Vegetarian cuisine is more popular than ever in Paris, and Sezono is one of those addresses that delights vegetarians, the curious and gourmands of all kinds with entirely vegetable recipes.
It was between two confinements that Ai Loan Dupuis and her partner, Hakim El Bour, decided to open an establishment that links their two passions: cooking, of course, but also ecology, and indeed new ways of cooking in a committed and responsible way, while respecting the environment.
Trained at theÉcole Ferrandi, the French-Vietnamese-born chef imagines, at Sezono, a cuisine that is plant-based, creative and above all affordable, made with organic, seasonal and local produce, sourced directly from small producers in the Ile-de-France region. Throughout the day, the restaurant - which means season in Esperanto - offers three tempting formulas.
At lunchtime, you can choose from the weekly-changing menu, or opt for the €14 lunch menu, which includes a starter, main course and dessert. Choose from soups, gazpacho, cakes, tarts, salads and hot dishes, which we'll tell you more about in a moment. In the evening, you can opt for plates to share, ranging from 6€ to 13€.
Another gourmet highlight of the week is the balanced weekend brunch, which includes unlimited hot and cold homemade drinks, a mini kebab, panisses, French fries, vegetable acras, crudités, seasonal soup, cake, compote and homemade granola, all for €27.
And if you want to fill up on the good stuff, Sezono has its own little stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables, pulses and cereals, as well as groceries to take home with you!
For our part, we took advantage of the magnificent Parisian sunshine to discover Sezono on its pretty wooden terrace, at lunchtime. During our visit, exceptionally, there was no lunchtime menu, but the evening dishes were available a few hours in advance.
Take a leisurely look at the menu while sipping a cold-extracted, vitamin-packed juice made from seasonal fruits and vegetables, the restaurant's little extra. Alternatively, you can opt for a natural French wine, a craft beer from the Ile-de-France region or a house cocktail or mocktail .
We start our feast with the " frites mixtes" (9€), a crunchy mix of panisse and halloumi f ries from the Laiterie de Paris, our personal favorite, to dip in a homemade aioli, and the very light " pâté en croûte de la Maison" (9€) with green asparagus, cauliflower, wild garlic pesto and thyme jelly. All year round, Sezono offers a pate en croûte made with seasonal produce.
It's also impossible to resist awhole artichoke with a heart filled with raw herb cream. Another original feature is the champillettes (7€), vegetarian rillettes with oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms and button mushrooms from a mushroom farm in a parking lot in the capital's 18th arrondissement - yes, yes!
Let's get cooking! Following the chef's advice, we treat ourselves to the vegetarian kebab (€12), Sezono's flagship dish. Inside, the meat is shredded oyster mushrooms with roasted spices - the dupe works perfectly! -a white yogurt sauce, pickles for acidity, crudités for freshness, and panisse fries as a side dish. It's the kind of dish that will win over even the last vegetarians.
We also fall for the green asparagus (14€) topped with a wild garlic sauce - it's the season, and we like it - before allowing ourselves a little dessert, even though we don't have many dishes left as everything was so generously served. The result was a rhubarb-apple tartlet (6€) with sumac chantilly and almond caramel. A delicate note to end this delicious vegetarian lunch !
This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.
