Chef Guillaume Sanchez is an artist, creative spirit, and a rebel that doesn't necessary follow tradition. He began by studying pastry at a young age, and became famous competing on "Who will be the Next Big Pastry Chef" and "Top Chef".
I had so much fun at NE/SO (Neso Paris), Chef Sanchez's restaurant. Not only were the dishes refreshingly novel and creative, they were executed with the visual flair of an artist.
There's a lot of experimentation, focused on fermentation and cold extraction. I was tickled to see a real roto-evaporator (something I used to use ALL THE TIME when I worked in the chemistry lab).
Starters
We started with a beautifully layered seaweed tartine, with layer upon layer of paper thin potatoes and seaweed. This was topped with an oyster foam and gelee. The taste of the ocean was the dominant flavor. Overall the dish was visually impressive and had a nice, pleasant flavor.
The next course was beetroot and eel (unagi). My photo for this didn't work out, so I have no photo of that dish. It did pair very well with the acidic wine.
Next the server brought over what really looked like Chinese style rice rolls (“腸粉"). These were langoustine covered with a Parmesan blanket, served with a langoustine sauce and an avocado cream sauce. It was delicious, and really did remind me of those rice rolls!
Veggies
Then came white asparagus with apricot, black radish, cured egg yolk, and foam. The asparagus was very fresh & crisp. I loved it, and especially loved the pairing with the wine.
This next dish is actually the salad course! Fermented romaine lettuce “kim chi" is topped with a watercress oil sabeyon and smoked cream on the side. This was paired with an orange wine, which has had more maceration of the grapes.
Octopus
Octopus Bourgignone cooked with wine. It tasted like aged soy sauce to me, with tons of umami, quite salty, but still OK.
Sweets
Citrus sorbet!
This next dessert is most fun viewed on video, which you can see in this Instagram REEL that I made for our entire meal:
Suffice it to say it involves cracking open the top layer to get at what's underneath.
General Thoughts - Neso Paris
All in all we had a fantastic time at NE.SO. The dishes were unusual and creative, the flavors were from all over the world, and the wine pairings were really fun. Our server/sommelier was really nice. Once she found out we were coming back to Paris in two weeks, she wrote up a long list of restaurant recommendations. We ended up trying most of them, and they were fabulous. You'll see those posts appear on this blog soon.
The 5 course menu is 180 € and the 3-course menu is 135 €. Best to book ahead.
Highly recommended! I even want to go back myself, hopefully soon.
NE/SO (Neso Paris)
6 Rue Papillon
75009 Paris
