Blue Valentine

The neighbourhood where I've lived for the past few years has gotten its fair share of press and has a plethora of restaurants to choose from, but these addresses are surprisingly bereft of interest (with a few and growing exceptions). Canal-side I find myself going back to tried and true favorites: Holybelly for great coffee and Frenchified Anglo breakfasty comfort foods, Philou, for quintessentially great and simple bistro food with eminently quaffable natural wines, The Cork and the Cavan for the occasional pint (they have the best Guinness in Paris, FYI) and selection of local characters at the bar, and now, Blue Valentine.

Blue Valentine is a quirky little place in a quiet street hidden behind the Canal quays with a chef (Terumitsu Saito) who trained at the Mandarin Oriental, Paris among other places, and his all-Nippon brigade turns out dishes that are like textbook studies in French classics, all rigorously seasonal, and although not surprisingly inventive, this table is a great addition to the new wave of tables from Japanese ex-palace/Michelin star establishment workers.

I had a crunchy asparagus dish wrapped in laser thin lardo followed by an astounding slow cooked lamb dish with white beans that staved off the chill in the air yet almost made me long for the winter again. Lunchtime menu is currently Paris' best value at under 20€. Make the trek.

Les Enfants Rouge (another very good Franco/Nippon bistro)

When a member of Paris' expat food blogging royalty invites you to join him for lunch, you just can't say no. Especially when he takes you to a place a friend of a friend heard of that opened a week ago, in a former wine bar gone south, now creative French bistro run by a young Yves Cambdeborde trained Japanese chef and his wife (he the kitchen, her the front of house), and put it all up in the virtually unchanged storefront in a tiny street in the Nord du Marais, and you have a recipe for success.

This soon to be Figaroscoped and Fooding'd 12 table spot, sandwiched somewhere between the trendy rue de Bretagne and the Marché des Enfants Rouges hits all the right notes: 35€ men for dinner or lunch offering 4 choices for each dish. The amuse bouche was a haddock jelly covered shellfish mousse, and main choices included citrus marinaded salmon coupled with oxtail and celery, a delicious salted codfish quenelle, textbook quality ris de veau and Brittany caught cod with buckwheat risotto and shellfish. Bread was (surprise) not Pain des Amis, but from chef Thierry Bréton. All was comforting, technically perfect (one exception, the cod was a bit salty) , friendly and affordable, and served (slowly) with a smile. Book now before it becomes the new French/Nippon bistro flavor of the month. And, for the moment, make sure you bring cash, as their credit card machine isn't installed yet.

Les Enfants Rouge
9 rue de Beauce, 3eme

Pakta full of fusion-y goodness

Ceviche

Where does one go, I found myself wondering when you've created perhaps the greatest upheaval in recent world cuisine (El Bulli) when the steam runs out of the idea which has fueled and inspired thousands of chefs worldwide. When molecular gastronomy gives way to New Nordic. Niche cuisines!

"After all those years at El Bulli, I just wanted to take it easy and have fun", Albert Adria explained to me last night at his hot new table, Pakta, located in an edgy and seemingly uninteresting corner of Barcelona, across from a massive concrete fire station. The thirty something seater, with a small Japanese style counter at the entrance, wooden looms filled with colorful yarn and minimalist tables and wood seating has a vibe that shares both Nippon and Peruvian influences. The restaurant, you see, is inspired by the same homegrown fusion (termed Nikkei) that sent Nobu on his path to fame and fortune. Here it allows Adria to avoid the trappings of a traditional high level Japanese restaurant, which he thought would be too difficult for him.

Nikkei was grown from Japanese immigrants to Peru, which was  the first country to accept them a century ago. They brought their own cooking techniques and started to use local produce, the result being a natural fusion cuisine.

The team, from waitstaff to kitchen is almost entirely Peruvian and Japanese, with a few Spanish, Mexican and Argentians thrown in for good measure, and most of them have worked in the Adria empire in one form or another, either staging at El Bulli or gaining experience at the nearby 41° or Tickets.

