Itacoa, chef Rafael Gomes' Sentier restaurant

Chef Rafael Gomes has opened his first restaurant, Itacoa, in the 2nd arrondissement. On the menu are tasty dishes, tinged with the chef's Brazilian influences and prepared with fresh, healthy, local produce.

If you're a lover of good food and cuisine from other parts of the world, you need to visit Itacoa on rue Saint-Denis, Rafael Gomes ' first restaurant under his own name.

After his stint at Grand Coeur, the Brazilian chef who is currently stuck in Brazil due to the health crisis - a country where, incidentally, he won the 2021 edition of Masterchef - has decided to open his own restaurant!

At Itacoa, you can enjoy healthy, fresh, local and seasonal produce at any time of day: the fish is wild, the meats and poultry quality, all from small producers and responsible fishing. So let us take a closer look at Rafael Gomes' generous, flavorful cuisine.

Once you've entered this pretty restaurant, dressed all in wood, tiles and plants, you can smell the delicious aromas wafting from the open kitchen, or opt for the terrace overlooking Rue Saint-Denis, and get down to reading the menu. And let's face it, every single dish on the menu has its own charms to make you want to choose it.

We start with octopus arancini with ginger (9€), croquettes of confit pork loin (9€) and Pao de Queijo (8€), a Brazilian specialty made with cheese and chorizo. A gourmet trio that whets our appetite for what's to come, accompanied by a carefully measured Spritz in fine weather.

Next up is one of the chef's signature dishes, mille-feuilles de gambas (15€), made with finely sliced radish layered alternately with marinated prawns, black garlic and a little bottarga to spice things up. Fresh and original, perfect for the summer season. We also fall for the basket of Pugliese Stracciatella (14€), a pretty aumônière with beautiful Datterino tomatoes and a salsa verde with fine herbs.

But it's the grilled octopus (14€) that wins everyone over. Cooked to perfection, it is accompanied here by a Romanesco sauce, smoked potatoes and a corn crumble reminiscent of Chef Gomes' origins. A success.

The feast continues with the main courses: Grana Padano risotto, prawns and bisque (€26)? Or why not try the guinea fowl on today's menu? Finally, we fall for the gnocchi alla Cacio e Pépé (21€), melting gnocchi topped with pine nuts, peas for greenness and crunch, Stracciatella and candied Datterino tomatoes. A generous , gourmet dish, just the way we like it.

The veal breast with Café Lecase (24€) also drew rave reviews from the public (our taste buds). The chef's signature dish is accompanied by a stew of coconut beans, garlic, spring onions and a full-bodied jus. The meat is truly tender.

To round off this lunch, of course, we moved on to the desserts section, with original ice creams (with cardamom, excellent!), turbinated on the premises, which is rare enough to be worth mentioning, and a dessert which, in its name, didn't make us dream, but which won us over once it was brought to the table: a Valrhona Opalys white chocolate cream (8€) delicately enhanced by a sorbet and a tangy passion fruit coulis.

So don't hold your breath, Itacoa is worth stopping for!

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