After the Fooding® awards this year we realised (with a certain satisfaction) that we’d already visited most of the winning restaurants and told you about them on the blog!  However, one name didn’t ring a bell at all… Caffè dei Cioppi; the couples café? Winner of the Fooding® d’Amour 2009, but what does that mean? Amour as in ‘for lovers’? Or ‘we loved it’? We just had to go down there and get a bit of the love for ourselves…

Walking past on the street, you’d be forgiven for not even knowing that the Caffè dei Cioppi exists. Hidden down a little cobbled alleyway, it looks like some noodle bar you’d happen upon by accident in a backstreet of Tokyo. However, little signs give you clues that something interesting is hidden down there, and although we went during a bitterly cold December, it’s obvious that the hubbub from the terrace would immediately give the place away during the summer months.

The first thing that surprises you when you enter is how small it is: the long room is sliced down the middle, with half the space being taken up by the kitchen. There are just five table, plus a couple of spaces at the bar. You can’t just see the kitchen, you’re practically in the kitchen, as the steam on your glasses will confirm!

The atmosphere is relaxed, and it’s easy to feel immediately at home.

The menu changes almost every day, and has a short but mouth-watering selection at reasonable prices. If only we had brought friends with us to taste even more of the dishes…

We had already decided that the cheese (on the counter) looked amazing, and the desserts too, so in order to keep a little space for them, we decided to share a starter: a potati and green been salad with a soft-boiled egg and grains of mustard. The mix of hot and cold was lovely, and the delicious crunch of the beans was perfect. As for the egg, just runny enough without being gooey, it went splendidly with the lovely bread.

Definitely an impressive start. We were starting to understand how much thee was to ‘love’ about the place.

Next up: main course. My companion decided to go for the risotto with Taleggio cheese and rocket, and I chose the sea bass ragout (stew) with linguine. The risotto was creamy, cheesy and peppery, not just a near-tasteless sludge as is served sometimes in Italian restaurants. The see bass had obviously been simmered in its tomato sauce for a while, and melted in the mouth. The pasta was – of course – cooked al dente, giving the dish a variety of textures. By now we were very much under the charm of the place…

The main courses are of decent size, and we could have stopped there, but the call of the cheese (ahhh, the cheese!) was too much for us. We requested a small plate to share, and back came three very respectably-sized portions, including a pecorino aged in charcoal (I think) and a blue cheese aged with crushed grapes, giving it a particular tang. Lovely stuff, especially with the restaurant’s delicious crunchy bread.

And finally, time for desert! These looked especially nice (and not expensive at just 4.50 euros). Ma pal tried the Sbrisolona – sort of crunchy biscuit with almonds, served with a small glass of mascarpone. He loved it! As for me, I’m a sucker for a Tramisu, but it’s a very variable dish in both quality and form, so I was intrigued to find out why it cost and extra 1.5 euros, and how the preparation ‘a la minute’ changed the taste. It looked fairly standard when served, but when biting into it the cream was absolutely fresh and half runny, and the soaked biscuits in it had a real taste of coffee. I have tasted tens of Tiramisus over the years, and I have to say that this was probably the best I have ever had. What a great finale!

We had finally understood what the ‘amour’ prize was for. The chefs love their food, it’s a great intimate place for eating out with someone you love, and you can’t help but love the place. Love, love, love, as someone once said… Even the coffee was great.

We were really pleased that our last restaurant review of the year turned up such a gem, and it makes us enthusiastic about next year’s finds!

And although there are still plenty of great places to discover in Paris, we’ll definitely go back to the Caffè dei Cioppi!

The Caffè dei Cioppi is at 159 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine (here). Tel. +33 (0)1 43 46 10 14.

Open for lunch on weekdays, open for dinner on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Closed all weekend. The restaurant can be privatised on Monday nights, Tuesday nights and Saturdays.

If you’d like to see our photos at a better size, click here to see the Flickr gallery.