Coming out of post-Covid isolation, crossing Paris to eat well is almost impossible. It’s hard enough to resume a normal chat with close friends, so crowding around the metro with strangers, or battling with racing bike junkies to get a spot on the bike path seems overwhelming.
Fortunately, there is always a good canteen downstairs where it is reassuring to come back. As the journalist Ezéchiel Zérah writes in his newsletter “Pomélo”, devoted to gastronomy, “These canteens are (…) microbeacons that soften the vagueness and the anxieties of this sad time, pillars that we regret in a low voice during a move”. Inspired by this enlightened colleague, the author of these lines does not think long and crosses the Boulevard de la Villette. A few tens of meters away, Camille Guillaud and Alessandro Candido carefully arrange, in kraft paper bags, the sweetness to take away. Perfect for starting an informed convalescence.
The definition of delight
Around the table, the agitation is at its height. Each opening of the box is accompanied by exclamations amazed by the delicacy of the dressing and the liveliness of the colors. The youngest would like to start with the fondant apple cake, but it would be such a shame to miss out on the green asparagus with gribiche sauce. They come from the massif of Uchaux, at the limit of Drôme and Vaucluse, bearers of sun, a character underlined by the sweet sauce. Their tight fibers assert themselves with firmness before exploding into spring water. Carbonara leeks melt without hesitation, marrying the creaminess of egg yolk mixed with Parmesan. The crunchy, fatty and salty pancetta roots the dish without explaining why or where, and provides the pleasant feeling of being lost while being there.
The yellow pollack of the donburi is cut out in lace, pearly on the dark red of the revered rice. The yolk of the mayak egg, confit Korean style, bursts with light, followed by chopped fresh herbs. Fried onions play with the petals of the fish. A tahini sauce gently materns them, supported by the egg marinated in soy sauce.
Finally comes the hour of dessert. The child jumps on the apple fondant as the adults try to contain their excitement over a cheesecake, advertised raw, topped with a blood orange that looks candied and a few leaves of thyme. The uncertain texture of the device lets one certainty explode: this cake is the stricto sensu definition of delight. Unless it was the apple fondant, given the child’s blooming face. He had the good taste to give up a crumb from the sidewalk, caramelized and encrusted with a very small piece of apple that is at the same time tender, crunchy, tangy and sweet. It’s crazy how five square millimeters can change a mood: from happy, the table becomes happy.
The address Candid, 37, boulevard de la Villette, Paris 10e. Monday to Friday from noon to 2:30 p.m.
The service “Click and collect” or order on the spot to take away.
The essential Pollack donburi.
The bill 20 € per person.
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