Pret A Diner - 'Italian's Do It Better'

Ready to Dine - at 50 St James Street

I hesitated before booking in for the Pret-a-Diner pop-up restaurant experience (their tagline reads: 'This is not a pop-up restaurant, this is a dining experience'), wondering if we were going to be paying for a gimmicky night with all style over substance. However, it did sound rather interesting and hey, the world is going to end in six months right. The concept was born in Berlin and moves around the world and with different themes.

This years theme was 'Italian's Do It Better', and promised Italian artists, music and of course food by various Italian chefs both in London and Italy. Upon walking up the stairs we are greeted by a red cross apparently made up of 500 red LED lights. The dining room itself is made to look like a basketball court (sort of) with fences and 'graffiti' on the walls. The wooden tables were decked out with candles and flowers and as always we were in the naughty corner.

Starting with an amuse bouche of a creamy apple and celery substance and tuna tartare and warm bread rolls in brown paper bags that were ripped open. For the three courses (2 starters/1 main with dessert and wine extra), we were given a choice between a traditional menu or a creative menu. We were also able to switch the courses over or 'upgrade' the main to a particular type of beef for an extra 13pounds - which we later discovered was well worth it, definitely the best dish of the night. I chose the creative menu and would say 2 out of 3 courses were better than the traditional menu. Dessert was rather disappointing for both. We tried but failed to get hold of the menu in the end so I only have memory to go off!

Two musical acts performed whilst we were there - first was a girl named Zara Kershaw who performed some covers and a song or two of her own. As much as the guys wanted to request, I don't think she was going to do Call Me Maybe. The other act was a guy by the name Hypo-potamus - I have no idea how to spell it but it wasn't hippopotamus. A beatbox? kinda act with some jungle-like sounds complete with Capoeira swaying movements, it was surprisingly intriguing and captivating.

Whilst not something you would do everyday and by far not the best simple, nor creative Italian food to be had - the service, music, setting, combined with the the food, company and even a birthday wish - rounded up the evening rather nicely. Next stop...Berlin...

Stairway up to the dining room

Ready to Dine

Amuse bouches

Bread rolls in paper bags

You'll miss me when I'm gone

Entree 1 - creative menu - Beef tartare with burrata

Entree 1- traditional menu - Scallop sashimi 

Que sera sera.. except it said Che..

Entree 2 - creative menu - gnocchi with smoked salmon and balsamic

Entree 2 - traditional menu - tomato risotto - very uneventful

Main - creative menu - Slow cooked veal - nice, if not for comparison of the other 2 mains

Main - traditional menu - Veal cheeks, again, not as nice as the upgrade beef

Hypo-potamus

Creme brulee -  blah

Is ti gravity or attraction that keeps me here?

Let's go get lost

The setting

The open kitchen which was like a trailer

Irony: No matter how many times we tried, we could not take this picture. It said 'I can see clearly now'

This is not a pop-up restaurant, this is a dining experience

Un Verre de Vin Rouge

Ma Cave Fleury - Terrine de la maison

Je vais prende un verre de vin rouge et une assiette de terrine. This small wine bar/wine shop in the 2eme, where champagne and wine memorabilia, chalkboards and wine bottles adorn the walls, floors, tables and the pavement outside. Bar stools, wooden tables and standing room create an atmosphere of casualness, where wine and champagne is key. In search of a night cap in the form of a hot drink last night, we  instead ended up here with a glass of champagne and un assiette de fromage. The champagne is from the Fleury champagne house and was sold cheaply by the glass and upon the recommendation of Mde Morgane Fleury we tried a glass, instead of wine. An easy drink but a glass of red would have been preferable to accompany the cheese platter which we really did not need after our dinner. So tonight, un verre de vin rouge it was. A one woman show last night becomes two tonight. Clientele is mixed - young couples, older friends who appear so jovial with their wine and company (ou peut-etre un peu drunk). 

Located at the seedy end of Rue St-Denis, and looking onto a row of peep shows and stores doesn't immediately arouse ones' curiosity, but would I seek it out if I was not staying around the corner? Definitely. A nice place to while away a few hours over un verre ou un bouteille de vin avec de assiette de fromage, charcuterie, foie gras or something more substantial. If visiting in the daytime, there is a little vintage store across the road and in the evening, there are plenty of other drinking dens, like the Experimental Cocktail Bar, a tapas bar and others on Rue Tiquetonne and Rue Saint-Sauveur to name but a few streets. 

Ma Cave Fleury

177 Rue St-Denis

Paris, 75002

01 40 28 03 39

Shopfront

Champagne and cheese

Assiette de fromage

Wine memorabilia adorns the small space