Last summer, a month in my beloved Paris led me to many memorable restaurants, but few captured my heart like Vivant in the vibrant 10th arrondissement.
I still remember that summery Friday like yesterday. The streets were nearly 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, a good reason to come back later in the evening.
CANDLES, CHAMPAGNE AND METALLICA
Promptly at seven thirty, I enter Vivant. Inside, the dimly lit and candle-filled restaurant is intimate and inviting. Wonderful aromas hit my nose from left and right while the guys are playing Master of Puppets.
During the day, I have walked 25 kilometres in the sun, so it’s high time for some Epicurean pleasures!
Within seconds, a smiling guy approaches me and before long I am sitting at the counter with a generous glass of champagne. At Vivant, there is no separate kitchen. Every dish is prepared in front of me, at a small corner behind big candles.
Indeed, the guys – chef Pierre Touitou, sommelier Félix Godart and Clément Jeannin – are taking the most out of it: laughing and teasing each other while pursuing wild choreographies. Their cheerful attitude and complementary roles fill the space, and soon I happily sigh to Felix:
”You know, I already love this place!”
SIMPLE, INGENIOUS COMBINATIONS
Meanwhile, those delicious portions being prepared only make me hungrier. Yet spending a whole month in Paris, I can’t afford to eat long menus every night.
Eventually, I order “just” white tuna with peachy cream, eggplant caviar and Sardinian pasta with gooseberries. Brilliant combos of superb ingredients that melt in my mouth.
And those natural wines sing, just like the guy who serves them. Also, our award-winning Finnish gins – Helsinki Dry Gin and Tënu Gin – are available.
In the end, Vivant is a paradise for bonvivants. If you ask me, I’d bring here someone who loves creative cuisine with a Mediterranean-Japanese twist, wild wine pairings and informal dining surrounded by laughter, pretty loud music and kitchen steam.
Only later, when I find out that Pierre has been working at Aux Deux Amis too, and Félix in Saturne, it makes perfect sense. Aux Deux Amis on Rue Oberkampf is one of my favourite bistros in Paris 11th, and Saturne… well, I guess four visits to this restaurant says enough?
43 Rue des Petites Écuries. Mon-Fri 19–01. Tel: +33 (0)1 424 643 55. Metro Line: 4 (Château d’ Eau), 7 (Poissonnière).
