Eunoé, rue Rochebrune, Paris 11
Eunoé opened its doors this past April, and I first made my way there in May. I have been back several times, since, and every meal has been first rate. I am lucky to have this gem of a restaurant only about a ten-minute walk from our house.
Earlier this week, we went with some visiting friends to dinner there (the place is also a sensational value for lunch). It’s the first week of the rentrée, so people are meeting up with their friends to discuss what they did for their summer vacations. Plus we’re in the middle of a heatwave, so the temperature at dinner was in the upper-80’s Farenheit/low-30s Celsius.
The restaurant is located near the very pretty Square Gardette. Outdoor terrace seating is available, and that’s where we chose to sit in this heat.
Ryuji Sato, from Japan, is the chef, his partner who takes care of the front of the house and the wines is the enthusiastic Félix Perrotte.
The menu du soir and accompanying list of wines are on a number of pages presented on a clipboard:
Those who examine the wine selections closely will note some very keen prices. Félix is a wine enthusiast who has worked the harvest with excellent producers such as Bruno Clavelier in Vosne-Romanée, and buys directly from producers, saving his customers the extra cut that goes to distributors in the case of almost all restaurants in Paris. Alas, the list had run out of some of the most popular items, such as Clavelier’s wines and Côte d’Or white Burgundies, but I expect that they will shortly be back on the list.
One of us started with one of the house’s signature dishes, the filet de boeuf tartare. It comes on a (savory cone) with the customary egg yolk in the bottom of the cone. Our friend pronounced it excellent.
Another tooke the gravlax de daurade (sea bream gravlax), which she liked very much.
L and I both took the violin zucchini and eggplant dish, which we’ve had on earlier occasions and liked, but on this night seemed to be strangely lacking in flavor and seasoning — the only off dish either of us has experienced in several visits to the restaurant.
Our carnivore friend who had the beef tartare followed it up with the very generous pork chop in Japanese barbecue sauce.
L and our other friend split the whole loup (sea bass), which came already deboned. This clearly was the star of the evening, with plenty of depth, flesh, and flavor. It was nothing short of sensational.
I took the mille-feuille d’artichaut, which I found original with a light, almost creamy texture and good artichoke flavor.
Somehow, the photo of our wine, a 2021 Morgon, Charmes from Dominique Piron seems to have vanished, but it was fresh, fruity, and a good accompaniment on a hot evening.
Given the heat and the generosity of the portions, none of us had any room for cheese or dessert.
The food here has a creative twist, is beautifully presented, and, importantly for me, has a strong vegetable component. It is delicious and entirely worthy of your efforts to make it to this section of Paris.
Eunoé
6, rue Rochebrune, 75011 Paris
Tél: 07 67 96 86 36
https://www.eunoe-restaurant.com/
Tuesday-Saturday lunch and dinner, Sunday lunch; closed Sunday dinner and Monday
Métro: Saint-Ambroise, Rue Saint-Maur, Richard Lenoir