Let’s start with an admission: we are fans of the ‘Kitchen’ restaurants, of which there used to be three – including the OG, Ze Kitchen Galerie, and Ze Kitchen Galerie bis, which has now been taken over by its chef Martin Maumet and renamed Oktobre (review here).

And so we were very happy at the idea of dining at the latest of chef William Ledeuil’s establishments, Kitchen Ter(re) (with ‘ter’ meaning ‘third’, which it was at the time of opening) showcasing “atypical pasta and astonishing broths”.

And we were not disappointed.

Après de bonnes expériences dans deux restaurants fondés par le chef William Ledeuil, c’est sans hésitation que nous nous rendons à Kitchen Ter(re) sur le boulevard Saint-Germain. En cuisine, le jeune chef Julien Jéquier opère en utilisant les six types de pâtes créées à l’origine par Ledeuil et paysan-boulanger Roland Feuillas, avec (et c’est le site web qui le dit, mais nous sommes d’accord) “des bouillons épatants”.

Visiblement, Julien a toujours des idées neuves créatives, salées et sucrées…

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Une publication partagée par Julien Jéquier (@julienjequier)

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Une publication partagée par Julien Jéquier (@julienjequier)

The Kitchen collection of restaurants has always filled its spaces with ‘contemporary art’. You may like ‘contemporary art’, and if you do, you’ll no doubt love their eclectic selection. However, ‘contemporary art’ can be a very personal thing, and we were relieved to see that its application at Kitchen Ter(re) was restrained, with just a few paintings and prints, lots of white and some rather lovely terrazzo tables.

Personally, I wouldn’t sit under the multicoloured plexiglass ceiling fan though…

The evening of our visit, we were warmly and genuinely welcomed, and the place was buzzing was a good vibe. For a successful restaurant on the upmarket boulevard Saint-Germain, prices are surprisingly reasonable, and even more so for the midday fixed-price menu with two of three dishes. The menu propositions change regularly, with three starters, four mains and three desserts available, and the chef can adapt to any dietary requirements you might have, as he did for us.

And so we started with the marinated trout served with mango, pomegranate pickles, yuzu kosho chimichurri and preserved ginger. The fish was fresh, well marinaded and melt-in-the-mouth, there was a strong citrus taste from the yuzu, slightly spicy even, with a touch of coriander, and the pieces of pomegranate gave a good unusual crunch.

The second starter was the eel dish (but the vegetarian version, sans eel 🥰) served with multicoloured radishes and autumn mushrooms in a Thai vegetable broth with miso-horseradish. The sauce included coconut and was very creamy, with a hint of ginger we thought, the mushrooms were chopped into large pieces with a good texture, and the portions for both dishes were pretty generous.

For the main dish we chose two strangely-named dishes – Casarecce et Blésotto.

Casarecce is twisted pasta a little like Spätzle, but longer, Italian and made with spelt, served here with cuttlefish, fennel, green cabbage, a condiment made of Kalamata olives and violet mustard (a French speciality) and a Thai bouillabaisse broth. The cuttlefish was well cooked (not rubbery), the pasta is very firm but intentionally so, the broth had an agreeable touch of coconut, and the ensemble was as rich and tasty as it was copious.

The Blésotto (‘Wheatsotto’), a risotto but made with wheat(!), was extremely good, with oyster and black trumpet mushrooms, butternut, basil-rocket pesto and a Thai broth with ginger, which was just the right consistency, slightly spicy and very copious. Without exaggerating, this was probably one of the best main dishes we have had recently!

For dessert (and we could only find space for one) we chose the poached pear with spicy white chocolate ice cream, chocolat crunch and a grape-blackcurrant sauce.

We were a little sceptical, because we’re not particularly fond of cooked pears, but the dish arrived beautifully presented, the pear had a great cinnamon taste to it, the spiced ice cream (genius idea) was our first, the little chocolate biscuits had a good crunch to them… So much good stuff!

The meal was over and we were already planning our return in order to taste the other dishes on the menu! Kitchen Ter(re) was unsurprisingly great, but with surprising tastes counterpointing each other, unusual sauces and a welcome touch of spice.

Recommended without hesitation!

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Kitchen Ter(re) (here) is open Tuesday-Saturday for lunch and dinner

Online booking here

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Une publication partagée par Chef William Ledeuil (@williamledeuil)