This was the first certified organic restaurant in France. The food is also locally produced and dishes are seasonal. You’ll find a wide variety of dishes for vegetarians and vegans. It’s a bit pricey, so save this for one of those special dinners on your vacation.

Travel and Leisure magazine featured BIOart in an eco-travel article:

A new addition to the city’s booming 13th Arrondissement, BioArt **** (dinner for two $100) serves an all-organic menu—risotto topped with shaved truffles; a terrine of diver scallops—in a design-forward space overlooking the Seine.
Eco-Friendly Guide to Paris, London and Stockholm

I have not visited this restaurant yet, so I cannot give a review.

BIOart

1, quie Francoise-Mauriac (13°)

Metro: Bibliotech Francoise Mitterand

01 45 85 66 88/dd>

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Kosher food does not allow dairy and meat to be served or cooked together. That means this is a vegetarian pizza restaurant by default. You can even have it sans cheese for your vegan fix.

The lack of meat is not the only thing different about the Kosher Pizza Restaurant. The walls are covered with Orthodox Jewish posters and scripts instead of Venetian sunsets, the standard images of Michelangelo’s David have also been replaced with rabbi photos; which reminds me a bit of the Rabbi trading cards available from Archie McPhee in Seattle.

The Pizza

The pizza has a ridiculously thin crust. It is more like a cracker than the dough you’d see in a thick crusted pizza. Perhaps this is a nod to matzo.

The pizza options are mostly variations of onion, leek, egg, olives, and eggplant. It’s a bit surprising to see pizza names, like nicoise, and not see the traditional meat ingredient listed.

I was a bit worried when I sat down and watched a young couple eat three pizzas. I was unfortunately brought up with the concept of quantity over quality at pizza joints. Forget the California bite sized pizzas, bring on the buy 1 get 3 free delivery specials.

However, I was pleasantly surprised at how filling the provincial pizza was. It’s a cracker thin crust with sauce, a sprinkling of cheese, and topped with ratatouille. The cheese is so minimal that I’m sure vegans would love this pizza without the cheese. The toppings blended nicely with the sauce.

Kosher Pizza is obviously closed on sabbath and Jewish holidays. It’s a bit more expensive than its falafel neighbors, but you’ll appreciate the unique experience.

Even though I moved away from Paris a few months ago and returned this week, my Parisian grandmother didn’t miss a step. When it came time to order she remembered I was a vegetarian and suggested a wonderful spinach/cheese tart for an appetizer and mixed omelette with fries. Frankly, I was ready to change the fries to spinach as a customer was given their plate with a pile of great looking greens.

Chez Grand-Mère Le Chablis has a small menu written on chalk boards hanging on the walls. You can expect at least one lacto/ovo vegetarian option. I especially enjoy their terrine with chevre and sun dried tomatoes.

They are open for lunch and you can expect to pay 12-16 euros for a two or three course meal. That includes a healthy dose of grandmotherly love.

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So I finally decided to see what the fuss was all about. Jean-Pierre promised a magical experience when drinking wine with cheese. My time in Paris was rapidly coming to an end and I needed a touch of magic.

So we planned on visiting the original wine bar, not just in Paris but around the world. It’s a small restaurant in the 11th arrondissement that introduced the concept of expertly chosen wines that are available by the glass and paired with the best foods and cheeses.

Unfortunately, it was August and we met outside a closed restaurant. However, all was not lost. Jean-Pierre had lived nearby a decade earlier and knew a special little restaurant. We crossed our fingers that it was still around and not on the standard August Vacation.

Le Pure Café

Jean-Pierre lived in an apartment that looked down on this odd corner lot restaurant. He knew it a couple decades ago when the area was buzzing with good ol’ communist and worker activism. This restaurant/bar was a meeting place for the Parisian Proletariat.

It’s now more bobo than prolo. The new owners have expanded the space and size of the bar. There’s still a small tribute to its red history, but the conversations are now about food, family, and work instead of revolution.

The interior is decidedly “shabby chic”. It’s the antithesis of Bofinger or the new restaurants that are meticulously designed. Le Pure Café seems to have grown organically and still exhibits some growing pains. For instance, the circuit breakers were tripped about every twenty minutes while we were there. The raucous din of conversations would abruptly stop as the lights went out and the waiter would lean over a dining table to flip the switch back on.

