Kiss, sunny street food and XXL sandwiches with a Californian twist

Immediate take-off for California at Kiss, the new street-food spot near Strasbourg Saint-Denis. The address is excellent, and with good reason: the man behind the project is no novice: Matthias Gloppe is already at the helm ofEcho in the Sentier, a restaurant inspired by Santa Monica's cantinas which, when it opened, saw American chef Mailea Weger behind the stoves.

With Kiss, Matthias Gloppe signs the extension of Echo, street-food version to take away but also on the spot, thanks to the small terrace of two tables on the busy street. This time, the owner called on chef Peter Lemos, founder of the Wax Paper sandwich shop in Frog Town Los Angeles. Lemos has created a menu of sandwiches for Kiss, some of which are creations previously available only in LA.

Among chef Peter Lemos ' signature sandwiches, from lunch to dinner, is the vegetarian sandwich that everyone in Los Angeles devours, with sourdough bread and poppy seeds, avocado, homemade mayo, alfalfa (sprouted alfalfa seeds) and mature cheddar; or the Italian Sub, with salami, spicy aioli, red onion pickles, pecorino, fermented pimento and tarragon vinaigrette.

Vegetables play an important role in the sandwiches, as do fermentation, pickles, spices and a variety of breads, sometimes in a sourdough loaf, sometimes in a ciabatta, sometimes in a baguette or focaccia.

For our part, we completely fell for the Da Chicken Bomb sandwich (13€), already the house's best-seller; an amazingly light sandwich in focaccia, topped with fried but juicy chicken inside, chunks of ripe avocado, black bean purée, melted provolone, red onions and chipotle mayonnaise. A little bomb!

Also naughty, this The GodMother sandwich(not the most practical to eat on the street though; 13€) in a sesame bun, with prosciutto, mortadella, spicy sauce, green salad, oregano vinaigrette, red onions, a ton of grated pecorino. In any case, expect to pay between €9 and €13 for sandwiches, all in a very generous format.

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The sides are as original as the sandwiches, like these tempuras of seasonal vegetables with a curry-lemon aioli sauce (5€) and this roasted sweet potato and torch-grilled marshmallow (so American; 4€), to be accompanied by a golden latte (4.5€) as spicy as it gets.

Kiss is also on board for breakfast, with Californianbreakfast staples: breakfast sandwich (8€), bacon egg mex tacos (8€) cinnamon toast (7€) and cafe de olla, a typically Mexican specialty of filter coffee with cinnamon and spices, very popular in Los Angeles. It's a great way to get into the swing of things early in the morning!