Jolia, the pretty Middle Eastern table from Dalia's team

Published by Manon de Sortiraparis · Photos by Manon de Sortiraparis · Published on April 14th, 2023 at 12:18 p.m.
And that's two for the Dalia team, who unveil their new Middle Eastern restaurant: Jolia, just off Père Lachaise.

Did you like Dalia(as we did)? Wait until you discover Jolia, its big sister and Benjamin Cohen's new address, which has opened near Père Lachaise. His aim remains the same: to pass on theart of Mediterranean living to Parisians.

Day or night, Benjamin Cohen and his team have conceived Jolia as an "ode to the nightlife pleasures of the Middle East", paying homage to "its most festive years, at the heart of the disco era". The opulent decor was imagined by Jaune Architecture, with its play of mirrors and bronze velvets, distressed crockery and antique oriental objects, as well as a bar-counter tailor-made for the place. Jolia is certainly a beautiful restaurant, but is it also a good one?

Jolia - DécorationJolia - DécorationJolia - DécorationJolia - Décoration

On the culinary side, since this is also what gourmets are interested in, Dalia Group is taking advantage of Jolia's inauguration to introduce its new chef, Steve Zylbersztejn. Zylbersztejn offers a menu of mezzés cooked over coals, in the purest culinary tradition of Mediterranean countries, with fine meats and flame-burnt vegetables.

Having worked in the kitchens of Alain Senderens, Jérôme Banctel and Christian Le Squer, the Franco-Israeli chef, who was once Magniv's executive chef, has created a menu that is responsible, French and seasonal, with an anti-waste approach. And in keeping with Middle Eastern traditions, all Jolia's dishes are designed to be shared among guests!

Jolia - Malka breadJolia - Malka breadJolia - Malka breadJolia - Malka bread

Starting with the excellent malka bread (12€), a plump homemade brioche with olive oil, served with dukkah, tehina and zhoug butter; the roasted cauliflower hummus (8€) with tahini, sunflower seeds and parsley ; labne with burnt beet (7€) with black sesame and zaatar; and the generous sticks of fried halloumi (10€), our favorite, with a hint of honey and red pepper, to dip in an invigorating aji verde sauce.

Jolia - Panais confits et grillésJolia - Panais confits et grillésJolia - Panais confits et grillésJolia - Panais confits et grillés

The rest of the menu is distinguished by the generosity of its dishes for sharing, with vegetables taking pride of place, as with this celeriac skewer (12€), cilantro salad, red onion and spicy mayonnaise; these carrots à la braise and labné (12€), hay oil, orange zest and almonds; or these candied and grilled parsnips (9€), herb vinaigrette and candied garlic.

The signature dish of any Middle Eastern restaurant, the chicken shawarma (14€), a skewer of grilled chicken, is well made, married with coriander tehina, an assortment of pickles and flame-grilled laffa bread. However, we would have liked the dishes to have been even more pronounced, even spicier, like the starters, which really won us over. Still, the prices are affordable for the quantity on the plate.

Jolia - Shawarma pouletJolia - Shawarma pouletJolia - Shawarma pouletJolia - Shawarma poulet

For desserts, Jolia relies on the delicacy of Chen Zikry. Trained by Pierre Hermé and now head pastry chef at Balagan, the Israeli chef now signs Jolia and Dalia's sweet creations, like the chocolate-olive oil ganache with Kalamata olive crumble (10€) and the clementine & kadaif with crispy angel hair (10€).

To accompany these dishes of oriental and Levantine sharing, Jolia, which intends to become a festive place in the neighborhood, has called on chef mixologist Louise Ghintran, who has signed a pretty selection of cocktails. But natural wines are also part of the festivities, to be sipped to the sound of oriental disco. And on weekends, there's no need to rest, with an oriental brunch featuring mezzés, homemade breads and typical Sunday dishes such as sabich à l'assiette or egg brick!

This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please mention it in the comments.

Practical information

Location

123 Rue du Chemin Vert
75011 Paris 11

Prices
Mezzés, à partir de: €7
Desserts, à partir de: €8
Assiettes, à partir de: €9
Cocktails, à partir de: €12
Brunch, à partir de : €33

Official website
www.jolia-paris.com

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