In Paris, spring is shining brighter than ever with the inauguration of a new Greek restaurant a stone's throw from Montorgueil: Ypseli. It's not just a restaurant, it's also a bar, which itself hides a grocery store and a delicatessen where you can pick up sandwiches. All in one place.
Just pull back the thick curtains to go from the restaurant to the grocery store and caterer, and back again. Unlike the vast majority of Greek restaurants in Paris, which rely on a folkloric blue-and-white decor, Ypseli opts for the rough and ready design of Greek gastrotavernas, with its 5-metre high ceilings and slate dome with Art Nouveau clock, all in a building listed as a Monument Historique.
The team explains: "Like bistronomy in France and neo-trattorias in Italy, Greece has also brought its culinary traditions into the modern age with the gastrotavernas movement, which has been very dynamic in Athens for some years now. The idea? A new generation of chefs working hand-in-hand with local producers and winemakers, to renew the inspirations of the classic repertoire with fine produce."
The founding team consists of Syméon Kamsizoglou, who has worked in the kitchens of Frédéric Anton, Joël Robuchon and Jean-François Piège, chef Fragiskos Dandoulakis and Delphine Pique.
Together, they have imagined a Greek cuisine that is both familiar and contemporary, made from products sourced directly without intermediaries and recipes cooked in the "purest Greek tradition", as the menu states, "the fruit of endless dialogue between two friends, Fragiskos Dandoulakis and Symeon Kamsizoglou".
An odyssey through Greek terroir awaits gourmets on site, for lunch and dinner. At lunchtime, expect to pay €24 for a mezze (to choose from the grocery store's selection) and main course or main course and dessert, €28 for a full meal and €19 for the dish of the day. In the evening, the atmosphere is one of conviviality, with plates for sharing, both small and large mezzés.
On the table when we visited this fine restaurant : 24-hour marinated peppers, Volos anchovies and Syros capers (9€), charcoal-grilled 'melitzanosalata' eggplant caviar (9€), 'kolokythokeftedes ' zucchini frittersfor dipping in homemade tzatziki (12€), like everything else.
On the seafood side, there's octopus grilled with charcoal, olive oil and oregano (19€), Savoro mackerel in a vinegary, slightly spicy yet mild Corfu sauce (14€), or grilled squid and Sifnos 'revithada' chickpeas simmered for 7 hours in the oven (26€). All very fine, delicate, well-traveled and generous.
It's a real plunge into Hellenistic and hedonistic culture, right down to the speakers (which play local music), the glasses of wine that travel the Cyclades, and the choice of staff, both in the dining room and in the kitchen, most of whom are of Greek origin!
This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.
