French Restaurant Review: Eunoé, Paris

A new addition to Paris’ hip 11th arrondissement, Eunoé is a pleasant restaurant headed by Japanese chef Ryuji Sato who offers an unusual but delightful menu.

One of the greatest pleasures of any visit to Paris is a long, leisurely meal at a new restaurant in a neighbourhood you’ve never visited before. This was the thought that went through my mind at the end of a soft Indian summer day while I was waiting for my friend, Tina, to arrive for dinner. Several friends had recommended this place near the very pretty Square Maurice Gardette in the 11th arrondissement to me because they’d enjoyed the bright, inventive cooking of Japanese chef Ryuji Sato, who has previously cooked at Nomicos and the Violon d’Ingres.

Maître d’hôtel Félix Perrotte had poured me a glass of excellent Riesling, and I was studying the menu when my friend arrived. “What an interesting menu,” she said, echoing my thoughts. Both of us really liked our starters, too. My roasted pumpkin came with an espuma of Comté cheese, grilled onions and poached quince, a wonderfully autumnal mixture of flavours, and Tina’s trout marinated with shiso, the peppery slightly mentholated Japanese herb, was superb. We were tempted by the monkfish for two grilled over Japanese charcoal but ordered separate dishes to have a broader experience of the chef’s cooking.

Our main courses were excellent, too. Mushroom-lover that I am, I couldn’t resist the balade champignonesque, a beautifully made dish of puff pastry topped with a variety of seasonal mushrooms sautéed in vin jaune, while Tina was delighted by her exceptionally succulent barbecued duckling, which came with a red wine sauce and a side of seasonal vegetables. In all, Eunoé is a very pleasant and satisfying restaurant in one of Paris’s liveliest younger neighbourhoods.

Eunoé, 6 Rue Rochebrune, 11th arrondissement, Paris, Tel. +33 07 67 96 86 36

Average à la carte €60, lunch menus €21, €26

From France Today Magazine