Restaurant Passerini: we tested the best Italian restaurant in Paris according to the 50 Top Italy guide.

If you're a fan of Italian cuisine, here's an address that should wake up your taste buds! Head for Restaurant Passerini, located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, offering cuisine"without nostalgia, but with a strong Italian heritage", always in the best Italian style. In fact, the restaurant's reputation has earned it 9th place in the 50 Top Italy guide to the world's best Italian restaurants.

• To be read
• Paris's new Italian restaurants, our best addresses
• Tips for the week of December 23 - 29, 2024 in Paris: free or cheap outings
• What to do in Paris in December 2024? Discover this month's events in the Paris Region

"It's in France that I learned the most about my profession, but I feel a strong responsibility to represent Italian cuisine in Paris", explains chef Giovanni Passerini. This establishment, the fruit of two years' reflection, offers a family atmosphere in the image of what can be found in the south of France and in Italy, of course. At the heart of the menu is regional cuisine, with the vast majority of products from France, prepared "Italian-style", from appetizers to desserts.

Modern starters such as sweetbreads, spring vegetable fricassee or tangy white stock, primi piatti offering dry pasta, stuffed pasta and fresh pasta, generous desserts such as baba au rhum, ice cream sundaes or traditional pastries? Enough to delight gourmets and gourmands alike! Please note that dishes are served either by the plate (fish, meat, offal...), or in whole pieces to share (meat cooked on the bone, beef ribs, free-range poultry, whole cooked fish...), depending on the day's arrivals.

An address we were able to try out. We were tempted by the 35-euro starter, main course and dessert menu, and we clearly weren't disappointed! Starters included a tartare of smoked beet, Piedmont hazelnuts and dried ricotta, as well as canederli (small bread dumplings), beef batutta, mushrooms and buckwheat with tarragon consommé. Two perfectly balanced starters of rare finesse.

On the pasta side, we fall for the tagliatelle with duck ragout, olives and broccoli fiolare. A real treat! Our favorite, the ravioli del Pastificio with parsnips, caprizola and cumin in sage butter and parmesan... To die for! Probably the best ravioli we've tasted anywhere in Paris. And for dessert, we finish with a slice of almond and apple tart with a scoop of ricotta ice cream. A delicious blend of the sweetness of the tart and the saltiness of the ricotta.

And on the terrace, there's no need to make a reservation, just a selection of dishes, like the Pastificio ravioli or an ice cream sundae for dessert... Enough to make anyone's mouth water, not to mention the unobstructed view of the coulée verte, with the Aligre market as a backdrop. In short, this is a great place to discover! Shall we reserve a table, folks?