Under our own olive tree: When in Paris ..... Les Cocottes

Not far away from the Eiffel Tower in the 7th arrondissement, is Rue Saint Dominique, home to three incredible restaurants. Violon d’Ingres, Café Constant and Les Cocottes are all owned by celebrity Chef Christian Constant, a Michelin star chef made even more famous when he became one of the judges on the local “Top Chef” series.

I went to Les Cocottes with my brother and his wife. They don’t take reservations so we arrived early the evening. The ultra-modern and sleek restaurant has a long bar which extends from the entrance back to the doors of the kitchen and it opens up to a small dining section in the back. What makes the restaurant different is that all these meals are cooked and served in small Staub cocottes (cast-iron pots), hence the name.

I started with “ravioles de langoustines, mousseline d’artichauts”. It is al dente pasta stuffed with langoustines and served with a very creamy, but light savoury artichoke mousseline. It just melts in your mouth! My main course was “pommes de terre caramelisees farcies au pied de porc”. It is basically caramelised potatoes stuffed with de-boned pig trotters. It was the first time I’ve tried pigs’ trotters and it was extremely tasty and an amazing plate of food. They serve it with cold salad so the contrast between the cold and hot just added to the experience.

We ended the meal by sharing a few of their desserts, but next time I’ll make sure I order the “La fabuleuse tarte au chocolate de Christian Constant” just for myself, because it was FABULEUSE! Actually the whole evening was fabulous – great company, fun and viby atmosphere and incredible food. An evening to remember.