The excellent Italian restaurant Daroco and its equally excellent cocktail bar Danico

It's been almost 10 years since Daroco set up store in theformer Jean-Paul Gaultier boutique along the Galerie Vivienne. An Italian restaurant in a former haute-couture boutique, and suddenly Art has changed its trade. Behind the address are two friends, chef Alexandre Giesbert and maître de la salle Julien Ross, driven by a shared desire to open a modern trattoria in the heart of the City of Light.

More Italian-American than purely transalpine, the restaurant boasts a breathtaking décor, the work ofarchitect Olivier Delannoy, who played with volumes: seven meters high under a mirrored ceiling that reflects the inverted bacchanalia taking place on the terrazzo floor, a suspended mezzanine for a little privacy and climbing plants in the form of small touches of greenery, the table is chic and shocking.

On the menu, everything is homemade, from fresh pasta and pizzas to bread and ice cream, using choice products sourced in France and on the other side of the Alps. A happy marriage. The great classics of the genre (genuine vitello tonnato as in Piedmont; 19€) rub shoulders with street food (plate offried squid; 14€), timeless pizzas (the Tre Porcellini pizza with mortadella, pistachio, smoked ricotta and mushroom cream; 18€) rub shoulders with more original counterparts (the Fuoco Lento pizza with 'nduja, straciatella, candied garlic and lemon zest; 19€).

The dishes are generously served (enough to keep us from trying the tiramisu we're told is diabolical), but we're happy to wash them down with a glass of transalpine wine or a hearty cocktail. And that's all it takes to bring us to the next stop: Danico.

Before or after dinner, there's nothing like a visit to Danico, the onsite cocktail bar that resonates with the restaurant's identity while developing its own personality. It's the perfect place to work up an appetite or wind down the evening in the company of Corentin Gaudin and his team of attentive bartenders.

Conceived in 2016 by internationally renowned mixologist Nico de Soto, Danico has all the hallmarks of a New York speakeasy. To get there, you have to cross the threshold of Daroco and then go to the back of the restaurant to discover this carefully decorated showcase, with the idea of a Big Apple palace bar.

With its velvet armchairs, black-and-white zebra marble bar, play of mirrors and candles on the tables as soon as daylight fades, Danico is a true insiders' bar, open every day from 6pm to 2am, and acclaimed by the world's top rankings - it was named one of the 50 best bars in the world by the prestigious 50 Best.

It has to be said that this bar has become a benchmark for originality. In addition to the techniques used to create these very clever beverages (centrifugation, rotovap, sous-vide cooking), since 2023 the establishment has taken experimentation even further with Danico Xplorer, ephemeral menus inspired by flavors from around the world. After Indonesia, Mexico, Japan and India, it's Peru' s turn to reveal its finest assets in 12 infinitely modern cocktails.

You can sip the Viscacha cocktail (whisky, pandan, almonds, plantain juice, palm sugar, yellow lemon, coconut milk), the Leche de Tigre (gin, ceviche distillate, coconut oil, lime, yellow pepper, coriander), Tupananchiskama (rum infused with tonka bean, roasted coffee distillate, Peruvian rice pudding, chancaca sugar syrup, whole egg) or Mancora (rum, toasted barley distillate, passion fruit, Emoliente spice blend, coconut water, lime, whole milk). Sublime liquid creations.

Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health, please drink responsibly.

This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.