Aglio e Olio, a little Italian nugget on the block

Italian cuisine has many facets. Roman or Neapolitan pizza for a quick lunch, fresh pasta for aesthetes, eggplant alla parmigiana for vegetarians, street food or gourmet cuisine, it caters for all tastes and pleasures.

In Paris, however, Italian restaurant menus sometimes tend to be interchangeable. So, to find a real nugget, you have to get off the beaten track and go beyond the doorstep of small neighborhood addresses. When you do, you're in for a pleasant surprise.

Such is the case of Aglio e Olio, a genuine Roman cantina in the Saint-Maur/Saint-Ambroise area, opened in 2019 by Thomas Chapelle alongside his first restaurant, Massale. Trained at Pirouette and Zébulon, it was at the latter that he met Andrea Maggi, who was to become his chef at Aglio e Olio.

Originally from Velletri, a few kilometers from Rome, the chef also cut his teeth at Zébulon under the aegis of Yannick Lahopgnou, before perfecting his skills in fine French cuisine at Le Taillevent. At Aglio e Olio, the chef returns to his Roman roots, offering, on the short menu, a traditional cuisine inherited from his childhood memories and his mama.

Aglio e Olio puts this local Roman gastronomy within everyone's reach, with affordable menus: starter/main course or main course/dessert at €18, starter/main course/dessert at €21 for lunch, it's hard to beat that. Especially since the quality is undeniably top-notch, and the restaurant boasts a large shaded terrace in fine weather, ideal for lounging around with a glass of Spritz (10€) or Italian wine in hand.

Tripe alla romana (fabulous; 10€) cooked with passion, following the recommendations of the aforementioned mama to the letter ; artichokes alla romana (13€) devilishly crisp, with their syphon of aioli and every last drop of sauce; cappellacci cacio e peppe with broad beans (19€) sweetened with pieces of pear; calamarata with mussels (17€), lemon and tomato... Cucina povera in all its splendor, seeming simplicity and real sapidity.

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To end this lunch worth its weight in pecorino, we resist the call of tiramisu served by the ladle and turn instead to two lighter desserts, perfect for tackling the summer afternoon without feeling too heavy: a rhubarb panna cotta (9€) made without gelatine - with a melt-in-the-mouth texture akin to crème brûlée, and a milk mousse (9€) with broken sbrisolona, a shortbread cookie native to Lombardy, fresh strawberries and a dizzying parsley ice cream.

What if, in order to stand out from the other transalpine restaurants in Paris, we had to make a return to simplicity and authenticity? A restaurant that certainly deserves its (very good) reputation among locals.