People ask me all the time, what’s my favorite restaurant in Paris? It’s always hard to single out one restaurant, so I give a list of my favorites at the moment, as it will change frequently.
As of today, Boubalé Restaurant is on the top of my list.
Award winning chef Assaf Granit, born and raised in Jerusalem, has built a culinary empire with 13 restaurants in Europe and Israel, television appearances, lectures, workshops, and cookbooks. Granit’s grandmother plays an integral part of his cooking, also influenced bythe cuisine of Jerusalem. In 2017, he opened his first restaurant in Paris, Balagan, which was a runaway hit and a celebrity magnet, with reservations almost impossible to come by. It introduced Granit’s eclectic blend of Israeliand Mediterranean food to Paris, and it spawned a new wave of restaurants serving Israeli style cooking.
Granit’s newest restaurant, Boubalé, (which means sweetheart or darling in Yiddish) is a love letter to his
Polish grandmother and her Jewish Ashkenazi cooking. He takes her inspired dishes and updates them into Ashkenazi, nouvelle cuisine, making the dishes lighter and more appealing.
We had a special tasting menu, which is not listed on the menu, and must be requested beforehand. The wait person plopped down a gorgeous, shiny, round shaped challah bread dotted with poppy seeds, and we devoured it in a nanosecond. Next up, a fancy, glass tray, with lace doilies and an ornate gold crafted frame was set on the table. On the tray was a tasting of some of the signature dishes, including a lighter than usual chopped liver, beet cubes with feta, a sublime, house cured, gravlax with arak and dill, a delicately seasoned, pickled herring, and a giant, authentic tasting, sour pickle. A refreshing salad of coriander, parsley, green grapes, almonds, and horseradish cleared our palates for the upcoming dishes.
Vincent had risotto made with Israeli couscous, spinach, leeks, and parmesan, and I had the sensational, potato perogies with cottage cheese and caramelized onions, which were light and fluffy.
Stuffed to the gills, but still craving something sweet, we practically inhaled the New York style cheesecake, one ofthe best I’ve ever had in Paris, and a warm, apple strudel with vanilla ice cream.
The interior also reflects the chef’s tribute to his grandmother with warm lighting, sage green wood chairs with burnt orange cushions, vintage style, and printed fabric walls. Another vintage touch was the white China plates decorated with red and blue flowers.
There’s also a wonderful, cozy bar next to the restaurant, which I will visit soon.
Boubalé also serves lunch with an a la carte menu and pre-fixe menu for 39€ for two courses & 47€ for three courses.
17 rue Verrerie, 75004 https://www.legrandmazarin.com/restaurant-bars
