A serial reviver of bistros and collaborator extraordinaire, the brilliant restaurateur Florent Ciccoli (Café du Coin, Recoin, L’Orillon, Jones) has teamed up this time around with his friend Minod Withana (who was already spicing things up at Café du Coin) to breathe new life into an 11th arrondissement joint. Inside the ceramic-tiled walls of this former butcher shop (complete with mosaic tile floors and custom plywood furniture), the Sri Lankan chef brings the blades and soul of his homeland into the open kitchen, fueled by a very carefully sourced pantry. Served à la carte the night we went: vadai chickpea fritters, a distant cousin of falafel, a little dry on their own but given the green treatment via a vibrant cilantro chutney; a show-stopping egg hopper, aka a crispy, lace-like crepe bowl cradling a jammy egg, caramelized onions (seeni sambol) and toasted coconut flakes (pol sambol); an incredible asparagus and coconut soup topped with mussels and muruku (a small legume fritter); and slow-cooked black pork curry with broccoli and dried shrimp (mallum), plus roasted sweet potato. We ended the meal with a (slightly too charred) crème brûlée, taken to the next level by the addition of turmeric and green masala. // Philo Sale-Ami
FEELING THIRSTY? Your daily dose of joy comes in liquid form as well: a selection of natural wines (Hey !, a Catalan skin-contact wine by Amos Baneres at €7 a glass, Octobre, a Roussillon red from Les Foulards Rouges at €33 a bottle), the house beer infused with rice and tea, produced in collaboration with Les Bières de Belleville (€10 for 440 ml) or Archipel fig leaf kombucha (€7 for 330 ml).
PRICE: : Set menus €19-22 (lunch), plates €8-13 (dinner).
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