Au Passage

1 bis passage Saint Sébastien, 75011 Paris

Let’s be honest. Here at TML, we look down on any place where “cool kids” eat. If we walk into a place and see tattoo sleeves on an emaciated guy in a beanie, we are judging. Having said that, Au Passage has something special that is hard to replicate, and they proved us wrong. Down a nondescript alley, you find the sort of Parisian bistro-wine-bar hybrid that feels like it was sketched on a napkin after too many glasses of skin-contact something. It’s loud, loose, a little scruffy at the edges, and completely uninterested in conformity. The food, however, is deadly serious.

Small plates with big intentions, things cooked by people who understand the pleasure centers of the human brain. A plate of grilled squid that snaps and smokes, each bite saline and decisive. A roasted pigeon arrives blood-red and defiant, tasting of iron and elegance. Even their vegetarian dishes featuring roasted pumpkin or carotte rôtie in Cassis sauce are equally interesting, enticing, and memorable. You’re going to drink a lot of wine, so order a few different things and don’t look back.