In recent years in Paris, it’s started to feel like the Venn diagram of restaurant choices allows you to pick two of the three following options: Creative cuisine and natural wine, reasonable prices, and enough elbow room to keep from having your eye taken out by your neighbors. Somehow, Papi manages all three in spades.
I first became aware of Papi thanks to (what else) Instagram, when the restaurant’s marriage of Japanese udon noodles and the then-omnipresent cacio e pepe became a pretty viral sensation. But it fell off my radar for a while, only to resurface recently when I was on the lookout for a special occasion spot with fresh pasta and a bevy of vegetarian options. And while bevy may be a strong word for a grand total of two, the fact that there are only four mains on Papi’s menu at any given time means that the odds were certainly in my (plant-forward) favor when I reserved a table here and hoped the choices would be appealing on the day of my visit. Indeed, as our server informed us partway through our meal, the menu here is so seasonally-driven as to occasionally evolve during service.
Luckily, that didn’t happen to us: I might have cried had I not been able to sample the wholly distinct – and equally delicious – pasta dishes that were in store.
To begin, a seasonal combination of white asparagus, pecorino cream, lambrusco vinegar, and “perfect” egg certainly looked appealing, covered with shards of flatbread for scooping. (The sourdough bread was a far better accompaniment.) While this dish was indeed yummy, it unfortunately arrived cold, and the promised perfection of the egg was a tall order for what proved to boast a slightly snotty white and a yolk broken before it even reached the table.
It was, however, perfectly paired with Valentina Passalacqua’s savory Pugliese rosé.
But the misstep was soon forgotten when the pastas arrived. Spaghettini was served with a spring garlic pesto, sautéed shiitake mushrooms, and a blanket of creamy taleggio, forcing me to reckon with the fact that perhaps the reason I’ve never liked angel hair is that I’ve never had it cooked properly. Perfectly al dente, this pasta was copious and delicious.
In a not-so-vegetarian vein, the play on carbonara saw whole wheat fresh tagliatelle tossed with a creamy egg yolk and pecorino sauce and topped with oh-so-thin sheets of savory guanciale. Paired with a glass of Chardonnay from Bugey boasting a slight fruitiness, it was a truly moreish creation I had to keep myself from inhaling far too quickly.
Dessert saw perhaps the keenest expression of the Franco-Japanese fusion that forms the undercurrent of this menu: Light, fluffy tiramisu was flavor with Okinawa black sugar caramel and soy sauce and topped with roasty kinako for a sweet-and-savory marriage that paired just as nicely with Kopke ruby port as with five-year-old rum.
My love of the food at Papi was only cemented by the ambiance here: The dimly lit, modern dining room is ideally designed to cultivate ultra-cozy corners, and the space between tables is more than welcome. Add to that knowledgeable, friendly servers that strike that ideal balance between present and discreet, and Papi has cemented its spot as a place to return to.
Papi – 46 Rue Richer, 75009