L'Officine Paris

In the 11th arrondissement, this bistro-restaurant is housed in a former pharmacy whose blue façade you cannot miss! On the food side, you will find traditional French dishes that are both tasty and hearty! With friends or family, let yourself be tempted by a delicious cod fillet in chorizo scales or a basil butter entrecôte.

A stone's throw from République, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, a former pharmacy has served as a restaurant and wine bistro for several years, still charming with its delicious cuisine and fine wines. Every day of the week, lovers of traditional French cooking, with a few specialties from the south and Corsica, can treat themselves at a good price. Booking recommended. La Pharmacie welcomes you in a typical bistro setting, while the façade has remained that of the pharmacy, in an azure blue you cannot miss. On the plate: beautifully presented, generously served and deliciously prepared! Starters range from €7.50 to €14, mains from €19 to €22 and desserts at €8. You can enjoy a weekday lunch formula at €12.90 with main and starter or dessert. Menu suggestions: Thai coconut chicken soup or rocket salad, artichoke and scallops for starters; cod fillet in chorizo scales with virgin oil and piperade, or basil butter entrecôte with sautéed potatoes and salad for mains. For dessert, proper sweetness with Breton shortbread, rose cream, strawberries and lychee, or salted butter caramel fondant with crème anglaise! Expect around €35 à la carte… Cheese or charcuterie plates are also available to accompany the owner's fine wine selection!

Depending on the season, La Pharmacie's menu may feature foie gras and toast, Paris mushroom fricassee, cider-braised endives, sea bass with aniseed beurre blanc, Asian-style clams with jasmine rice, or lamb shank braised with honey and orange. For dessert: chocolate fondant with crème anglaise, coffee emulsion, or Armagnac savarin with prune mousse. Expect roughly €24 to €42 à la carte. A fine wine list. Service daily from 12 noon to 3 p.m. and from 7:30 p.m. until 11 p.m. Small private room. Booking recommended.

Attractive and charming, this former pharmacy whose beautiful turquoise façade with panels and mouldings has been preserved. A pretext for very simple bistro cooking — salad and sirloin, squid with red curry sauce or bellota pluma with chimichurri — on a slate board offer complemented by a €20 full lunch set, in a carefully kept bistro setting.

On Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, many venues reviving the neighbourhood with cheerful bustle have chosen, out of love for old Paris, to keep the original shop signs of their premises and develop a wholly different activity there. L'Alimentation Générale became a bar-café-concert venue, La Maison des Métallos a cultural centre and bar, and the pharmacy that interests us today a lovely restaurant with an ornate turquoise façade whose period woodwork recalls the old apothecaries' offices. The 1900 charm, updated with modern touches, of this wine bar between République and Oberkampf will seduce lovers of good food and wines straight from the vineyards. Warm and intimate, La Pharmacie welcomes large tables and couples with equal happiness. Chef Christophe Duparay's traditional cuisine, executed with grace and simplicity, showcases fine market produce and therefore seasonal ingredients. Plates that speak plainly to the day's taste, southern notes, precise touch, know-how without showmanship — dishes unfold in savoury authenticity. To accompany our dinner, the beautiful garnet-red robe of a 2012 Sartène Corsican wine from Domaine San Micheli, Polidori de Rocca-Serra family. Floral notes of peony and cherry give this wine interesting expressiveness while Corsican grape varieties show character, blending myrtle and lentisk aromas, silky elegant tannins. I was first tempted by a playful cucumber, goat's cheese and mint smoothie (€7.50), very fresh, the cheese adding just enough gourmet roundness to make all the difference. My partner chose eggplant caviar, feta and Kalamata olives (€8.50), precise and unpretentious. Hesitating long between fine meats and seafood — including Provençal squid our neighbours were enjoying with enthusiasm — we went for our carnivorous appetites. On my side, saddle of lamb with olives and jus, crunchy ratatouille (€19), briskly executed, tender delicate meat lifted by an expressive jus and ratatouille with subtle aromas of barely sautéed vegetables. Very, very good. Beef fillet with béarnaise sauce, sautéed potatoes, salad (€23) plays the inspired efficiency of its grand classic score. Plates are beautifully presented, impeccably served. And should appetite falter after such a feast, I sacrificed myself for dessert with a fine salted butter caramel fondant with crème anglaise (€9), uniting two of my gourmet passions. Light, soft, flowing as desired — no more needed! I love it! I adore it! Beyond this welcoming table, on Thursdays La Pharmacie offers Pharm' Apéros from 6 to 8 p.m. with wine tasting accompanied by charcuterie and cheese boards. I am won over. If I add that the young dynamic team is most friendly, I believe we have one of my new favourite addresses. Dear friends, run there! La Pharmacie, 22 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud — Paris 11. Tel: 01 55 28 75 98. Hours: Monday to Sunday, 12 noon to 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. www.restaurant-lapharmacie.fr Facebook page