Restaurant Cellar: the neighborhood nugget for French cuisine with a Japanese accent

In Paris, gourmets are constantly on the lookout for neighborhood treasures, those nuggets nestled in the maze of Parisian streets that hold great surprises and big coups de cœur in store. If you're a fan of these good addresses whose secrets are passed on by word of mouth, it's time for us to drop our discretion and take you on a tour of Cellar, a little neighborhood nugget with top-flight gastronomy.

It's like being at home here. In a bright, modern setting, you'll discover the pieces of a puzzle that make up the endearing personalities that animate this address. In the background, we glimpse the kitchens where Geoffrey, chef and owner of the premises, which he runs in tandem with his wife, Almira, juggles behind the stoves to unveil refined dishes composed with a powerful desire to share. This authenticity is so obvious that the spirit of conviviality spreads from table to table to the point of breaking the ice between strangers.

This restaurant, open only weekday evenings and for lunch and dinner at weekends, is also an ode to the love of French cuisine and Japanese culture. To describe Cellar 's gastronomy as fusion cuisine would not be entirely accurate: in fact, it's more of a Japanese twist that sublimates a blue-white-red gastronomy. Every day, Geoffrey does his shopping, and it's from fresh produce and following his inspiration that he presents us with an evolving menu. It's hardly surprising that the menu is exclusively à l'ardoise: it's hard to walk into Cellar without seeing a change in the dishes!

This is a passionate address that invites curiosity and should particularly appeal to lovers of sweet and savory, as well as to gourmets in search of the famous umami. There's nothing basic about the classics, and Geoffrey is the one who conveys his personality in his recipes, which are undoubtedly the fruit of great meticulousness.

For starters, we sharethe prawns sautéed in satay, a peanut sauce widely used in Southeast Asia, which, under Geoffrey's guidance, is spiced up with a touch of combava. The citrus fruit adds a refreshing note, and we won't leave a single crumb of this plate... as we will for those that follow!

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On the menu that day was a dish of very fresh, snacked scallops, accompanied by a ponzu sauce, a sweet, vinegary soy sauce flavored with yuzu. The cooking of this shellfish is quite delicate, and this is a decisive test on which the good addresses stand out. Here, the challenge is brilliantly met: the scallops have a silky, melt-in-the-mouth texture. They are a perfect match for the dried bonito shavings sprinkled over them, which come to life under the effect of the heat, while adding a touch of character with powerful iodine notes that awaken the taste buds. A braised eggplant confit with miso and mirin completes the dish, reinforcing the sweet-savory aspect and helping to balance it out.

Our curiosity also led us to try the Katsudon, the famous Japanese breaded pork that can be found in a more bistronomic version at the Cellar restaurant. But purists, don't expect the traditional dish, but a "French-style" variant. Geoffrey swaps the loin for a nobler part, the filet mignon, and the breading is a mixture of breadcrumbs and panko. This time, a great classic of Japanese gastronomy is revisited through the prism of French savoir-faire, in a more "elevated" revisitation, right down to the dressing. To accompany the dishes, we recommend that you let the Cellar team guide you, offering not only a selection of fine wines, but also sake for those who wish to venture into more unfamiliar pairings for Parisian taste buds.

When it's time for dessert, two must-haves vie for the limelight. For real sweet tooths, we recommend the house signature brioche perdue, a sin mignon that will win over brunch aficionados. It has a texture that's both chewy and solid enough to provide enough chewiness, while remaining well soaked to give us that juicy, delicious taste.

On the other hand, if you're less inclined towards sweetness, but still want to end your meal on a sweet note, then we'd recommend the black sugar waffle with green tea ice cream. What we like about this dessert is that it's not too heavy, yet it's still very tasty. The waffle is unsweetened, quite thin, and covered with caramelized black sugar that adds a roasted, toasted note as well as a crunch. The sweetness comes from the refreshing handcrafted green tea ice cream, whose bitterness is offset by the sugar needed to make this frosted treat.

As we said, Cellar is a little neighborhood nugget with top-flight gastronomy. But be warned, this address fills up fast, so if you want to discover it, we strongly recommend you make a reservation! Last but not least, there's a second room in the vaulted cellar in the basement, which can be used privately, and which also enables the restaurant to cater for large groups.