Nestled in a small street near the Eiffel Tower lies Pertinence. This is where Ryunosuke Naito (Nagoya Japan) and Kwen Liew (Malaysia) run a tiny restaurant serving just a handful lucky guests per night. What’s most impressive is that the entire restaurant is just the two of them. Chef-owners Naito and Liew take turns between the kitchen and the front of the house.
The couple met while working as chefs in Paris. After gaining experience at different types of restaurants in Paris, they decided to set out and open their own in 2017. Even they were shocked when they received a Michelin star the following year. Liew became the first Malaysian woman ever to be recognized by Michelin, and that year, she was only one of two women chefs on the list.
On the day we went, there were only six diners present. Us and one other table of four. That made for a very intimate and cozy experience, and we enjoyed it immensely. That day, Naito served us, while Liew was in the kitchen.
The Tasting Menu
The Underground Wine Cellar
One really fun and unique feature of the restaurant is the underground wine cellar.
It was so cool to watch Naito go down and fetch us the bottle of wine that we had ordered.
Seafood
The food is creative and draws inspiration from all over the globe. For instance, our first course clearly incorporated Malaysian ingredients, a perfectly seared scallop served with laksa sauce! Various interpretations of carrots surrounded the scallop, including sous vide carrots and paper thin slices of rainbow carrots. Such artistic plating!
A French lobster came with artichoke, Spanish jamon Iberico, and bellota foam.
The ”Croute” (Meat Course)
Bryan loves all kinds of ”croutes”, such as the pithivier from Bozar and the beef Wellington from Gordon Ramsey.
This mini-croute was perfectly executed and a nice way to finish the meal.
Cheese Course
Dessert
Some final sweet endings.
General Thoughts - Pertinence Paris
I’m really impressed with the food and overall experience at Pertinence. It’s crazy to imagine how hard the two chefs must work to pull off this level of food themselves.
They serve both lunch and dinner, which means their days are very, very long. At lunchtime you can get a 3-course meal for 55€ or a 4-course meal for 80€. Dinner there’s either the 6-course for 120€ or the 7-course for 185€. The whole table must get the same tasting.
There is also an a la carte menu, but since we didn’t go that route, I don’t know much about it.
We got the 7-course, and I was definitely really full near the end. I may have even given Bryan some of my croute at the end (since he loves those anyway and I was really stuffed!). All in all, we enjoyed our meal a lot. It certainly deserves its Michelin star and multiple other accolades.
Bonus: the ability to walk over and say hello to the Eiffel Tower before heading home.
Pertinence Paris
29 rue de l’Exposition, 75007 Paris
