Halo, top chef Victor Blanchet's excellent restaurant hidden behind a concept store

Chef Victor Blanchet takes over Halo, a multi-faceted space that's part concept store, part bistro restaurant, part hidden cocktail bar, part private dining room. A unique address well worth the detour!

Shrouded in mystery, the debut of Halo ranks among the year's most exciting openings. It unfolds in the Sentier, revealing a venue with many faces: at once a concept store, a bistronomic restaurant, a hidden cocktail bar, and a privatizable private dining. All of it is housed within the Hôtel d'Osmont, a late-18th-century townhouse that was once a house of pleasure run by Marguerite Stock, known as La Gourdan, and which features a stunning glass roof dating from the Eiffel era, standing five meters tall.

On the left, the concept store, discreetly designed by the agency mur.mur, gives carte blanche for two months to small fashion and design creators who haven’t yet earned the international renown they deserve but who all share one thing in common: they imagine a responsible, circular, modern, and minimalist fashion.

From the street, the restaurant hides behind a heavy wooden door, tucked away behind the changing rooms. Bathed in daylight, the dining room welcomes, behind its stoves, the young chef Victor Blanchet, 24 years old, who shot to public attention during the 2023 edition of Top Chef.

Having cut his teeth at the starred restaurant Ne/so by Guillaume Sánchez, then at L'Arpège, Alain Passard’s three-Michelin-starred temple where he moved from rotisserie line cook to sous-chef after leaving Top Chef, he now leads his first own restaurant, where he signs a sea-salted, lake-fresh and plant-based cuisine with Basque and Mediterranean influences, in a nod to the origins of the two founders of Halo, Victor Goyeneix and Matthieu Nicolaï.

And what a string of beautiful bistronomic creations for a first season! On the evening menu, txistorra ravioli (16€), fresh curd cheese with Espelette pepper and a meat jus to die for (Victor Blanchet’s already signature dish); a mullet carpaccio (17€), sheep’s cheese and kaki; a lamb saddle cooked sous‑vide and finished on the barbecue (35€) with a mussel jus; a grilled octopus on the barbecue with a green pesto glaze (27€); or a matured and seared red mullet (30€) in the style of bouillabaisse, served in two courses.

It's bright and delicious, bold and delicate, simply excellent. And the same goes for the desserts, such as this almond-hazelnut crunch with amaretto liqueur whipped cream (12€) but especially this lifelike lemon (12€), a trompe-l'œil creation that the chef will evolve with the seasons.

For lunch, the two-course options run 29€ (starter + main or main + dessert) and 34€ for the full three-course set, with choices that rotate weekly. But you can also order from the dinner menu, even at lunch—just as we did! A quick detour to the wine list is a must as well, thoughtfully curated by the sommelière Irène Jaubert, who was crowned Best Apprentice in French Sommelier of 2019 after stints at the 2-star David Toutain and 110 Taillevent.

For any other beverage, head to the basement and its 4-meter-high ceiling where the cocktail bar awaits! Here you’ll sip creative cocktails such as the Bomber cocktail (white vermouth, tio pepe, rosemary, fig leaf kombucha and blueberry; 13€) or the Bowtie cocktail (rinquinquin, oolong and jasmine tea, fennel and parsley cordial, Campari; 13€), all sharing the common trait of being low ABV, with a lighter alcohol content than classic cocktails.

It's in the basement that you understand where Halo gets its name. A piece by Studio Mandalaki, named Halo Giga which, indeed, lights up the lower level with its warm, vivid colors. The same goes for the chef's table of 30m2, offered for private hire only, from Thursday to Saturday evenings.

At least 15 guests can gather here for a dinner around a large communal table, with a 3-course (50€) or 5-course (75€) gastronomic menu and a dedicated server. A private, relaxed ambiance is guaranteed.

A one-of-a-kind place in its own right that’s likely to generate buzz in the coming months!