Le Café de l'Usine -- 5 Passage Piver, Paris 11: Update
I wrote about this gem of a bistrot on the premises of an old factory barely a month ago, and yet despite having been away from Paris for a total of about three weeks in the intervening time, I’ve had three more meals here and will have still more in the coming weeks. Why not, the food is creative, impeccable, and great value, the service very friendly, and the menu changes every week?
Last night was my latest trip to experience cheffe Alice Arnoux’s wonderful food. The menu:
As an apéritif and to carry to the first courses, I took a 2022 Bourgogne-Alligoté from René Bouvier:
I love high-acid wine; this wine was not quite as crisp and acidic as the Aligotés I like the most, but its roundness and minerality satisfied, nonetheless.
The green beans in tempura came with a delicious mayonnaise, and all was light and flavorful, a perfect way to start the meal:
Next came a cold soup of line-caught raw pink sea bream with flowers and cherries:
This dish was as delicious as it is pretty, combining all sorts of subtle flavors, perfect for outdoor dining on a warm (not hot) spring evening.
Third was a zucchini with its flower (stuffed with pork, I believe) served with wild asparagus :
The dish continued the trend of being flavorful, light, and inventive.
Having finished my original glass of wine, I took a second, this time a red Marsannay, also from the same producer:
This wine is a Pinot Noir from a Burgundy village a little north of Gevrey-Chambertin. It was light and agreeable, but I like my Pinot Noir served a little cooler, a problem when one is taking wine by the glass (if a bottle is too warm, one can always ask for an ice bucket, a seau in French, to cool the wine). But at least this wine was served in a somewhat larger glass and not a tiny hipster INAO tasting glass. The INAO glassware and the serving temperature are the only two peccadillos I’ve encountered in several meals at this wonderful restaurant.
The main dish was lotte (monkfish) with spinach and a tomato puree plus a pork bun served on the side:
The fish and the vegetables were excellent, the pork bun unexpected, and — as is often the case with French versions of food adapted from other cultures — a touch on the bland side if you’re used to the original version, but otherwise good.
On one of my previous visits, I had taken the optional cheese course and it was outstanding. As I still had some wine left, I went for it again this time. On this night, the choice was between an aged Comté and a young sheep’s milk cheese. I took the latter and didn’t regret it:
The yellow sauce is very flavorsome olive oil and the dark compote was strawberries, perhaps mixed with another berry. I inquired about the supplier for the cheese and it is the excellent Fromagerie Goncourt, which makes somewhat of a specialty of supplying cheese to restaurants, although it also serves the public.
Desserts here are sensational, not because they are spectacular, but because they they are so harmonious and subtle, leaving one satisfied (and happy) but not overly full. The dessert on this night was a pear sorbet on a bed of delicious mascarpone with caramelized walnuts and some bits of ginger to add additional spice:
This dish was barely sweet, thereby allowing all the various flavors to show through fully. I couldn’t think of a better way to end the meal.
Where could one better eat on a beautiful spring evening?
The tennis shoes that give their name, Spring Court, to the facility and that were manufactured here until 1984 when the factory moved elsewhere (story here):
The bill for a brilliant six-course dinner with two glasses of Burgundy:
Le Café de l’Usine is a superb restaurant for its warm feeling, the exquisite fresh food of the highest quality combined in interesting ways without using expensive makeup, and the value provided. I give it my highest recommendation.
Le Café de l’Usine
5, Passage Piver, 75011 Paris
Wednesday-Saturday lunch and dinner
Telephone: 07 69 08 56 69
website: cafedelusine.fr
Métro: Belleville (lines 2 and 11), Goncourt (line 11), Parmentier (line 3)