P'tit Deux, the little bodega that honors Basque croquetas and taloas

It only took a year for Tiphaine Mollard and Romain Casas to inaugurate their second address in Paris's 11th arrondissement, a stone's throw from their first restaurant, Deux. Located just across the street from their first restaurant, which quickly won the Ecotable label, P'tit Deux is the perfect extension of the former, with a more relaxed and minimalist atmosphere.

While Chez Deux's cuisine focused on regional dishes , particularly from the Savoie and Béarn regions where the young owners grew up, P'tit Deux offers bodega-style platters of charcuterie and goodies to spread, and in the glasses, French wines from small producers that are well worth the detour, craft beers and cocktails that highlight tricolored spirits, sometimes too long forgotten at the top of their mountains, such as génépi (with apple juice, tonic and cinnamon) or Armagnac (with bitters, ginger beer and lime).

The common thread running through these two addresses is the careful sourcing of fine products, whether for eating or drinking. Seated at the counter or at one of the high tables, the tapas come thick and fast: boards of cured meats from Louis Ospital and mature cheeses from Beñat (10€-20€), pea and broccoli guacamole spiced with mint, excellent tarama with smoked Béarn chili (12€), or tortilla and tomato-garlic coulis (8€). There's no doubt about it, the South-West is not far away!

In fact, P'tit Deux has chosen to honor one of the region's iconic dishes: the famous croquetas, available here in a variety of particularly naughty recipes. For example, the octopus, tomato confit and Xipister croquetas; the beef gor'ion and Ossau Irraty croquetas; the country ham and Beaufort croquetas; or the croquetas of the month, our favorite, topped with potatoes, onions, Abondance and Espelette pepper. Half a dozen, please!

Of course, the price may be prohibitive for some (count €3 per croquetas), but these are to be savored as unique, comforting little morsels to be enjoyed with a glass of wine, among friends. Those with a sweet tooth will be delighted by the desserts on offer - chocolate mousse and pine cream, baba with Chartreuse or Armagnac - but for our part, we had no room left, as the boards were served very generously.

• To be read
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• Bistronomic restaurants in Paris, our best addresses
• New restaurants expected to open in Paris in September 2024

And now, P'tit Deux is unveiling a new street-food offering for lunch, to be eaten on the large sunny terrace, or on the go, to take away: taloas! Originally from the Netherlands, taloas are corn cakes with a unique texture, revisited by Tiphaine Mollard and Romain Casas with a Béarno-Savoyard sauce.

Offered at affordable prices (€11.50 per taloa, €14.50 per taloa+side), we're sure to fall for the Basco-Savoyard taloa, with its lightly spiced xistora sausage, enveloping cream of plenty, zucchini strips, arugula and guindillas (the famous little green peppers of the Basque country); but also for the shredded chicken taloa, with Padron peppers, homemade carrot caviar, sucrine and a lightly spiced Béarn chili cream.

P'tit Deux has even thought of vegetarians, with a basil-scented pea guacamole taloa, topped with mozzarella, tomato confit and arugula seasoned with smoked salt. And to make you feel even more like you're in the sunny South-West of France, you can't go wrong with patatas bravas topped with a secret sauce - far from it!