Paris Restaurant: Le Café du Passage (11 Arr.)
Le Café du Passage was the second of two Paris restaurant recommendations by our friend and part-time Parisian David. David has a knack for rooting out value spots that feature market-driven cooking and well-chosen cartes du vin. Le Café du Passage is really more of a wine bar without a kitchen serving petits plats (I think the dishes are plated behind the bar) with maybe a toaster oven to warm sandwiches and a few other hot dishes. We ordered a salade mixte, a Corsican saucisson of pork tenderloin, (I believe the owner is from Corsica), and a croque-monsieur made with Reblochon which I thought would work well with our wine. This may sound like a simple dinner but the ingredients were first rate and the dishes were prepared with care. In reading about the charcuterie of Corsica I came across this article stating that "sadly nearly 85% of Corsican charcuterie is produced on a semi-industrial basis" so I'm not certain of our saucisson's pedigree. It was tasty though. The interior is warm if nothing special and the place seems to draw a late local crowd. The real reason to go to Le Café du Passage is the well-priced and well-chosen wine list. We selected an '04 Raveneau Blanchot Chablis for € 88. There's a lot of great Burgundy and a tempting vertical of Jamet Côte-Rôtie, all ridiculously well-priced. I fear this place is becoming too well known now as there were quite a few out-of-stock wines so go to Le Café du Passage sooner rather than later.
12, rue de Charonne
Paris, France 75011
+33 1 49 29 97 64
Open 7 days/week
