La Cantine de Quentin

This charming new restaurant and épicerie is the perfect destination after a walk along the romantic canal St-Martin as it doglegs through the ever trendier 10th arrondissement—the neighborhood is now a beehive of fun, reasonably-priced restaurants and cafés, and this shop-front dining room, lined with shelves of gourmet groceries, is one of the best. (Owner Quentin Hoffman and chef Johann Baron are both alumni of three-star Guy Savoy.) The blackboard menu changes often but starters might include warm lentil salad, sea bream carpaccio or delicious charcuterie, to be followed by a superb shiitake mushroom risotto, a highly original duck-breast tart or pan-grilled salmon with spices. For dessert, don't miss the English-style bread pudding with roasted pineapple, unless you can't resist the runny chocolate cake with crème anglaise. Good selection of wines by the glass.

52 rue Bichat, 10th, 01.42.02.40.32, Métro: Jacques Bonsergent. €30 per person without wine

Originally published in the July/August 2007 issue of France Today

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