Above the tracks

Café Les Deux Gares (10th arr)

RESTAURANTS • First Person

To my mind, this is one of the finest terraces in Paris.

Step out of Gare de l’Est, climb the flight of stairs, and suddenly the sky opens above the railway tracks. Café Les Deux Gare’s terrace looks onto a pedestrian street. No cars, no traffic, and no noise: just a classic Parisian bistro terrace, beneath an unexpectedly generous patch of sky.

Inside, the atmosphere sits somewhere between timeless bistro and quiet eccentricity. The ceiling is clad in turtle-shell-patterned panels, and a striped yellow banquette that makes you want to board an old sleeper train and disappear for a few days. Behind a small industrial-style glass partition, the kitchen quietly hums.

The room is wrapped in a warm, deep red, creating a cocoon where one could happily lose track of time. It is the colour of indulgence, of generous meals, of good company lingering long after the plates have been cleared.

The wine list is broad enough to inspire, concise enough not to overwhelm. Fittingly, on Rue d’Alsace, there is a thoughtful selection of Alsatian producers. The list itself is bound in supple red leather, embossed with the restaurant’s name and softened over the years by the hands of the thirsty, the curious, and the devoted epicureans. Even the tableware, discreetly branded with the house’s name, carries the same attention to detail.

The menu is unmistakably bistro, filtered through an author’s sensibility. Melting Cantabrian anchovies begin the meal with effortless confidence. Then come plump No. 2 oysters, served with a cucumber granita and an elderflower vinaigrette, the perfect remedy on a sweltering summer day. The nutty oysters meet the slowly melting granita, redolent of sea and meadow, saline freshness softened by floral notes.

A bottle of Ugni Blanc by Rémi Pujol, accurately named Le Temps fait Tout, accompanied our meal: fresh, lightly aromatic, with a beautiful saline tension that seems made for the season.

And about that meal. Pork collar arrived dressed as a vitello tonnato, coated in a silky tuna sauce alongside plump borlotti beans, and an impossibly crisp dill salad. Then came a smoked haddock brandade with samphire, fennel, and spinach. Making brandade feel exciting is no small achievement. Here, it’s miles away from any canteen memory. Creamy, delicately smoky, lifted by the briny bite of samphire and the crunch of fresh vegetables.

Dessert continues to play with savoury instincts. A cheesecake made with 18-month-aged Comté is a stroke of genius for anyone struggling to choose between dessert and a cheese course. Then, an affogato, this time poured over salted butter caramel ice cream. Again, that touch of salinity kept everything in balance, preventing sweetness from ever becoming cloying, while a beautifully brewed coffee tied the whole thing together.

And once the sun begins to lower over the rooftops, the terrace quietly takes over, inviting you to stay a little longer, drink another glass of wine, and solve the world’s problems before catching the last train home. –Candice Chemel

→ Café Les Deux Gares (10th arr) • 1 rue des Deux Gares • Mon-Fri 9h-00h, Sat 10h-00h • Book.