograph by Mr Pierre Lucet Penato, courtesy of Baieta
Six new restaurants that sit on the cutting edge of French cuisine. Bon appétit!.
If you think French dinner is either andouillettes or fussy nouvelle cuisine, you are missing a trick. The next generation of Gallic chefs are repainting the French culinary landscape, brushing over it with cooking principles that are new, innovative and seldom anything but inventive.
Besides the racy, cutting-edge cuisine, some of these new-style establishments have a distinctly laid-back vibe. Seek out the neo bistro (new bistronomy), a useful neologism to bandy about when asking a Gallic food authority where to eat. Or for a racing start, try one of the restaurants below. Much of this innovation is centred on Paris, but it is by no means confined to the capital. The culinary muse is beating its wings all over France, from Marseille to Menton.
Le Bien Venu, Paris
Photograph by Mr Hervé Goluza, courtesy of Le Bien Venu
Burrata poutargue. Photograph by Mr Hervé Goluza, courtesy of Le Bien Venu
Le Bien Venu, hidden behind the Hotel Bienvenue in the 9th arrondissement, is a new hit for Paris. Its cosy ambience and progressive French-Japanese menu is composed by Mr Florent Ciccoli, who is also chef-owner of Jones (11th arrondissement), and Japanese-born Ms Maori Murota. The result is an assured Parisian brasserie tangoing with Asian notes. Donburi spring rolls are happily juxtaposed with a toothsome croque monsieur and haute hybrids such as oeuf mayonnaise with shiso. Although the menu is modern, the interior is timeless. Designer Ms Chloé Nègre has dressed it with graceful lights and antique green chairs that complement the large warehouse windows. Should you bag a table in the courtyard, you’ll find yourself seated on chairs of geometric “dazzle” camo, the modish pattern of the roaring 1920s.
What to order: pork and lamb gyoza-inspired dumplings.
What to wear
La Mercerie, Marseille
Scallops with kohlrabi, kumquat and lemon. Photograph by Mr Mickael A Bandassak, courtesy of La Mercerie
Photograph courtesy of La Mercerie
For some, Marseille will always be a football town, but La Mercerie in the district of Noailles is in the culinary vanguard. The baby of chef Mr Harry Cummins, sommelier Ms Laura Vidal and charismatic manager Ms Julia Mitton, La Mercerie operates in a former haberdashery, but you wouldn’t know it from the look of it. The white metal-woven chairs, distressed walls and pendant lights give it a vintage-chic air. The menu changes more quickly than a ticking clock, but recent highlights include mackerel with puckery kiwi and on-trend broccolini, mussels in an XO broth, and perfectly cooked duck with freekeh. The lunch menu is inexpensive at about €26 and the four-course evening menu is a steal at €39.
What to order: the asparagus with anchovy mayo, if you can catch it while it is in season.
What to wear
Mirazur, Menton
Photograph by Mr Eduardo Torres, courtesy of Mirazur
Haricots and caviar. Photograph courtesy of Mirazur
Two-Michelin-starred Mirazur is just a short jog from the Italian border and benefits not just from views of glistening azure sea but mountains, too. No wonder wunderchef Mr Mauro Colagreco draws much of his inspiration from the surrounding orchard-garden, in which, among many other plants, he has about 40 varieties of tomato. His Italo-Argentinian roots are front and centre here. Anchovy fillets on fried anchovy skeletons come with a juice from Menton’s famous lemons. And the beetroot with osetra caviar is worthy of its own paean. It’s all beautifully assured cooking – and last year, Mirazur was number four on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list – so you’d think design-wise it would be formidably recherché. Not so. The rotunda-design 1930s building exudes old-school style, and we love it.
What to order: Gillardeau oyster with tapioca, shallot cream and Williams pear.
What to wear
Restaurant Eels, Paris
Smoked eel with liquorice root, apples and hazelnuts. Photograph courtesy of Restaurant Eels
Photograph courtesy of Restaurant Eels
Twenty-something chef Mr Adrien Ferrand is keen on eels, as you might guess from the name of his restaurant. You might not at the moment be an eel devotee, but you will be after visiting this 10th arrondissement eaterie. Mr Ferrand, a chef at the top of his game, has turned this former couscous restaurant into something quite special. His signature dish is smoked eel with liquorice root, apples and hazelnuts, but dishes such as lamb with smoked aubergine purée, wilted Pontoise cabbage and tamarind-spiked jus are just as enthralling. As you might gather, it’s pretty idiosyncratic cooking, but that is not to its discredit. Swing through the doors and there’s an immediate sense of bonhomie from the staff. You might not want to leave.
What to order: the smoked eel with liquorice.
What to wear
Baieta, Paris
Photograph by Mr Pierre Lucet Penato, courtesy of Baieta
Pavé of cod with shellfish, fregola sarda, olives and artichoke and a garlic confit cloud. Photograph by Mr Pierre Lucet Penato, courtesy of Baieta
Baieta means “little kiss” in the Niçard dialect, and this exemplary neo bistro on the Seine on Rue de Pontoise is a stockpot of kisses. Ms Julia Sedefdjian, who garnered a Michelin star at just 21, elevates her hometown’s traditional cuisine, creating sunny compositions that spread like sunlight across your plate. From bread baked with onion confit, olive and anchovies to bouillabaieta – her interpretation of bouillabaisse – you can look forward to a full throttle of sophisticated Provençal flavours. The atmosphere is unpretentious and welcoming. Ms Sedefdjian’s co-founders, sous-chef Mr Sébastien Jean-Joseph and manager Mr Grégory Anelka, want Baieta to democratise fine dining and, well, they’ve succeeded. It’s charmant.
What to order: bouillabaise and pissalidière.
What to wear
L’Ecrin, Paris
Champignons de Paris. Photograph courtesy of L’Ecrin
Photograph courtesy of L’Ecrin
When Paris icon Hôtel de Crillon was reborn last year after a four-year renovation, its restaurants were, too. Breeze into L’Ecrin, a 28-seater dining room, where Michelin-starred chef Mr Christopher Hache spins up sophisticated fare for an elegant clientele. The revamp gave Mr Hache a chance to travel the world, visiting New York, Rio, Lima and Singapore, all of which have influenced his culinary output here. Peruvian-style sea bream ceviche is a standout, served with piquant tiger’s milk of coriander and lime. There are sweetbreads with coconut, passionfruit tart and creamy Fontainebleau cheese, while his champignons de Paris is Gallic to its fingertips – cardamom and hazelnut-laced mushrooms burst with a creamy filling of local seasonal varieties. L’Ecrin means jewellery box, and you will indeed stuff yourself with gems.
What to order: the mushroom signature is obligatory.