Le 6 Paul Bert, 6 rue Paul Bert, 75011 Paris

Le 6 Paul Bert is a sister restaurant of the popular (and somewhat controversial) Bistrot Paul Bert up the street. I previously have eaten there only once, about nine years ago, and only remember what the interior looked like (same as now) and that the wine list was all natural; I recall nothing about the food — although the fact that I had never thought about going back does say something. My impression nevertheless has been that the food is bistronomic and less tourist-oriented than the more traditional Bistrot Paul Bert.

Recently, Pauline Séné, a Top Chef winner who has has had a number of short-lived engagements around Paris took over as chef at Le 6 Paul Bert. One only has to google her name to see that she has a large number of serious fans. And initial reviews have been highly enthusiastic, so with a Parisian friend who is a food professional, we booked for last night.

The room is long and narrow with the open kitchen at one end, and a bar by the entrance at the other end.

The carte shows bistronomic cuisine:

The wine list is all natural and natural-friendly producers, a number of which I know and like and others that I don’t know. Markups are fair. After we decided what dishes we would take, a white wine seemed in order, and we settled on a Saint-Joseph from Domaine Courbis in the Northern Rhône region:

The wine was delicious with richness and roundness but also good minerality and plenty of apricot fruit. The Roussanne grape seemed to be playing a major role, but according to the estate’s website, only 3% of the grapes are Roussanne and the remainder are Marsanne.

For a starter, our friend ordered tartare of veal with a sauce tonato (essentially, this was a vitello tonnato with tartare of veal substituting for the cooked veal) and a few other elements, such as the pickled mustard seeds:

Our friend liked the dish.

L ordered the oysters:

She liked the oysters but thought that the pickled mustard seeds was not a good fit with them.

I took the pork rillettes:

I thought this dish good but not exceptional, perhaps a little finer than the usual rillettes.

Our friend ordered the gnocchi for her main course:

The smoked herring is in the middle, surrounded by the gnocchi. Our friend pronounced the smoked herring very good, but she found the gnocchi a bit dry and too much lemon in the sauce, making it too acidic.

L and I each took the Lotte with celery root in beurre blanc:

This was a very good dish — it could have been a heavy dish, but instead it was light and balanced, and the celery root gave precise flavors that complemented the Lotte. The purple blob is from a blackberry (mûre) compote that I thought added a good acidity and contrast but that L did not like (it was easy to avoid).

Our friend finished with a generous serving of Saint-Nectaire:

L passed on dessert, and I took the roast figs:

This was a good dish with plenty of complex flavors from the coriander and pimento sorbet and the roasted pumpkin seeds, although in overall satisfaction, I can’t say that it superior to other, simpler roast fig dishes I’ve had recently. This was more intellectual, the others more sensual.

I neglected to take a photo of the bill, but I believe it came to about 208€ for three starters, three main dishes, two desserts, a bottle of wine, and tap water.

The restaurant is filled with hard surfaces and soon became extremely noisy — which I do not like, although at least we were able to carry on a conversation at our table without shouting. On this Halloween Eve (which may not be a typical crowd), the major portion of diners seemed to be French in their thirties and forties, but there were also some non-French-speaking tables.

There were good elements to this meal, but as you can see from above, not everything convinced. My initial reaction is that I would go back if someone wanted to go there and asked me to come along, but otherwise, there are too many other very good restaurants of this ilk in Paris without the drawbacks here for me to add this one to my rotation. However, on further reflection, since the lunch menu is a very reasonable 26€, I may come back someday at lunch to get an additional (and hopefully quieter) perspective.

Le 6 Paul Bert

6, rue Paul Bert, 75011 Paris

Tél: 01 43 71 14 32

Tuesday-Friday lunch and Monday-Friday dinner

https://www.instagram.com/le6paulbert/

Métro: Rue des Boulots, Charonne, Faideherbe-Chaligny, Reuilly-Diderot