Fertile ground

Vivide (Montmartre)

RESTAURANTS • First Person

There are restaurants that stay with you. Not because they make noise, but because they get it right.

Vivide is tucked away in a small street near the Théâtre de l’Atelier in Montmartre. Very quickly, I knew the place would stick with me for a long time. The restaurant’s chefs serve a fully plant-based menu that doesn’t try to convince anyone, let alone lecture them. They just cook. And cook brilliantly. But what I loved started well before the first plate arrived.

The welcome, first. The smiles. The gentleness of the service. The place itself, too: both raw and warm at the same time. And then there’s the counter by the entrance, the theater of it, where a restaurant really breathes. Even seated further back in the dining room, you still feel part of it, as the chefs come out, bring the plates, exchange a glance, a few words, look for your reaction. They’ve muted the hard line between the kitchen and the room, a change diners feel.

But then there’s the menu itself. Vegetables touched by fire and smoke, deep sauces, texture everywhere, and above all: flavor, quite a bit of it. It’s the kind of cooking that quickly makes you forget what’s missing from the plate and focus only on what’s actually there, like chilled mesclun salad with its shallot vinaigrette, an icy jolt, right in the middle of the meal. Or smoked butternut squash, wrapping itself gently around your palate. And then the final little gift: verbena-flavored jelly bears, a throwback of childhood nostalgia, and a totally delightful surprise.

Even the drinks tell a story. Wine has its place, of course, but the homemade non-alcoholic creations often steal the show: fermentations, herbs, and infusions. And then, there’s the incredible bread coming from Union Boulangerie. That bread alone could make you come back.

I left with the very simple feeling that someone created this place not to follow a trend, and not to tick a green box on a menu, but just to give people pleasure. –Rodolphe Pelosse

→ Vivide (Montmartre) • 3 rue Dancourt • Tue-Sat 19h-23h • 7 courses 85 €, wine pairing 50 € • Book.