Paris Wine Bars : Au Passage

Florent Ciccoli & Jean-Charles Buffet Passage Saint-Sébastien, Paris 11th arrondissement
It's about a new place in Paris for good wine and healthy food to go with. I had heard about the venue some time ago and wanted to go there and see if there was more than hype, and the experience was great. The decor is simple but warmful, with this thick wood floor and the big leather armchairs that make you feel at home. The crowd is very Parisian, even bobo on the side, and many patrons probably either work near here or live nearby. While very close from Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, a major thoroughfare between Bastille & République, it's situated on a quiet bland street (a passage actually, a term for very narrow street) which makes the surroundings very quiet and less polluted. The boulevard going from Bastille to République is Paris as you know it, active and busy, and here it's already another neighboorhood by itself, no shop in this street if I remember, just appartment buildings, all occupied if I judge from the lights in the evening. I guess that the people who opened this place knew that if you cook and pour the right way, it's not that important to be remote or located on a back street compared to a major thoroughfare, people will know and come anyway.

The room and counter What I like in this place is the laidback style of the seats and of the wall decoration, it's at the same time sober and warmful like an old institution, the unsuspecting visitor could imagine it's been around for a while. The ceiling, column and a partial room seperation is well thought, probably the result of some redesigning of the bar/restaurant. The bar counter has this slight tilting on the right that adds a touch of real old place having gone through much of the 20th century.
This place is as much a wine bar as a restaurant, which means that you can drop for a glass or two, or even choose from the bottle list, some of the bottles being quite affordable. There are about 4 reds by the glass beginning at 4 €, the last time I chose a Sancerre Pinoz by Dauny at 6 €. Pours make 14 centiliters here. There are 4 whites, starting at 4 €, among which a Chidaine (4 €). There's also a rosé (a Sancerre at 4,5 €) and a Champagne (B.'s choice) by Dominique Jarry at 7 €. This list changes of course regularly. There's also an unpublicized wine under the counter (a bag-in-box), a dark red wine from the Minervois (Languedoc) named Cuvée Populaire and priced 2,5 € a glass. All the wines here are chosen with care and these are all real wines from what I browsed on the bottle menu. The lounge side of Au Passage The bottle wine-list is quite good for a restaurant of this size, with 20 wines listed for example in the white-wine page, with prices starting at 18 € for a Corbières 2010 Vin de Pays G20 L'Etoile du Matin, and 22 € for a Saint Chinian 2010 Antonyme by Canet Valette. There are other regions beyond Languedoc, with Bandol Chateau Sainte Anne 2008 and 2000 (respectively 50 € and 71 €), a Brouilly and a Morgon (both 2009) by Georges Descombes (respectively 35 € and 37 €), a Chiroubles Vieilles Vignes 2010 by Damien Coquelet (37 €), who is as you may know the son of Descombes' wife and a very talented winemaker of the Beaujolais (had a good teacher of course). I spotted also a Gevrey-Chambertin 2007 Billard by Jerome Galeyrand (68 €) and a Côtes du Rhone La Griffe by Domaine de Villeneuve at 39 € and Le Verre des Poêtes, Vin de Table 2010 by Emile Heredia, a great Loire Pineau d'Aunis at 29 €, among others. This should suffice to make you salivate and decide to share a bottle.
The white wine list is equally interesting but I didn't take any note about it, so you'll have to trust me on this.
The last time B. and I dropped there, we chose respectively a glass of Dominique Jarry Chanpagne (B.) and a Sancerre 2010 Pinoz Vignobles Dauny (me), a 12-hectare Sancerre estate I didn't know until then. Loved this Pinot Noir, very translucid wine, smooth and fruity and going down very (too) easily.
The room is as you see very inviting, that's not a place where you feel shy, just sit down and have a good time with your friends.
On that occasion, we went to the Passage at 7pm a friday, and we were the only ones at that time, which was more convenient to exchange a few words with the staff. The Australian chef James Henry, his aides and co-manger Jean-Charles Buffet soon began to dine on a table so as to be ready for the evening service (which begins at 8 pm for the food part). The buzzing room From what I understood, Florent Ciccoli is the wine guy in the bar/restaurant, he'll uncork the bottles in front of you and will give you the infos about the way these wines are thought and made. Most wines are made from organic grapes, and I'm confident that theye aren't rushed neither corrected in the cellar. It's heartening to see that so many new venues are opening in Paris centered around this types of wines, and hype doesn't explain everything, these wines are loved by a rapidly-increasing number of consumers : why spend the same or more for boring wines ? It's in the interest of restaurateurs also to serve wines that go down easily for an equivalent price, you'll just sell more wines.