The food

Le Pure Café has a few vegetarian options on its menu. I chose a baked cheese ravioli dish in a cream sauce. It was very rich, cheesy, and satisfying. However, I was fascinated by my friend Philippe’s dish. He had Burrata. Keep an eye out for this cheese, I think it is going to be the new hotness.

Burrata – Buffalo Mozzarella’s Creamy Sister

Burrata is like buffalo mozzarella with a cream center. He was served a large ball of cheese with a drizzling of pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. He also had a small green salad and some thinly sliced country ham. Obviously you could get it without the ham.

Burrata is very soft and tastes extremely fresh. It gives a new and decadent spin to the standard caprese salad. I would highly recommend this dish for your visit to Le Pure Café.

I’ve been looking for the cheese in California and have only found it in one Bay Area store. The fromager at Oakville Grocery, in Napa Valley, said the shelf life is very short; so most stores will be reluctant to stock it.

The Dessert

One cannot possibly live on pasta alone. No, one needs a balanced diet. In my case, the diet is balanced by a healthy serving of something chocolate. Le Pure Café certainly didn’t leave us unbalanced.

Jean-Pierre had a fabu tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream. Philippe had the carpaccio of pineapple (I prefer the version at La Bélière), and I had the mother of all tiramisu platters. I ordered the Declinaison Chocolats, or a quartet of marscapone delights. I was presented with four variations on the tiramisu concept. There was the standard espresso/chocolate variety, but I also got Pistache, Caramel, and Fruit Rouge. I truly couldn’t choose a favorite, they were all magnificent.

The Wine

Jean-Pierre and Philippe chose a good, but simple wine for me to try. Keep in mind, I’m over 40 years old and have not drank alcohol. So I was experiencing wine and alcohol at the same time… I have to say, it was horrible!

I’m sure the wine was good. I’m sure it would have been magical with cheese. I’m probably going to burn in some alternative wine-hell for dissing vin rouge. But I shuddered and went into body writhing convulsions every time I swallowed the wine. I think Jean-Pierre thought I was being possessed by some kind of voodoo.

I now can live the rest of my life knowing that I really didn’t miss anything in France by choosing Perrier over wine at the dinner table. I still enjoy cooking with booze, but I can cancel any future wine trains through the Napa Valley.

Le Pure Café Summary

Le Pure Café is a hidden restaurant in the 11th. It sits in the split of two side streets that are accessed via a side street. So you’ll need to have your map with you. However, it is certainly worth the trip.

The service was friendly, although a bit slow. The food was wonderful and the wine didn’t kill me. The highlights were certainly the cheese based dishes. I didn’t see much for vegans, but lacto-ovo vegetarians should love it. The restaurant is triangular with large doors on two sides. This makes it fairly wheelchair accessible.

Dinner for the three of us, including dessert and wine was 96 euros.

Update: Watch closely and you’ll find Le Pure Cafe as the backdrop for a recent Windows 7 commercial on television.

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Jazz Music

This are two face to La Bélière. The first is for dinner, where food takes the attention and music provides the backdrop. However, the focus shifts in the late hours as the kitchen shuts down and it becomes a vibrant Jazz bar. The owner’s been known to keep the place open and hopping until the sun rises. So plan on taking your time and possibly staying much later than you expected.

The Menu

Unfortunately there are not a lot of options on the menu for vegetarians. However, don’t let that stop you. Ask for the plate des legumes. This is a selection of vegetables being served with the various dinner plates. Jacques is a master at blending traditional French cuisine with Asian and Mediterranean dishes. You’ll be surprised by the variety. This is usually a good option for vegans as well.

There’s also a tomato/mozzarella mille-feuille salad that is amazing. It comes with ham but simply ask for it “sans jambon”. This is a full meal in itself.

The menu at this restaurant hasn’t changed much over the years; so keep an eye out for the daily specials. This is where Jacques has more room to stretch his culinary muscles. You may also want to make reservations several days in advance and ask for vegetarian options. Jacques speaks English fluently, so you can say hello while you are dining. Actually, everyone that works there seems to speak excellent English.

