Cendrillon

Once upon a hunger pang… With a red stiletto and a cigarette as the house emblem, here comes Cendrillon (French for Cinderella)! Quite a pretty name for this Belleville spot with clever decor (stone walls, red velvet, shelves lined with knick-knacks), where a cosmopolitan team who used to work at Au Passage now calls this place home: the English sommelier Lucy Rosedale (front of house), the Danish Mathias Degn, the Palestinian-Ukrainian Omar Radejko and the Australian chef Harry Wilson, who set the tone with a franglais menu that boasts worldwide influences. The night we went, the plates were served family-style on our banquet-esque table: a delicate Arctic chard crudo with olive oil and French caviar; quartered tomatoes, barbecued green asparagus and crisp snow peas doused in spicy tiger’s milk, all topped with crispy kombu chips; incredibly tender smoked quail pimped out with slow-roasted garlic and spices, combined with a skewer of quail liver and hearts glazed in a caramelized sauce, with apricots, Thai basil and cilantro for a refreshing touch; a Mexican-inspired grilled gurnard head, baja tostada-style, served with yogurt sauce, passion fruit and habanero; before a frozen pavlova with cherries and toasted pistachios, along with a small scoop of rhubarb and strawberry ice cream. // Yanath Kandal

FEELING THIRSTY? : A few cocktails, including the house’s signature frozen mango mezcalita (€9) and natural wines from France and abroad: an Hérault white from Mylène Bru (€7 a glass), sparkling Austrian rosé from Christophe Hoch (€45 a bottle), or an Italian skin-contact wine produced by Giordano (€50).
PRICE: : Plates €12-26, set menus €49 (seven plates to share, from Wednesday to Saturday).