NHome is under the direction of Chef Matan Zaken who offers a 9 course blind tasting menu which fluctuates with the season. His concept is to have diners sit around a single large table with a relaxed and festive atmosphere. He did just that by setting up adjoining tables to accommodate about 20 people in a vaulted cellar in a building opposite Palais Royal. It opened in Sept 2022 and you can see the chef’s in the kitchen from a street window but upon entering are ushered to the back stone walled room. The lights are lowered, mirrors are on the ceiling and music was in the background. Diners do have different start times but there is some cross talk with the casual crowd seated around the tables. The tasting had 2 possible supplements including a cheese course. We didn’t opt to add the cheese course and were told by several diners we had made a huge mistake. Cocktail as well as wine pairings are available. They have a one Michelin star rating. Staff were enthusiastic and super friendly and will make you welcome while serving you a fine meal.
Set-Up
Food
Several snacks were served while drinks were being ordered. A gougere of truffle cream and mushroom had a warm gooey center and was a delightful bite. A tart of celery, peas and sea urchin was mixed with a little mayo and curry. It was more mildly flavored than I expected but quite pleasant. The spoon held beef tartare with mustard seed and Jerusalem artichoke skins were the crisp on top.
Oceanic started the tasting and it was an oyster with shiso, pickled shallots, and sea grapes. The oyster was cut for easy eating. It was a wonderful blend of perfectly balanced flavors.
Smokey and Savory was a signature course of smoked eel, foie gras, fennel seed, radish raw and cooked, an herb like anise and onion broth. The small pieces of eel were alternated with the foie gras all surrounded by deeply flavored onion broth. The idea was to eat a bit of everything in each bite. This was a great course with the broth being especially so.
They served a slice of brown sourdough bread and butter – all house made. The bread had a good crust and a moist doughy center. Very good.
Vegetal was a large spear of asparagus with seaweed salad including spring garlic. some espuma cream with lemon and egg was also on the plate.
The Sea was a lobster from Brittany that was grilled with the shell. A lobster bisque along with chocolate, peppermint, salsify and cacao leaves were also on the plate. The lobster was barely cooked and worked great with all the other flavors. It was not overly an grilled flavor but quite nice.
A transition course was granite made with herbs, verbain, coriander, aesop, and ginger. I loved the cold ginger flavor with the cilantro background. This one left a tingle in your mouth.
Animal was a piece of veal barbecue with a veal sweetbread, white asparagus, miso mushroom butter and morels. The morel was stuffed with sweetbreads. The tender veal was cooked perfectly and the sweetbread had a wonderful light crust. The sauce brought out the best of everything on the plate.
A bit of sweetness was composed with kiwi, cucumber and ginger. Cucumber water was infused with lemon oil. This was another refreshing course with some very sweet kiwi.
Fruit was made with blood orange citrus and saffron carrots and bergamot. The sorbet was made with blood orange which was cool and sweet and quite citrusy. Something on the plate was chewy but I couldn’t identify it. Overall this was a good light combination of flavors.
Winding Down was made with leftover sourdough bread, sorbet, prunes and miso. The sauce was made with miso and prunes. A good chocolate variation with a nice mix of textures.
Take a Guess was a selection of final sweets. A tart of black rice with beetroot was crunchy inside and out. A Jerusalem artichoke and vanilla was pickled with pine flavors in the spoon. A dark chocolate of 65% with crisps inside turned out to be studded with chicken skin. Another winner.
Wow!
Thanks! It was a fun meal.
Did you feel like you had enough food?
Yes there was plenty to eat but if I went again I would add the cheese course as it looked very good too.
Thank you! I am going by myself in a couple of weeks. I thought the communal table aspect would be good for a solo diner. I will definitely get the cheese course. Do you need to choose that in advance or when you arrive?
Great, can’t wait to hear what you think. You opt for the cheese course when you arrive. Diners do arrive at different times but there was cross chat. Have you picked where else you’ll be going? If Le Rigmarole is open for the tasting, we sat at the counter and talked a lot with the chefs but also our adjacent ‘neighbors’.
Thank you — I will report back. I am on a waiting list at Restaurant AT and have reservations at Ose in Montmartre and Le Petit Pontoise. I am not wedded to either of those. In addition to fine dining, I am also interested in more classic french-country brasserie style food such as steak au poivre, confit de canard, cassoulet, coq au vin, and similar.
I forgot to add to my comment — I would love your feedback on my interests and reservations thus far.
You’ve picked places I haven’t visited but if you’re on Hungry Onion try asking SFCarole as she has visited many more Paris places than I have and she has great judgement. For low key I love Le Bon Georges, amazing fries and good beef with friendly service. Les Arlots was a fabulous bistro but Google says it’s temporarily closed so not sure what’s up there. Bistro Paul Bert and Chez Dumonet have very classic bistro fare but haven’t been there in 10 years so don’t know how they’ve held up. I did try and go back to Dumonet for a millfeuille but they wouldn’t serve me that alone – it’s the best I’ve had in my memory. I’ll quiz my husband to see if he’s read of anything to suggest – he does more of the research and I write up and photograph. I wish you a fantastic eating experience!
My husband suggested Chez Georges which is a very traditional place, but we’ve never been. The Hungry Onion site <https://www.hungryonion.org> has a very active Paris group that could also give you lots of advice and suggestions.
I will check those out. Actually, I decided to add Les Bistro Des Oies (https://lebistrodesoies.fr/fr) to my list of reservations. This place was recommended on a reddit thread. Thank you again for your help!
You bet! Have a wonderful trip!