Dinner should cost between 15-30 euros, depending on your desire for dessert and/or drinks. The meals are large so plan on sharing an appetizer and watch out for the mother of all profiteroles for dessert. She’s a whopper!

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I stopped here during a chilly, rainy summer evening. The outdoor seating has a nice heater and lighting for a comfortable place to enjoy a meal and a book. Luckily they also had a couple vegetarian options.

While I was in the mood for a salad, their eggplant lasagna sounded like a better choice. The lasagna comes in a small terrine with layers of eggplant and sauce. It’s not your traditional lasagna with gobs of sauce and cheese. This is a lighter version with a slightly spicy sauce.

This also came with a mozzarella and tomato salad and rustic bread. The salad was nice, but had some crunchy bits that made me wonder if the lettuce was washed completely. It had a healthy portion of fresh mozzarella and a sampling of tapenade for flavor.

Comfort + Food

As I mentioned earlier, their outdoor seating area was quite comfortable. I pulled out my French history book and enjoyed reading for over an hour while watching the rain come down in heavy sheets. Evenings are special in Paris during the summer. A hearty meal, a good book, and a comfortable chair are what Paris memories are made of.

Your Meat Eating Friends will be Happy

Le Bistro du Peintre also has a good reputation for the standard meat-based bistro dishes, such as tartar, duck confit, and marrow bones. So this is also a good choice if you are dining with a bunch of meat eating friends.

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The restaurant sits at the top of rue Mouffetard, one of my favorite spots in the city. It’s cheerful interior and ample servings make this a great option in the Left Bank.

As happens too often, I came across this restaurant after already eating a nice meal. So I cannot give a personal review. However, I looked at what people were eating and it looked great.

Les Cinq Saveurs d’Anada

72, rue du Cardinal Lemoine (5°)

Metro: Cardinal Lemoine, Place Monge

01 43 29 58 54

Wheelchair Friendly: The restaurant has a small step to enter but is otherwise wheelchair friendly. I don’t know if the restroom is downstairs or not.

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Taisho Ken – Miso Soup Bar

In the center is a small Japanese miso soup restaurant that I’ve been finding myself eating at more and more. It’s a simple place with an open kitchen, large pots of boiling miso broth, and a friendly, bustling atmosphere. This is a simple place that may remind you more of a roadside diner than a French bistro.

Miso soup normally brings to mind a small bowl of broth with a few small chunks of tofu floating amongst green herbs. I was greatly surprised when I ordered the vegetarian soup bowl and was presented with a Texas sized spoon and a big bowl of broth with fresh vegetables and noodles. This is a meal by itself, you won’t need any rice or dumplings.

Paris is a great place to have a big lunch with friends and a simple dinner of soup or salad. I’ve added this place to my list of regular stops. It’s especially nice on a cold rainy night when the windows fog up and you are surrounded by the smell of the broth.

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I had heard about some good restaurants north of Gare du Nord but never found this mysterious Hindu Eden. While flying from San Francisco to Paris on Air France I came across an article that described this small neighborhood of saris, sweets, and restaurants. I took the magazine home with me and read the article several times. Finally I had a weekend to do some Paris exploring and jumped on the metro a couple weeks ago to La Chapelle (metro 6).

Rue Cail

Rue Cail seems to be the heart of the community. You’ll find a great assortment of vegetarian restaurants, sweet shops, grocery stores, jewelry shops, and places to find Saris, shirts, and more. My first visit was also punctuated by an impromptu protest rally for an event in India.

There are two restaurants that get the most attention. Krishna Bhavan and Dishny. Both straddle the street with dual identities, formal and casual restaurants. Krishna Bhavan is 100% vegetarian and this makes me very happy. I love being able to order anything off the menu.

Krishna Bhavan

I visited the casual version of Krishna Bhavan. It reminded me of the neighborhood taco shops of San Diego or similar simple restaurants of any city and culture. They serve dosas, rice dishes, samosas, as well as a hearty fixed price menu.

