Café Bellot

Sandwiched between Brood bakery and L’Affinée cheese shop, Café Bellot (which means “beautiful” in Ch’ti) is a lovely new addition to the Saint-Michel neighborhood. In this former queer, vegan pub, wine lovers Lucas Jeanne and Quentin Dupont, both of whom used to work in advertising, are now serving dishes of the day and sammies at lunch, running a small épicerie, and selling wine and snacks until midnight! In the kitchen, you’ll find Victoria Foliguet (who also switched careers recently) and Valentina Giacobbe (ex-Papillon and Rozó) stewing up mouthwatering eats, as they did for us the day we went for lunch: delicious soft-boiled eggs with a spicy mayo and croutons; a lovely beetroot tart with asparagus and feta. We couldn’t help spotting a faluche (a local, traditional bread) sandwich with marinated chicken, olives, lemon, carrots, cilantro and ricotta, and some smoking hot French fries on a nearby table. At the end of the day, the chefs place their bets on plates composed from some of the lovely products in the épicerie section. // Sofia Sétif

FEELING THIRSTY? Neighboring breweries supply the booze, with craft beers from the Brasserie Dupont (€4 or 250 ml), the Brasserie du Singe Savant (€7.50 for 500 ml) or the Brasserie de la Senne (same price). As for the wine, there’s a Provencal orange blend of Syrah, Trebbiano and Vermentino from Fanny Daher (€6 a glass), a Roussillon Muscat from Marc Barriot (€31 a bottle) and some incredibly rare Belgian wines from Servaas Blockeel (€40-55), who Lucas used to work for during the grape harvest season.
PRICE: Sandwiches €14, dishes of the day €13-15 (lunch), platters €9-20 (dinner), fries €3.50, desserts €6-8.