Category: Paris

Macéo was one of the greatest culinary experiences we had in Europe. It is a place I would go back in a heartbeat. Although it is not a fully vegetarian restaurant, they have many interesting vegetarian starters as well as main dishes on their menu. But first –Willi’s Wine Bar.

Here, we had the best wine before dinner.  Willi’s Wine Bar is Macéo’s sister place. Apparently it is the hip and edgy thing to do although Macéo have one of the best wine lists. Actually, I’m hoping that one day John will write about wine in general here. Is that too subtle?

When we arrived it was quiet but soon it started to fill up. Parisians are like Sydneysiders; they eat late. We had the nicest waitress, Dana, who is studying hospitality and doing her apprenticeship at Macéo at the same time. She was just lovely. I wish I took a photo of her.

And the food… Mind-Blowing in a very classy way. Here’s what we had:

Starters:

Green Asparagus 

Asparagus were in season at the time and they are nothing like what we get here in Australia. John has become a huge fan. I personally like the wild asparagus which are more delicate both in shape and taste department. Here’s a grocery store scene for you from Montmartre (below).

As a starter I had Caviar of Smoked Baby Broad Beans, Seasonal Vegetables Bouquet. I love the artistic presentation.

Mains:

Berlingots meuniere caramelised in Xeres, pears, roquette and radish. This was basically pan-fried gnocchi with lightly cooked pears and fresh wild roquette (arugula) and radish.

Desserts:

Poached Pear Façon

Guanaja Mousse & Coco Snap, Pistachio Ice Cream

Macéo
15 rue des Petits Champs
75001, Paris
Website

We were at Le Potager du Marais in 2007 and it was a tiny little, long and narrow place back then. They seem to have moved next door which is bigger. It is still recommended to book before you go though.

For those of you who didn’t read my 2007 review, Le Potager du Marias is a Parisian vegan restaurant located on Rambuteau Street in an area called Marais. It was a vegetarian restaurant back when we were in Paris in 2007, now it is fully vegan. They do vegan versions of French dishes however, they have other international ones on their menu too. And yes Peoples, this is the place where Anne Hathaway was seen in 2013.

Now, let’s talk about food, shall we?

Starters

Pate Forestier (mushroom pate)

Tartare d’algues (seaweed tartare)

Main
As for the main, we both had Bourguignon de Seitan which is seitan stew with red wine and mushrooms served with mashed potatoes and garlic olive oil.

Main courses are served with a choice of:

• Brown rice with almonds
• Buckwheat or mashed potatoes with garlic olive oil

Bourguignon de Seitan (seitan stew with red wine and mushrooms with mashed potatoes and garlic olive oil)

Desserts

Crumble aux Fruits Rouge (red berry crumble with chestnut flour)

Crème Brulee au Gingembre (crème brulee with ginger)

Wine
We a small flask of their house wine and I must admit, it wasn’t all that memorable.

One thing that hasn’t changed here is you still wind up talking to people sitting next to you. We ended up talking to a really nice guy, Reginald, from the US and exchanged a few words with a teacher and her student too.

Le Potager du Marais
24 Rue Rambuteau
Paris
Website