Hestia, Paris 5

Hestia opened about six months ago. It is in one of the more unlikely locations for a restaurant of its ambition (it bills itself as a gastronomic restaurant): it is located just across the bridge from Notre Dame (250 meters walking distance, according to Google) on a street jammed with low-cost restaurants and souvenir shops. In fact, on my first visit to Paris many decades ago, I frequently lunched on 2-franc (IRRC) gyros available on this street, and the establishments are still there.

Hestia’s streetfront

The view up the street

The restaurant is named for the Greek goddess of hearth and home.

Inside, there are two rooms, one on the entry level and another downstairs:

Main level of the restaurant looking out to the street

Main level looking in the opposite direction

Downstairs

As you can see, the diners ranged from their thirties on up. Being in this location, there were understandably a number of tourists, presumably directed to the restaurant by their hotels in the area. The nationalities were quite diverse, including Portugese and Icelandic around me, and of course, some Americans. There were also French diners, but I do not know if they were Parisians or visitors.

The chef, Loïc Dantec is from Normandy and worked in a number of fine-dining establishments in Paris before opening Hestia.

The carte:

As you can see, it is straightforward, nothing too challenging (e.g., no innards, no game except for the pigeon).

The wine list is very well-chosen, extensive (considerably longer than what’s shown on the website), and reasonably priced. The list of wines by the glass:

Immediately upon sitting down, I was served a selection of plump green olives while I looked over the offerings for food and wine:

Then came two amuse-bouches:

The one on the right was fried cheese, the one on the left included a tiny bit of foie gras. Both were of good quality.

On the wine list, I spotted an excellent red Burgundy at a good price from a favorite producer located in Chambolle-Musigny. As I was dining alone, I was not going to consume the entire bottle, but in restaurants in France you have the right to take away whatever you do not finish from a bottle (and you also have the right to have the restaurant pack up any food you do not finish so you can take that away, too). So I would have half the bottle for dinner, and the other half at home the following day.

The wine was not from Chambolle-Musigny, but from the hills above it. With global warming, recent vintages of Hautes Côtes de Beaune and especially Hautes Côtes de Nuits have been producing some outstanding red and white Burgundies. But because the general public has not recognized this fact yet, the wines sell at prices that do not reflect the demand and speculation that have driven up the prices on Burgundies from better-known appellations. This wine was superb, exceeding even my expectations. It was silky with complex red cherry fruit and beautifully balanced. The wine was served before my courses arrived so I could also drink it as an aperitif.

For my first course, I took the watercress and haddock velouté with cream and Jamaica pepper:

This was a very satisfying dish with tiny bits of haddock in the soup providing both textural and flavor contrast to the watercress soup. The brown bits you see in the picture are croutons. I did not taste the Jamaica pepper, however.

For my main course, I took the roasted scallops with spinach and trumpets of death mushrooms:

This, too, was a very satisfying dish with the flavors of each ingredient contributing to the whole.

For dessert, I took the blanc mangé (sic) with clementine, crème anglaise with juniper, and mint ice cream:

The dish was light with good purity of flavors. It was overall harmonious, and it was not overly sweet (one of the things I like about desserts in France).

Mignardises after the meal were light and satisfying, too:

And the bottom line (recall, that I took away half the bottle of wine):

Given its tourist clientèle, Hestia provides very good cuisine at a level of quality and refinement that many visitors to Paris otherwise would not experience. Additionally, the setting is warm and the service is excellent and friendly (the staff speaks fluent English, but will not force it upon you if you wish to speak French). It is a very good choice if you are looking for a quality restaurant near the absolute center of Paris and have diners who do not want to engage in food that is too challenging and/or want French food that is more international in conception than many of the other places I visit. I'm sure I will be back.

Hestia

8, rue de la Huchette, 75005 Paris

Tuesday-Saturday lunch and dinner

Tel: 01 84 74 95 20

website: https://www.hestia-restaurant.com/en/

Métro: Saint-Michel Notre Dame, Cluny La Sorbonne