Vegetarian cuisine is more popular than ever in Paris, and Sezono is one of those addresses that delights vegetarians, the curious and gourmands of all kinds with its all-vegetable recipes.
It was between two confinements that Ai Loan Dupuis and her partner, Hakim El Bour, decided to open an establishment that links their two passions: cooking, of course, but also ecology, and indeed, new ways of cooking in a committed and responsible way, while respecting the environment.
Trained at theÉcole Ferrandi, the French-Vietnamese-born chef imagines, at Sezono, a cuisine that is plant-based, creative and above all affordable, made from organic, seasonal and local produce, sourced directly from small producers in the Ile-de-France region. Throughout the day, the restaurant - which means season in Esperanto - offers three tempting formulas.
Forlunch, you can choose from the weekly-changing menu, or opt for the €14 lunch option, which includes a starter, main course and dessert. Choose from soups, gazpacho, cakes, tarts, salads and hot dishes, which we'll tell you more about in a moment. In the evening, you can opt for plates to share, ranging from 6€ to 13€.
Another gourmet highlight of the week is the balanced weekend brunch, which includes unlimited hot and cold homemade drinks, a mini kebab, panisses, French fries, vegetable acras, crudités, seasonal soup, cake, compote and homemade granola, all for 27€.
And if you want to fill up on the good stuff, Sezono has its own little stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables, pulses and cereals, as well as groceries to buy at home!
For our part, we took advantage of the magnificent Parisian sunshine to discover Sezono on its pretty wooden terrace, at lunchtime. During our visit, exceptionally, there was no lunchtime menu, but rather evening dishes to be discovered a few hours in advance.
You can take a leisurely look at the menu while sipping a cold-extracted, vitamin-packed juice made from seasonal fruit and vegetables, the restaurant's little extra. Alternatively, you can opt for a natural French wine, an artisanal beer from Ile-de-France or a house cocktail or mocktail .
We start our feast with the frites mixtes (9€), a crunchy mix of panisse fries and halloumi fries from the Laiterie de Paris, our favorite, to dip in a homemade aioli, and the very light pâté en croûte de la Maison (9€) with green asparagus, cauliflower, wild garlic pesto and thyme jelly. All year round, Sezono offers a pate en croûte made with seasonal produce.
You won't be able to resist awhole artichoke with a heart filled with raw herb cream. Another original feature is the champillettes (7€), vegetarian rillettes with oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms and button mushrooms from a mushroom farm set up in a parking lot in the capital's 18th arrondissement - yes, yes!
Now it's time for the main courses! Following the chef's advice, we treat ourselves to the vegetarian kebab (€12), Sezono's flagship dish. Inside, the meat is a shredded oyster mushroom with roasted spices - the dupe works perfectly! -a white yogurt sauce, pickles for acidity, crudités for freshness, and panisse fries as a side dish. It's the kind of dish that will win over even the last vegetarian refuseniks.
We also fall for the green asparagus (14€) topped with a wild garlic sauce - it's the season, and we like it - before allowing ourselves a little dessert, even though we don't have many dishes left as everything was so generously served. The result was a rhubarb-apple tartlet (6€) with sumac chantilly and almond caramel. A delicate note to end this delicious vegetarian lunch !