Regarding the food, there's no fixed menu here. For lunch you have the choice between a couple of entrees and a couple of dishes, made along the fresh products that the Australian cook James Henry brings back twice a week (wesnesday & saturday) from the street market of Avenue du President Wilson, particularly from the vegetable expert Joël Thiébault. You'll eat for between 10 € and 16 € at lunch.
For dinner, you have the choice between some 20 plates, that you can order at will along with you wine, like tapas. These dishes cost from 6 € to 8 € on average, which makes Au Passage a very affordable place for wine with sommething to eat. There are various sea food plates, including oysters and fish carpaccio, with often vegetables on the side. Sea food and fish seem to have the front seat here (most are line-caught, here), I felt (see this picture of James Henry holding a big fish) There's meat plates too, plus one big dish that you can share with your party : a whole lamb shoulder, the only "expensive" dish on the blackboard the last time we dropped, at 40 €. You also have some selected cheese, like the Saint Nectaire on the left (6 € for a plate), and a couple of desserts at 5 €.
Jean-Charles Buffet sets the new plates menu every day (pic on right) and writes them patiently on the the blackboard. You can check virtually all the past menus on their Facebook page by clicking on the countless pictures of the blackboard to enlarge it (you'll see the prices too). Art on the walls This may change from time to time but here above is some of the Art being displayed on the walls. they're discreet enough so that they melt into the casual atmosphere or help digress in philosophical reflection when you're high on wines and pensive. Many of the people who come here to eat and drink seem to be artists of some sort, and I I read that there are many sudios in the vicinity. Like in other parts of the 11th and 20th arrondissements, artisans' workshops were gradually turned into studios and lofts, bringing an artistic (and bobo) imprint on the neighborhood.
On the outside on the street wall (a place where you'll go often if you smoke), there are a couple od unmistakable sketches by Misstic, one (on left) being the one I had seen in a special issue of Charlie Hebdo named Marcel Hebdo. The last pic of this post shows this sketch which was part of this paper printed for Marcel Lapierre's 60th birthday in early 2010. The sentence is just a bit different. Marcel Lapierre passed away a year ago on october 11.
As a reminder, another recent special issue of Charlie Hebdo, named Charia Hebdo (or Sharia Weekly) caused some stir around here a few days ago, and the offices of Charlie Hebdo were burnt down subsequently. The special issue of the satirical magazine had Mahomet as guest editor, which is a risky try nowadays, considering the record of islamic enforcers throughout Europe against free speech.
The counter Don't be afraid, the bar counter isn't usually covered with all these carafes and bottles, and you shouldn't have trouble finding your comfortable spot and vantage point if you prefer to sit there for a glass or two. That's because we were sitting there that I could spot the bag-in-box of Languedoc wine on the other side. It's a special blend made by one of their vignerons-friends. They sell it at 2,5 € a glass. It's a dark Languedoc wine with substance and an interesting wine. Here is a 6-minute video interview with Chef James Henry, who is originally from Australia and worked here after spending a few months at Spring, another new Paris restaurant with the American Chef Daniel Rose. From what I saw, there are 3 people working in the kitchen, including James Henry. James learnt about Au Passage through Audrey, a young woman who had been landing at Spring after working for the wine shop/online-retailer La Contre-Etiquette. James Henry loves this concept of cooking from fresh products bought on the market, and the freedom it offers for creation. He uses also ingredients bought from Terroirs D'Avenir, a company where two guys source artisan foods and vegetables from the backcountry of the French provinces and resell them to chefs and demanding consumers in Paris.
In short, this is a good, affordable place for wine and lunch/dinner, at a walking distance from Bastille and République.
The day I shot this video, I visited the venue with Marise, who also wrote a post on her own site Vin et Chere.
Read also Aaron's visit report about Au Passage (in English). Aaron is an American expat who was previously a sommelier in Los Angeles. Au Passage from the outside

Au Passage 1 bis passage Saint Sébastien 75011 Paris Metro Saint Sébastien Froissard (line 8) phone 01 43 55 07 52 Open monday to friday for lunch/dinner and inbetween -- Saturday : lunch only Facebook/Au Passage


Corner of rues Oberkampf & Amelot (nearby)

Comments

[Kelli]

Hecvuka good job. I sure appreciate it.

[Marise Sargis]

Very interesting article and photographies, it's exactly like that ! and thanks for your mention about Vin&Chère Bertrand... Marise