2025 in our memories and our plates

2025 is over, but the culinary memories are still there, very hot in our heads. Here is a little Top-10 of what marked us and that will continue to live, at least, in our memories in this new year to begin

The pasta shells with ham — Chez Toto (Marseille)

This dish, we have seen and reviewed it, even in Parisian palaces, but difficult to match that of this 'bouchon' à la marseillaise: a friend’s hideout where the young local from the area, Antonin, brings the recipe served at his former employer to life in the Phocaean city, the bistro Paul Chêne in Paris (hence the name: coquillettes à la Sean Penn). The secret is undoubtedly — besides the parmesan and the cooked ham—the addition of veal stock, for an even more enveloping texture.
131, rue Breteuil, 13006 Marseille — 04 91 42 59 91 — https://www.instagram.com/bistrotcheztoto/?hl=fr

Mont d’Or x merguez — Le Tagine (Paris)

Probably one of the best couscous restaurants in Paris (and tajines too), run by a great innkeeper with a strong character: Marie-José Mimoun, known as 'Marie-Jo'. She is not afraid to cross cultures and offers, as a starter, an entire Mont d'Or in which pieces of merguez are dipped (the sourcing is always impeccable at her place).
13, rue de Crussol, 75011 Paris — 01 47 00 28 67 — https://www.instagram.com/restaurantletagine/

Tatin pie — La Maison Tatin (Lamotte-Beuvron, Loir-et-Cher)

To eat the famous pie in the former hotel-restaurant of Caroline and Stéphanie Tatin, the famous sisters, carries a risk: that of seeing disappointment pop up. But that was not the case. Great moment: the piece of apple melts in a nanosecond. We also feel that the caramel has done its job, infiltrating the layers of the fruit. Almond cream below? No, there is not in the original recipe, but one can have the impression: probably this part of apples less exposed to caramel, with more chewing. And the dough crunches under the tooth: biscuit texture for this shortcrust pastry.
5, avenue de Vierzon, 41600 Lamotte-Beuvron — 02 54 88 00 03 — https://www.instagram.com/la.maison.tatin/?hl=fr

The celeriac cordon bleu — Suffren (Marseille)

On paper, this kind of dish is always a snack. And yet: thanks to the fingering of chef Adrian Tran, it becomes a little marvel, a dish both thin and naughty. No wonder that this new address in the second city of France has become one of the most acclaimed bistros locally.
44, rue Saint-Suffren, 13006 Marseille — 04 86 68 22 66 — https://www.instagram.com/suffren.marseille/?hl=fr

The hotel - restaurant Le Mas de Peint (Arles)

Impossible to mention a dish in particular: all the work of the Colombian chef Juan Ipuz impresses in his classic-creative register. Here, oyster mushrooms in tempura with truffle, accompanied by a velouté of mushrooms and a carbonara emulsion; there, a fillet of duck with cherry sauce, vitelotte mashed potatoes and a variety of cauliflower...
Route de Salin-de-Giraud, 13200 Arles — 04 90 97 20 62 — https://www.instagram.com/lemasdepeint_manadejacquesbon/?hl=fr

Le desserts buffet of La Maison Carrier (Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Haute-Savoie)

At a time when the economic and political context is more uncertain than ever, we need comfort. And this all-wood inn dressed (Relais & Châteaux, where the gastronomic table is also located — starred in the Michelin guide—by chef Damien Leveau) is a paradise that perpetuates the culture of the dessert buffet, all homemade obviously: from caramel cream to lemon meringue pie, passing through the floating island. Again!
Hameau Albert 1er, 44 route du Bouchet, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc — 04 50 53 00 03 — https://www.hameaualbert.fr/fr

The Tatin blood sausage with pear — Lissit (Paris)

The young chef Claire Grumellon (first crossed at Bichettes then Vaillant) has gold in her hands: eggs mayo with peppers, a toasted brioche with mussels, a clove stuffed with blond liver and coconut beans... and of course this sausage-pear duo, transformed into tarte tatin. Pure moment of emotion: we would have used it again for the dessert.
48, rue de la Folie-Méricourt, 75011 Paris — 01 80 87 22 68 — https://www.instagram.com/lissit__/

The fried chicken  — Buck (Paris)

Good wine, good beers, and a completely addictive fried chicken, to be ordered in wings or tenders version. All accompanied by homemade sauces (smoked chili or pepper mayonnaise, tomate barbecue, smoked mustard...) and a brioche to soak up: welcome to Buck, launched by young people who know it well, for having done their classes in beautiful modern establishments (Le Servan bistro, Neso gastronomic table).
25, rue de la Forge Royale, 75011 Paris — 01 43 31 35 77 — instagram.com/buckfriedchicken/

The peppered steak — Bolea (Paris)

In the charming rue du Printemps opened recently an exceptional traditional pocket bistro: Bolea (the owner, Vincent, is already at the origin of Alea, in another district). The chef Léa Lestage is notably preparing a butcher’s piece that is living its best life in her pepper sauce bath, with large, well-golden fries in the background.
30, rue du Printemps, 75017 Paris — 09 60 07 99 08 — https://www.instagram.com/bolearestaurant/?hl=fr

The kouign-amann — Maison Malécot (Saint-Malo)

It has already been written here: Giovanni Malécot is one of the most gifted pastry chefs in the Hexagon, trained in large houses in France, New York and Brussels. His kouign-amann is a monument : very buttery but not cloying, folded (and not rolled), extremely crispy on the outside and soft inside. A gentle madness.
4, avenue du Révérend Père Umbricht, 35400 Saint-Malo — 02 99 48 79 85 — https://www.instagram.com/maisonmalecotpatisserie/?hl=fr