Paris Wine Bars : Le Verre Volé
right near the canal Saint Martin , a very scenic promenade in Paris , that I am not sure tourists always know . Nearest subway station is Jacques Bonsergent , near the Gare de L'Est . When you enter the street coming from the canal , the wine restaurant/bar is the first door on the right . This is more a wine restaurant where you can also have wine by the glass between 7 pm and 8 pm with a charcuterie plate . Later , they prefer to serve people who eat a meal , due to lack of space . When you order wine by the glass , you have to take something to eat with it , for license reasons . But as the entrees , or "amuse-bouches" charcuteries plates are composed with excellent products, you will have no regrets . If you want to have dinner there, it is better to reserve, as the place has only a few tables. Sometimes if you come early, like between 7 pm and 8 pm, they may let you have your dinner without reservation as the tables are often reserved from 10 pm (many people like to dine late). You should still be able at least to have a glass at the counter while waiting for a table to be available. 
Le verre Vole is also a wine shop. While we had our wines, several people came in to choose a bottle among the ones on the shelves . This is what this woman (on the picture above left) is doing . The place has a good selection of young winemakers, artisan and organic wines. Cyril Bordarier, the owner, told us there was about 300 different wines here. He manages also another wine shop (without restaurant extension) located a few hundreds meters away. The wines-by-the-glass selection is composed of 4 whites and 4 reds. 
B. took a Macon Villages white Domaine Valette 2002, at 3 Euro . Nice nose , fresh and well balanced wine . I chose a Cotes du Rhone red , Domaine de la Roche Bussiere 2002 ( in Faucon ) . A small millesime without sulphur made mostly of Grenache . The plates list you have to choose from, are either entrées (amuse-bouches), with 11 different charcuterie plates beginning at 4,5 Euro , or the dishes , 6 of them , at 10 Euro . The food is not cooked here, but supplied by quality restaurants and traiteurs, like Cyril Bordarier's friend Rodolphe Paquin of "Le Repaire de Cartouche" . The charcuterie we took [ picture on left ] was a "terrine de campagne" , at 4,5 Euro . Very good indeed . The bread to eat this terrine with was also excellent and very fresh . I saw they also have "foie gras de canard" , at 8,5 Euro a plate . Of course , outside the 8 wines by the glass , you can prefer a bottle among those on the shelves . It will cost you a "droit de bouchon" of 5 Euro added on the bottle price to drink it here . Good option . This is very reasonable as you know restaurateurs often double or triple the retail price of wine bottles . The interior decoration is simple and without fuss . Nice simple wooden chairs and bistrot tables . Good music selection adds to the charm of the place . You can also eat there for lunch . They have no terrace as the street sidewalks are very narrow .
Scroll along the canal Saint Martin with this satellite picture : Le Verre Volé is right under you !
This footbridge over the canal is 10 meters from the place... Le Verre Volé 67 rue de Lancry 75010 Paris Phone : 01 48 03 17 34 Metro : Jacques Bonsergent (line 5) Open tuesday-saturday 10am to midnight/2am leverrevole.fr
B. took a Macon Villages white Domaine Valette 2002, at 3 Euro . Nice nose , fresh and well balanced wine . I chose a Cotes du Rhone red , Domaine de la Roche Bussiere 2002 ( in Faucon ) . A small millesime without sulphur made mostly of Grenache . The plates list you have to choose from, are either entrées (amuse-bouches), with 11 different charcuterie plates beginning at 4,5 Euro , or the dishes , 6 of them , at 10 Euro . The food is not cooked here, but supplied by quality restaurants and traiteurs, like Cyril Bordarier's friend Rodolphe Paquin of "Le Repaire de Cartouche" . The charcuterie we took [ picture on left ] was a "terrine de campagne" , at 4,5 Euro . Very good indeed . The bread to eat this terrine with was also excellent and very fresh . I saw they also have "foie gras de canard" , at 8,5 Euro a plate . Of course , outside the 8 wines by the glass , you can prefer a bottle among those on the shelves . It will cost you a "droit de bouchon" of 5 Euro added on the bottle price to drink it here . Good option . This is very reasonable as you know restaurateurs often double or triple the retail price of wine bottles . The interior decoration is simple and without fuss . Nice simple wooden chairs and bistrot tables . Good music selection adds to the charm of the place . You can also eat there for lunch . They have no terrace as the street sidewalks are very narrow .Scroll along the canal Saint Martin with this satellite picture : Le Verre Volé is right under you !
Oh, You are killing me again! I mean I'm so happy to see that bar again. I've had a lunch in the shop when I visited in France 2 years ago. A person took us there. We had oyster and a white wine which Marc Pesnot made. and We had some dishes and wines I don't know the name. I bought a half bottle of sherry for a souvenir of myself as well. I've got a nice impression of that bar. Atmosphere was cozy. We hadn't enough time to wolk around Paris at that time though, At least, We've enjoyed a lunch. Oh, I wanna go to France once more!
Posted by: hikalu | November 08, 2004 at 08:57 AM
thank you for representing le verre vole on the internet since they do not have a website themselves. but maybe that is part of what makes the place so neat, the fact that it's a Paris secret and is not suited for the masses. I had talked to cyril about working in this restaurant this past summer but in the end it turns out that he found someone who could stay for longer than three months. but i still absolutely adore this place and one of the most romantic evenings of my life involved wine, gelato, coffee and a rose at this jem of a restaurant on the canal! and you know pierre breton; i've met him as well, but i know Catherine much better than I know him. Oh, it's so wonderful that you know some of these same people that made my summer amazing!
Posted by: Katherine Wells | October 14, 2005 at 08:27 PM
We made a stop here for dinner on the recommendation of Jon-David Headrick (An American importer in Paris). It's an interesting place - very small, but given over entirely to wine. Two walls are lined with wines available for sale and my impression was that the back half of the space was a temperature controlled wine storage room. The "kitchen" is a couple of toaster ovens in which food is re-heated. Our food was a bit dried-out, but still good and well-priced.
Wine is the centerpiece here. We had a Minervois from Jean-Baptiste Sénat which was quite good. This was actually recommended by Cyril Bordarier over a slightly more expensive Corbières I had seleced. He was right. The wine was great, a good match for the food we had ordered and at perfect serving temperature.
I also noticed that he opens a bottle wine with a corkscrew faster than anyone I have ever seen.
We visited in June and it was quite hot in the shop. The canal near the shop is a gathering place for young people in the evening. A nice alternative to eating in the shop would have been to take our wine and some food to a spot on the edge of the canal for a picnic.
Posted by: Jim Kargeannes | August 06, 2006 at 04:33 PM
Today I found a bottle of Blanc de Noir 1986 I guess this is no longer any good and should throw it away?
Posted by: Mary Lapides | December 02, 2007 at 05:23 PM