Cucina: Ducasse opens its trattoria at the Maison de la Mutualité

Alain Ducasse opens Cucina Paris, his first Parisian trattoria, at the Maison de la Mutualité, a few weeks after Ducasse sur Seine. In this historical place, which was before a restaurant of Yannick Alléno, Ducasse has charged his chef Matteo Lorenzini to transport us to Italy!

For this new address, they designed together a real Italian menu in 4 steps: antipasti, primipiatti, secondipiatti, and dolci, for meals like in the pure Italian tradition!

We loved the offbeat atmosphere at Cucina Paris, a colorful and no-fuss atmosphere that allows people to get together around good food to share. For the fun side, the staff is dressed in Venetian gondolier and fabric delicatessen invests the bar. Our waiter, Italian, advises us on the dishes of his region like no other, and ends up (almost) convincing us to try everything.

Pizzetta, vitello tonnato, burrata, caponata, eggplant with permesan, pasta with beef cheek, escalope Milanese, beef Florentine, escalope Milanese, creamy polenta, tiramisu, the menu is full of Italian classics, but with the Alain Ducasse touch that changes everything. To accompany this, Cucina offers a fine range of Italian wines.

As with any Italian meal, you order the antipasti to wait: at Cucina, you order them by 3 or 5. Tomato mozzarella, burrata, eggplant caviar, caponata, vitello tonnata, the choice is "classic", but everything is in the tastes. It is said that some customers enjoy themselves and order their favorite antipasti three times!

Then comes the time for the primipiatti, the traditional pasta dishes. Linguine with clams, Paccheri with beef cheek, capillini with lobster, Ducasse sets the level high, but displays reasonable prices, from 12 to 26 euros for the capellini with lobster. For us, it will be the bucatini with pepper and cheese, and the paccheri with beef cheek, a pure delight! When the dishes arrive, you can feel that the greed is there. The service is done with the pan, which is really well filled (we refilled 3 times).

• To be read
• Tips for the week of November 18 to 24, 2024 in Paris: free or inexpensive outings
• What to do in Paris and the Paris Region in November 2024? Our tips and ideas for outings
• Where to eat out in Paris? Good addresses, discoveries and favorites by arrondissement

And if we can stop there, Ducasse offers the real Italian experience, with the secondipiatti, the "real" dishes. That means schnitzel Milanese, beef Florentine, baked sea bream or roasted sea bass, ranging from 22 to 30 euros! As we had the water in the mouth, we let ourselves be tempted by the roasted sea bass with artichokes and its juice of olives, and we add with the creamy polenta very well sold by the waiter, and the vegetables of season (for the form!).

And to finish this meal, we order an Italian coffee, and we can't help but order a tiramisu and the frosted lemon that we spotted in the plate of the table neighbor. The portions are copious, and the frosted lemon is surprising because it is a lemon sorbet served in a candied lemon that you can eat entirely!

Note that Cucina Mutualité offers a lunch formula "O Sole Mio" with antipasti, dish of the day, coffee and mignardises at 24 euros. A real treat, bravo Ducasse!

Alcohol abuse is dangerous. To be consumed with moderation.