Chinaski

The Dersou team (minus Taku Sekine) has opened Chinaski, a Left Bank joint named after Bukowski’s alter ego from his Dirty Old Man collection. And yet inside their very clean café-restaurant, Margaux Thirard, Amaury Guyot and Arthur Toure-Pirot send out heavy hitters with plenty of discretion. The person responsible for these bursts of flavor? Talented bistro chef Jean-Adrien Buniazet (a former Dersou alumnus), whose plates are brought out to the recycled wood tables from the big open kitchen. On the set menu the night we went: extra fresh green asparagus with peas and ricotta – or explosively flavorful raw mackerel served with sweet potatoes, blueberries and kohlrabi; pearly white pollack with radish and cauliflower in beurre blanc – or pork from the Tarn pimped out with purple chives, carrot purée, mushrooms and a cumin-infused jus; before a whiskey-kiwi tres leches cake (a nod to the great Charles), or a thunderous poppy seed cake with lemon cream and slices of blood orange. It’s worth noting that during the day, Chinaski stays open as a coffee shop and serves homemade pita sandwiches and sweets galore – cookies, chai French toast, chocolate and olive oil cake… // E.dB.

FEELING THIRSTY? There’s a beautiful selection of organic-leaning wines: a red Côtes-du-Roussillon,Le P’tit Barriot (€6 a glass), a Minervois, Arbalète et Coquelicots (€35 a bottle), a Chardonnay from Mâcon, Vin d’Montbled (€56)…

PRICE: Menu-carte €35.