Cocoricains, finally a quality American bistro in Paris!

It's the American bistro we've been waiting for in Paris! Cocoricains, newly opened on the Grands Boulevards, restores American cuisine to its rightful place in the heart of the capital, opened by two Franco-Americans, Chris Geraghty and Grégoire Pouletty. This explains why.

Friends since childhood, the former hails from Boston - you can tell by the walls covered in references to Beantown - and the latter from San Francisco. Both passionate about American cuisine, it's fried chicken, the totem of their youth, that they've chosen to honor.

To step through the door is to travel 5500km without even leaving Paris. In this tasteful decor imagined by Dorenavant Studio, newspaper clippings in honor of the Red Sox team, photos and some of the two founders' most personal treasures (like the baseball bat Chris played with as a child in the hallway of his father's apartment building) remind us that we are indeed in the United States.

But unlike some big Parisian diner chains that focus on decoration while forgetting to serve good food, Cocoricains proves that it's possible to combine the two. Here, the chicken is free-range, Label Rouge, raised on a cooperative farm in Normandy, and it's even halal-certified to please as many people as possible.

More importantly, it is used in its entirety, in a responsible, anti-gaspi approach: drumsticks and wings are dishes in their own right, the whites are used in breadcrumbs, the bones are used for broths and the meat is integrated into meatballs or used as shredded meat.

A clever formula called Festin (€26/person) lets you devour this beautiful beast entirely, with friends, from pillons, tenders, wings and other meatballs to chicken broth.

The rest of the ingredients are just as carefully sourced, with seasonal vegetables sourced directly from producers, the vast majority of organic, natural and biodynamic wines from small winemakers, craft beers from Brasserie du Grand Paris and tea from Kodama.

In a very, very friendly atmosphere, the comforting classics of American cuisine parade across the table: the meatball skewers (6.50€) are juicy as can be, and make a little jump in Mme Gérard's sauce (comté, paprika, mustard, white wine) to be even better. The peanut soup (5.50€), a cold chicken broth enriched with a touch of peanut butter, is sure to intrigue French palates.

Then there's the Mac and cheese (€12.90), a comfort-food staple prepared here with 15-month-aged cheddar and mozzarella for maximum cheesiness. As comforting as a kiss on the forehead. The same goes for the fried chicken sandwich (€12.90), with its American recipe (breaded chicken, coleslaw, pickles, lemon mayonnaise sauce) in a toasted bun that's still licking your fingers.

Marinated in buttermilk and a mix of spices before being slow-cooked, the fried chicken is crispy on the outside, melting and juicy on the inside - perfection.

• To be read
• American restaurants in Paris
• Paris delicatessens: New York-style catering restaurants
• South American restaurants in Paris, our best Latin addresses

Although we had our eye on the desserts (banana bread tatin 6.20€, cheesecake flambéed with Grand Marnier 8.20€), we had to face the facts: the dishes were so generous that we weren't hungry anymore. Game over!

What's more, Cocoricains organizes events throughout the year(Thanksgiving, Halloween, etc.), a great opportunity to come back with friends or with the kids, who are entitled to their own menu and coloring pages created by the team!