Le Pantruche

Velvet curtains and mirrored pillars glam up the traditional dark wood dining room at this Pigalle bistro, turning even a random weekday lunch into the moveable feast Hemingway promised. And at this party, the food is both the sustenance and the show. Tender beef shoulder is presented like a work of art, with a rich red wine reduction and strokes of black garlic purée. A perfect disc of chocolate cake in a pool of whiskey crème anglaise is dusted with toasted pecans and crowned with an immaculate quenelle of hazelnut ice cream. The plates may look like something out of a fancy, white tablecloth restaurant, but the homey flavors of persillade and remoulade pack the room with mostly local diners, and the steal of a €23, two-course lunch prix fixe is a big part of what keeps us coming back.