Square Gardette

The cook at Square Gardette, a hip neighborhood joint in the best sense of that term, is Masahide Ikuta, who worked at two of Paris’s best bistrots—L’Ami Jean in the 7th and Le Paul Bert in the 11th—before landing here. Ikuta does textbook-perfect modern French dishes, including an impeccable pumpkin velouté and cod steak with red peppers and a Parmesan sablé, but as good as his cooking may be, perhaps the most interesting thing about him is that he represents a Parisian gastronomic talent pool that’s going global, which explains why so many of the best new neighborhood bistrots in town have such intriguingly cosmopolitan menus.

24 rue Saint Ambroise, 11th, 01.43.55.63.07. €40 per person without wine.

Alexander Lobrano’s book Hungry for Paris is published by Random House. www.hungryforparis.com.

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Originally published in the March 2012 issue of France Today