Good vibes at Le Galopin

I did something last week at Le Galopin that I almost never, ever do. I ate there for both lunch and dinner. Firstly for lunch because the place intrigued me and I was at a loose end and needed to escape the pressures of my daily life and just..drunch. A Fooding review tipped me off (noone else outside of a couple Foodreporter types have latched onto this address yet, although rest assured they'll be in this weeks F-scope, followed by a parade of other blaggers and food journos..) and I thought, why not. This twenty-seater in a charming square (except for the dealers smoking hash and lurking outside eating sandwiches grec) is owned by none other than Romain Tischenko, former ZKG alumni and winner of the 2010 French Top Chef award and his (cloned?) brother. The 100,000 € competition cheque didn't cover a whole lot, so they did the deco themselves with the help of their dad, and the result is a friendly little place with a bar counter where neighbors stop by for a drink, and an open kitchen where Romain does his stuff. At lunch is a 19-24€ market inspired menu and in the evening time , 42€ for a no choice , seven dish chef's menu. While there was nothing mind-blowing on the plate (loved the brandade de morue "poppers" with yuzu) , I like this place. There's a positive vibe, good intentions and products, fair prices and I'm interested to see where Romain goes with it. Stay tuned.



              

Above dishes are: grilled eel with pleurottes mushrooms, roast free range chicken with beetroot and fennel

                                                And a really tasty fig sablé with cream

Le Galopin
place Sainte-Marthe
+33 1 42 06 05 03