Passerina

After a trippy neo-tavern and a pasta factory, the extravagant Giovanni Passerini (winner of Le Fooding’s Best Chef of 2017 award) is tripling down on Rue Traversière with a wine bar named after an Italian grape variety. Inside Passerina, debonair drinkers pop open French and Italian wines around a monumental central bar crafted from mahogany and fine mosaic tiles, all while nibbling on charming small plates. The other night, we had: finocchiona pork (a type of fennel salami); incredibly tender veal tongue in a tonnato sauce, paired with al dente turnips and Italian chicory; stunning canederli, which are bread, prosciutto and guanciale dumplings, plunged into a delicate duck and tarragon consommé… The most buonissima parts of our entire evening? An explosively flavorful Parmesan and pepper risotto prepared like a cacio e pepe, followed by a striking baba au rhum with apple-plump compote and raw cream for dessert. // Zinnia

FEELING THIRSTY? A spirited selection of Italian wines: a Latium white produced by Nicoletta De Angelis (€8.50 a glass), a Piedmont red by Iuli (€8) or an orange wine from Valdisole (€50 a bottle, grab it straight from the shelf), hidden among other more local bottles…
PRICE: Plates €9-13.