Revived: August 24, 2026 (Published: October 17, 2016)
Last summer, a month in my beloved Paris led me to many memorable restaurants, but few captured my heart like Vivant in vibrant 10th arrondissement.
I still remember that summery Friday like yesterday. The streets were steaming in the afternoon heat during my walk from Père-Lachaise to Montmartre.
Along the way, on Rue des Petites Écuries, I stopped at a sign. Vivant, it said.
”Hey, this is the place I have wanted to try many times!”
One glance at their wine-by-the-glass list sealed the deal. Vincent Charlot‘s vintage champagne Le Fruit de Ma Passion 1996 would be a good reason to come back later in the evening.
CHAMPAGNE, CANDLES AND METALLICA
Promptly at seven thirty, I enter Vivant. Having walked 25 kilometres in the sun, it’s high time for some Epicurean pleasures!
The candle-lit restaurant is intimate and inviting. Wonderful aromas hit my nose from left and right while the guys behind the counter are playing loud Master of Puppets. What a start!
Within seconds, a smiling guy approaches me, and before long I am sitting at the counter with a hefty glass of champagne. At Vivant, dishes are prepared in front of you, in a small corner behind big candles.
Indeed, the guys – chef Pierre Touitou, sommelier Félix Godart and Clément Jeannin – are making the most of it: laughing and teasing each other while pursuing funny choreographies. Their cheerful vibe and complementary customer service roles fill the space, and soon I happily sigh to Félix:
”You know, I already love this place!”
SIMPLE & INGENIOUS COMBINATIONS
Meanwhile, watching all the dishes being prepared makes me hungrier. Yet spending a whole month in Paris, I can’t afford to eat long menus every night.
In the end, I order “just” white tuna with peachy cream, eggplant caviar and conchiglie in Sardinian pasta sauce with gooseberries. Brilliant combos of superb ingredients melt in my mouth. And the natural wines sing just like the guy who serves them.
In my opinion, Vivant is a paradise for all bonvivants. If you ask me, I’d bring someone here who loves creative cuisine with a Mediterranean twist, wild wine pairings and informal dining surrounded by laughter, pretty loud music and kitchen steam.
When I later find out that Pierre had been cooking, among other things, at Aux Deux Amis and Félix at Saturne, everything made perfect sense. Aux Deux Amis on Rue Oberkampf used to be one of my favourites in Paris 11th, and Saturne… well, I guess travelling to Saturne from Finland four times within 1.5 years says enough?
Vivant
43 Rue des Petites Écuries
Mon-Fri 19–01. Tel: +33 (0)1 424 643 55
Métro: Château d’Eau (line 4), Poissonnière (line 7)
UPDATE (2026): Vivant still operates at this address, and in 2018 it was renamed Vivant 2. Based on three dinners at Vivant and a wonderful 2024 soirée at Vivant 2, I warmly recommend this spot in Paris 10th. The chef, Léo Dauvergne, has been at Vivant 2 since 2022. (PS. Saturne, one of my all-time favourite restaurants in France, closed its doors in 2019).