I ordered the basic menu at 13 euros. This includes a drink, entree, dinner, and dessert. For the drink you get your choice of a lassi (mango, salt, sweet, or banana). Entrees include vegetable, tomato, or broccoli soup, potato, onion, eggplant, or banana dumpling, or a green salad. The dinner is either vegetable curry with your choice of rice (coconut, lemon, or yogurt), Biryani, Capatti, Barotha, or Poori. Finally for dessert you have the house cake, gulab jamoun (soft ball in a honey liquid), or laddu (a sweet ball with cardamom). It’s a big meal for a small price.

The vegetable soup (dal) is very nice. It’s a light flavored lentil soup. The vegetable curry w/rice was more like rice with curried vegetables. The rice is the star of the plate with the eggplant and potatoes as supporting actors. As with other authentic dishes, you need to be a bit careful eating the rice. It had some hard seeds that could cause pain if bit into them unexpectedly. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying it. The rice is very light; almost floating on the fork. Mine was mixed with coconut, onions, and spices. Finally, when you think you couldn’t eat another bite it is time for dessert.

Chai

One of my fondest memories of visiting Bangalore was this small opening into the kitchen of the Yahoo! offices. From this little passage came cups of the strongest, sweetest chai tea you can imagine. Forget what you now of chai from Starbucks. Chai should fill you body with warmth.

Need I bother mentioning my excitement when I looked into the small hole of the kitchen and saw the cooks making what looked like chai. It’s awesome! This is worth the visit alone.

Shops

This is an area to enjoy during the day. There are several grocery stores to purchase indian spices, teas, and ingredients. I also found my beloved instant meals that you can find at any Indian grocery store. These packets are filled with good, spicy curries that you simply heat and eat.

You’ll also find a variety of Hindu god and goddess sculptures, henna tattoos, jewelry, music, videos, saris, and other clothing. I found one shop that specialized in arts and crafts from around the world. The back of the store has a huge selection of jackets, pants, and shirts from Tibet and South Asia. The styles are fairly western but with the strong colors and unique lines of the region.

Indian Sweets

Indian sweets are hard to describe to someone that hasn’t experienced them before. They are brightly colored, geometric, soft, sweet, and full of spices. They are very different from the sweets you’d find elsewhere in Paris. They are typically softer and less sweet than you’d expect. Frankly most Americans that I know are not big fans of the Indian sweets. That said, they are better than any I’ve tried in California.

A little bit of nostalgia, comfort, and spice in Paris

I can’t believe it took me so long to discover this corner of Paris. Rue Cail brings back my fondest memories of eating with colleagues in Bangalore, shopping for spices with Jim, teaching my mother about curry and naan, and the joy of food cooked without a fear of spice. If you like Indian food you’ll love the rue Cail area. If you love Indian food and culture you will have found one of the finest places to visit in Paris.

Krishna Bhavan

24 Rue Cail (10°)

01 42 05 78 43

Metro: La Chapelle

Indian Restaurant

Wheelchair Access: bathrooms are in basement. Entrance is accessible.

• Overall: 5/5
• Location: 4/5
• Taste: 5/5
• Service: 5/5
• Vegetarian Friendly: 5/5
• Vegan Friendly: 5/5
• M.E.F. Friendly: 3/5

Dishny Restaurant

25 Rue Cail (10°)

Metro: La Chapelle

Indian Restaurant

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• Jacques new restaurant: La Bélière. I’ve already written about my favorite chef. He’s got a new restaurant and Jazz bar. I’m planning on going this week to see his latest creations. review coming soon
• Rungis market, the largest market in Europe. It’s a massive distribution center for all kinds of produce, cheese, meat, and fish from around the world. This is where restaurants, market sellers, and stores go to get their supplies. It’s open to the public, but fruits and vegetables are only sold on week days.I will be visiting Rungis soon with the owner of Paris Sweet Bar cafe as a guide.
• Dans Le Noir: the restaurant where you eat in total darkness.
• L’Atlantide: supposedly the best couscous in Paris. I’ve been told they have good vegetarian options.
• I’ve been holding on to an old Air France magazine filled with addresses for Indian restaurants and shops in Paris. Dishny and Krishna Bhavan on rue Cail both sound inviting. New Review: Petite Mumbai de Paris
• I also have an old Gourmet Magazine (September 2008) with some great ideas: 11/12th arrindissements, 19th/20th arrindissements, 10th arrindissement by Alexander Lobrano

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