Restaurant: OktObre, rue des Grands Augustins, Paris 6
I’m going to try something new — commenting on restaurants in Paris (mostly) where I have been for lunch or dinner.
Yesterday (September 1) was the official opening of OktObre on the rue des Grands Augustins in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. The location is familiar to many as it is where KGB (Kitchen Galerie Bis), the second restaurant of Kitchen Galerie just up the street, was located. Martin Maumet had been the associate chef with William Ledeuil for the past three years; earlier this year it was announced that Maumet was buying the restaurant to do it on his own.
The name OktObre is, in the words of the website, “a nod to the change of season - the end of the Indian summer and the first days of gray weather - where we want to sit down in a warm and enveloping setting, with a ‘K’ in reference to the restaurant that revealed it.”
Before getting to the restaurant, a word on its historic location. Specifically, just up the street in the direction of the Seine at the corner of the rue du Pont de Lodi is the hôtel particulier where Picasso lived from 1936 to 1955, and notably where he painted Guernica and many other masterpieces:
The exterior view of OktObre:
I did not take a photo of the interior of OktObre, but it has been redone in warm autumnal browns that are divided into spaces of maybe five or six tables each.
The carte at lunch:
As an apéritif and with our meal, we took the Maison d’Ardoisières white Silices vin de France 2022.
It is a Savoie wine from the Jacquère grape, which often produces neutral and even insipid wines. But here, providing one keeps the bottle cold enough, one gets a wine of real character with a biting acidity and plenty of minerality. Note the alcohol at only 11%.
The wine was 43€ on the wine list, about 2.5x the 17€ it sells for in one of my local wine shops that is not particularly cheap. This is not a great markup ratio, but one I consider still within the limits of acceptability. On the whole the wine list seems a little weighted to wines over 100€; it could use some more selections below 80€ and somewhat lower markups.
For her entrée, L took the ravioli of mussel and artichoke, which she pronounced delicious.
My êntrée was to be eaten from right to left, beginning with sardine with yellow haricots and basil, eel which was midway between meat and fish in flavor, and then beef tartare. Unfortunately, I do not have all the additional ingredients.
For her main dish, L took the merlan (whiting) with courgettes, pasta, and substituted for the ‘Nuja were tomatoes. She loved it.
My main was white tuna with tomatoes, olives, and fennel and it was superb.
Espresso for me and brownie mignardises for both of us — we were too full to take dessert on this occasion, but they sounded marvelous.
And the bottom line.
With the exception of the brownie mignardise and espresso, which were ordinary, everything was superb — there were complex sauces with everything, but they worked to amplify and play against the main ingredient. All ingredients were high quality. This is definitely a place to return.
OktObre
25 rue des Grands Augustins, 75006 Paris
Tuesday-Saturday lunch and dinner
website: oktobre.fr
Tél: 01 46 33 00 85
Métro: Saint-Michel, Odéon