Fine l'Epicerie

The name isn’t just mindless propaganda, as this Belleville épicerie is as refined as ever! Perfectly encapsulating the tastes of the day, the mischievous wines are worth exploring – Esprit de l’Horizon, a Côtes-Catalanes from Thomas Teibert, Cristal de Nada from the Roussillon (€22 a bottle)… While waiting for our drinks to be poured, we drool over the window display of cured meats and stinky cheeses, the shelves full of tantalizing jars (pickled vegetables, €13.75), before sitting down at our table. For us, the day we went for lunch: an incredibly fresh soup (icy mint, zucchini and voatsiperifery pepper, €5); a decent sandwich that filled us right up (buffalo mozzarella, bresaola, pepper purée, arugula and olive oil, €6); before a perfect shortbread tart with a Vietnamese chocolate cream and fresh grapes in a vanilla syrup (€3.90). To go with it all, there was a biodynamic Beaujolais-Villages from the Domaine des Grottes (€4 a glass), or a white Contre Courant from La Tangente (€18 a bottle). Set menu €12 (lunch). // P.A.