Genial Argetinian chef Sebastien Mazzola, the imagination behind these establishments (and chef of 41° Experience, where he will return once his work here is done) developed more than 100 recipes for the new concept with Japanese head chef Kyoko Ii for a menu that will probably change monthly.

At 90€ for 25 dishes, it's a wild ride for the tastebuds and an incredibly interesting concept that seems to be going somewhere. Their next establishments, Bodega 1900 and Mexican influenced Yauarcan will expand their empire in another completely different direction and I look forward to trying each and every one of them.

Flashed sirloin steak, peppers, quail egg and potato "pillows"

Abri

Everyone from humble blaggeurs to big boy critics seem to agree that this tiny table, just up from the Poissoniere metro stop and on the ever more foodie rue du Faubourg Poissoniere (Albion, L'Office, Big Fernand) is the next big thing. The Brooklyn-esque deco of the former "City Café" is all exposed brick and beaten metal kitchen space, where Japanese chef Katsuaki Okiyama and his staff toil away, wordlessly producing what is undoubtedly Paris' best value meal of the moment: 4 courses (no choice, 2 starters, one main and dessert) for 22€ at lunch and 38.50€ for dinner (six courses). Okiyama's skills, honed at culinary temples such as Taillevent and Rouchon, are evident, as is his selection of fabulous French produce. Our starter of crab ravioli (made with microplaned japanese radish) were followed by sweet potato and jasmine soup and stellar yellow pollack with chinese cabbage and cauliflower. Perfectly sized portions, cooked to a t, for the price of two Maxi Best Of's from the fast food down the road. Eurostar hoppers- book lunch now!

Abri
92 rue du Faubourg Poissoniere, 75010 Paris
+33 1 83 97 00 00
Open daily (except Sundays) for lunch and dinner, and on Mondays and Saturdays from 10-17h00, special sandwich menu

Kunitoraya 2

In the heart of Paris' Japanese ghetto in what was once the tried and true trad bistro Chez Pauline, this spiffy little New York-y style nippon was just what the doctor ordered for a rainy autumn lunch. Not to be confused with their first establishment, chaotic noodle bar Kunitoraya, this canteen is a bit more refined, drawing a fashionable crowd for chic onigiri,bentos and donburi (rice topped with fish or meat sauce).  The 47 Euro bento lunch includes a selection of "tapas" (tofu topped with truffles, strips of tasty duck, steam cooked sushi), as well a little tempura and bowl of steaming shrimp udon. Perfect washed down with chilled Yebisu or something from their comprehensive wine list (7-13€ a glass).

Kunitoraya 2

5 rue Villedo, 75002

Kaori Endo's Nanashi

Kaori Endo, Parisian transplanted journalist, cookbook writer, food consultant and former chef at Rose Bakery just opened a funky little eatery on the rue des Paradis under the patronage of Lionel Bensemoun (who was running around looking worried) of Le Baron fame. The deco is mismatched, arty , concrete, open kitchen with  lots of Japanese staff and an affable English bartender/barrista from Rose Bakery. Ideally located in the rapidly gentrifying dixieme, the 10€ bentos (takeaway, with marinated beef, fat Japanese rice and a salad with broccoli, rocket, daikon…) are a great deal and sure to do as well with the unadventurous office lunch population as with the bobos du coin. Also excellent banana bread, fondant au chocolat with yuzu and a daily changing pastry menu

Nanashi

31 rue de Paradis, 75010 Paris

                                          Takeaway bento

                                          Banana bread

                                          Moelleux au chocolat with yuzu

                                          Biodegradable packaging

Quick Review - Nakagawa

In far-flung NorthofBelleville, a decent little sushi counter with (gasp!) a real Japanese chef. Looks like any old cookie-cutter establishment, but serves better than average quality fare for your fish and rice fix. Nice location overshadowed by the neo-Gothic Saint Jean Baptiste church. Also tempura (greasy) and yakitori (didn't try).

Nakagawa