What do you do when you've taken the Metro all the way to the edge of the city to walk the beautiful Viaduc des Arts, only to find that it's already closed at the prim hour of 8 PM? You turn to Yelp, of course, and you find yet another out-of-the-way gem of culinary excellence.
We were able to get a walk-in table around 9 PM on a Saturday night, which I found incredible; clearly, the regulars have done a great job of keeping it under the radar. We sat and enjoyed an array of amuse-bouches along with a glass of the excellent house rose: marinated olives, slices of cured salami and wafer-thin flatbread drizzled with oil.
Navigating the menu was a fun challenge -- my French is middling and my Italian nonexistent -- but we managed to find a few dishes we understood enough to order, and each of them contained a few fun surprises. My husband and I both wanted the truffled ravioli, but I switched at the last minute to Sardinian-style mackerel. They were perfect compliments to each other: the paper-thin ravioli were drenched in a heady, creamy sauce and stuffed with Parmesan, so rich we couldn't eat more than three or four apiece; the chilled mackerel was much lighter, and its accompanying salad of fennel, artichoke and beans, dressed in a pungent lemon vinaigrette, was a revelation. Our friend enjoyed a simple, traditional pasta marinara with Italian sausage. Portions were among the largest I've ever seen in France, but quality was not compromised; I just wish we could have stayed an extra day to enjoy the leftovers!
Our dessert was probably the best sweet I'd had all week: a meltingly tender panna cotta, flecked with vanilla and garnished with blood-orange marmalade. We swooned over each spoonful and also sipped several varieties of eau de vie -- I think blueberry and anise, but my memory of that wonderful evening is, alas, growing dim.
Service was a little slow and a little spotty, but the food was the main attraction here, so we didn't let it bother us. The atmosphere inside is warm, homey and classy all at once, and we especially enjoyed hearing the conversations around us; it seems this is the go-to spot for Italian emigres, and it was difficult to remember we were still in France!
Sardegna a Tavola is truly a find, and we will make sure to head there again when we return to Paris. We'll just get an earlier start next time, so we can enjoy the park too. read more