Vivant

Some of the new wine bars in Paris are wonderfully idiosyncratic, including Vivant, the new address of Pierre Jancou, who was the original owner of the still excellent wine bar Racines in the Passage des Panoramas. “I love places with history, places that are unique,” says Jancou, who scoured Paris before finding a small shop in the 10th arrondissement that once sold birds, and left its aviary souvenir in magnificent Art Nouveau tile murals that Jancou has painstakingly restored. He is just as passionate about his list of organic and naturel (unsulfured) wines and his menu, offering dishes such as foie gras with artichoke salad or grilled poularde (a young hen spayed for fattening) with baby vegetables from the well-known organic farm of Annie Bertin in Brittany.

Vivant 43 rue des Petites Ecuries, 10th, 01.42.46.43.55. €40

Racines 8 passage des Panoramas, 2nd, 01.40.13.06.41

Originally published in the November 2011 issue of France Today