British gastronomy** seems to be shrugging off the Brexit and has been taking the Parisian culinary scene by storm over the last few months. We take a look at this success story, which would have the Valois family turning over in their graves.
For some time now, these typically English biscuits have been invading the windows of the capital's coffee shops. Céline Lecoeur, café Singuliers, Broken Biscuits... you can even find a savoury version in some bakeries, such as chez Miettes.
Whether it's just a passing fad or a real taste sensation, they are nonetheless evidence of a renewed interest in the specialities of our neighbours across the Channel. Flour, sugar, butter, milk and flour, the recipe for scones is quick and easy to make using the ingredients in your cupboard. They are served with jam and clotted cream, replaced in France by butter or raw cream. As they make their way into coffee-shop windows, scones have become glamorous and worthy of interest.
Once thought of as the overly dry cakes enjoyed by our less gourmet British neighbours, they are now being snapped up at a premium price - often around €4 a piece - to accompany hot and cold drinks.
While the scone craze has been going on in Paris for the last year or two, the appeal of British cuisine - particularly savoury - seems to be even more recent. At the start of 2024, we've been following the opening of a number of addresses that have caused a stir in the press and among the capital's great gourmets. Here's a selection.
© Public House - Jérôme Galland
There's no doubt about it, when you walk through the doors of Public House on the boulevard de l'Olympia, the interior design by Laura Gonzalez makes you forget you're in an English pub.
It's there, just like the menu, to take us out of the imaginary British dining tavern. The aesthetic sausage roll is served on a plate that's too big for it, with a touch of date ketchup. It's well done, very well done indeed, and the same goes for the pies, the chef's speciality: Calum Franklin, the pie king**, as he is known. Public House is more of a chic French brasserie with a British twist, rather than the other way round.
At the other end of the scale, Blossoms Arms is a pub. Short menu, with all the great classics: fish'n'chips, grilled cheese - a cousin of the croque-Monsieur - and drinking beer. After Blossom Burgers, his first restaurant where the burger is king, Alexandre Chapier is back in the 17th arrondissement. Fish n' chips isn't just at the centre of the plate and the menu, it's the main reason for the opening of this second location. Having tasted dozens of them in London, this huge fan of British culture wanted to offer a real good fish'n'chips in Paris. The plate is gargantuan, with a light, finely breaded fish accompanied by half a tonne of home fries, not forgetting the tartar sauce, which you can recommend as much as you like.
Why have these new and very different restaurants become so successful in such a short space of time?
When you ask Alexandre Chapier, he has no other explanation than ‘the alignment of the planets’. British cuisine has always existed in Paris, the only real novelty is its recent and powerful media coverage. We must surely ‘thank Chef Calum’ for this new spotlight, adds Chapier. Some have taken advantage of this new attraction, such as the restaurant l'Entente, opened by Oliver Woodhead in 2018.
Another temple of scoth eggs, sheperd pie and fish cake, this self-proclaimed british brasserie located in the 2nd arrondissement is halfway between the chic bistro of the king of cakes and the English pub of the king of burgers.
But we hope that, once the fad has died down, British cuisine will have won over the Parisian public.
