Chocho, 54 rue de Paradis, Paris 10

Chocho opened in November 2021 and not long thereafter it became one of the restaurants in my general rotation.

The Franco-American chef, Thomas Chisholm, lived in the US until he was 13 when he came to France. He began cooking the following year. He’s now 32 and has a style that seems unique to him.

The restaurant is on an as-yet-ungentrified street in the tenth arrondissement, only a stone’s throw from the rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, which marks the dividing line between the ninth and tenth arrondissements. It’s a neighborhood with buildings dating back to the 18th and first part of the 19th centuries, and indeed, as noted on an historical marker next to the restaurant, the great 19th century landscape painter Camille Corot had his studio at 58 rue de Paradis.

The street is drab and narrow, and so the bright interior provides a refreshing, lively change.

The crowd is mostly (but by no means exclusively) mid-twenties to mid-forties.

The plates are meant to be shared, although that is not a requirement, and in fact, I can tell you that it sometimes is very difficult to share (e.g., when eating alone).

There are also two medleys, one regular and one vegetal, both of which where the chef chooses the dishes:

In the past, we’ve selected the plates ourselves, but this time we went for the vegetarian medley.

The general youngness of the crowd and the location north of the Seine and in the eastern part of Paris tells you that the wine list is almost entirely of natural wines. But that’s not enough to let you know that the wines list is extensive and expertly chosen with plenty of gems that are highly sought-after and very difficult to find, and at reasonable markups. You shouldn’t find any spoiled natural wines here (and they’re becoming increasingly rare in France, anyway), and in any case, when you order a bottle or glass of wine, a bit is poured first for your approval.

We took a wine from Domaine Gauby, near Perpignan in the southwest corner of France. Gauby is a favorite producer of mine and has been biodynamic for well more than two decades.

Unsurprisingly, it was delicious and we had to restrain ourselves to make it last throughout the meal.

The first course was the piments padron.

This dish consisted of a small red and a small yellow pepper lightly marinated in white wine vinegar and water and stuffed with herbed goat cheese, with salt, very good olive oil, and candied lemon zest. The combination worked beautifully, with the yellow pepper being somewhat spicier.

Next came mais frit, mayonnaise au kimchi.

This was fried corn slices dusted with powdered kimchee served with mayonnaise and kimchi — to my experience quite original. The crunchiness of the fried corn blended well with the creaminess of the mayonnaise and the kimchi spiciness. Corn is usually thought of in France as food for animals, but it is beginning to make an inroad into restaurants, just not in such an innovative manner as in this dish.

Third up was Chisholm’s take on melon jambon, vegetarian fashion:

This consisted of two types of thinly-sliced melon, one French and one Spanish, compressed in saltwater that Chisholm gets from his fish supplier, olive oil mousse, and 50 year-old Pedro Ximenez. This was another successful combination with the saltiness instilled into the melon playing against the olive oil mousse and Pedro Ximenez. The chef explained that the dish was inspired by his eating cold melon slices after swimming in the sea when he was young.

The last savory dish was the plat à saucer.

For Chisholm, the climatic moment of a meal, based on his memories of Sunday lunches in France (a big deal for French families), was finishing with the remaining sauce, and he attempts to recreate such sauces, varying by season. Here, the base is made with the reduction of pepper juice, with the potato  fennel and herb purée with parsley oil,  and rich golden aioli to be from south of France. In the non-vegetarian menu, the juice would come from bouillabaisse, the Provençal fish soup, which I think would have added a little extra zip and saltiness, would have added something extra. The dish is served with panisses, typical of Nice and light and airy, to soak it up.

For dessert, figs in barbecue sauce with a bit of crust and frozen Roquefort cream — which was delicious. The figs are at their maximum right now in France, these were small and packed with flavor, not too sweet, but just enough to provide a three-way playoff against the BBQ sauce and the saltiness from the Roquefort cream, and also a beautiful play of textures.

And as a mignardise, peach jellies and dark chocolate caramel mini-tartes with a buckwheat crust, both delicious:

And l’addition (which, of course, in France includes tax and service charge/tip):

As I stated at the top, chocho has been in my regular rotation since shortly after it opened, and I have yet to have a disappointment here. There is a very original play of flavors and textures here. I strongly urge you to take the trip out to this part of the tenth arrondissement and discover the original and delicious cooking here (bonus — it’s open every day).

chocho

54 rue de Paradis, 75010 Paris

Daily, lunch and dinner

https://chocho.becsparisiens.fr/

Métro: Poissonnière, Cadet, Bonne Nouvelle