Playtime in Paris

In a tiny side street off of Barbès lies this new restaurant, a stranger in a land of Doner and cheap snakeries, offering a pleasantly comforting and fusion-y menu from Viveka Sandklef, formerly of the Indigo Square in Bagnolet. One of the few Swedish chefs in Paris, she and her partner Jean Michel have created a nice little niche (very faux-50's/60's Eames) and a menu that went something like this: amuse bouche of fish quenelle and moutarde a l'ancienne, rabbit "kebab" (tasty) with honey/spice yoghurt sauce and cucumber carpaccio, tataki of salmon in nori with daikon and wasabi , filet of white tuna cooked in a nut crout en sel with a Parmesan biscuit and a creamy dashi and lard sauce, and a creme of vanilla/brebis with spiced apples (really delish). Service was predictably slow (Viveka was by herself in the dining room), but always with a smile and there seemed to be a lot of locals and walk-ins (the Figaroscope's two stars didn't seem to be in effect..). Clients: an English Russian translator from next door, a gay couple with stripey shirts and pointy shoes, a horribly dress coordinated French couple who changed their dishes at each course, and a bobo family that had a bit of trouble keeping their child in check.

P.S. If anyone out there knows where to get some aquavit in central Paris, please let me know..

playtime

5, rue des Petits Hotels, 10th

+33 1 44 79 03 98