Haa Provence. Its olive trees, its cicadas, its pastis and we must say it: its gastronomy! Lucie and Marion, both coming from the Côte d’Azur, wanted to honor their backgrounds by opening two months ago in rue de la Folie-Méricourt a Provençal restaurant, A l’Ombre, for our greatest happiness.

And since they know happiness can be shared, they chose to offer as much as sharable specialties on the menu, like Spanish tapas! As a starter then, you can choose between several plates among which a fava beans salad with candied Menton lemon (€9), a duo of green and black tapenades (€8), Mémé Denise’s anchoïade (€8) and the now famous pissaladière (€7).

We decide to go for the top starter, the Secca d’Entrevaux (beef dried and salted cured ham, €12), sliced like a carpaccio. A beautiful, delicious and generous portion. We also order the Tomme de Provence cheese and its rosemary confit (€9) with a strong flavor we accompany with an olive fougasse (€4) and a drop of extra virgin olive oil from Château d’Estoublon, green and very fruity. Finally, the terrine of Maison Brémond with lavender (€9), a true discovery, ends up on our plate too and is served with pickled onions and carrots shaking it up.

Moving on to drinks, we feel elsewhere with cocktails using as a main ingredients alcohol from out there: Rinquinquin (a peach-based cocktail), Rastafia (red berries and spices infused in rum), Eau Verte de Marseille (an ancient medical remedy based on mint, lemon, rhubarb and spices), Menton lemon liquor, homemade bitter lavender; and so on and so forth!

The night we came to A L’Ombre, dishes proposed (two and changing every months) were: sea side, clams served with red rice (€16), and land side: pork belly and its barigoule artichoke (€14). It’s the latter that actually made us drool the most: perfectly crispy, it was delicious. Especially since it was topping an artichoke purée to die for.

• To be read
• What to do this week - May 23 to 29, 2022, in Paris and Île-de-France
• The best of new restaurants in Paris
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Coming up, 3 desserts of your choice: a Tropézienne by Alexandre Micka (the original creator of the famous Tarte Tropézienne); a guariguette strawberry soup (€8.5), served with a delicious whipped brousse cheese and almonds for the crispy side; and a thyme meringue rhubarb (€8.5). Alright, rhubarb is not a fruit from the South but East, and yet this rhubarb compote and this slightly burned thyme gave a true smoky taste to the dessert and it was worth making a several kilometers detour. And to enjoy desserts based on apricot at A l’Ombre, you will have to wait for a few more weeks to make sure they are perfectly ripe!

The delicatessen that covers a wall of the restaurant is a true good idea. Wines, beers, liquors, as well as Socca chips, olives and terrines… You will discover products from the country and bring them home to taste them after you’ve enjoyed them at the restaurant!

If there’s one sure thing it’s that A L’Ombre is perfect to take us to South France for the night so much that the menu is full of local products highlighted in simple but effective recipes. And we definitely love it!