Where do you go for an inventive, high quality meal in Paris that doesn’t leave you feeling like you need to unbutton your pants halfway through the meal? On Boulevard Haussmann, two minutes from the Saint Augustin Church, is a real gastronomical treasure.
Pomze (the word for apple in French is
pomme)is original and innovative, built entirely around the theme of apples. From the deco of the restaurant and the gourmet shop on the bottom floor right down to the cider cellar and dishes proposed on the menu, everything is inspired by the Daniel Dayan’s passion for apples.
With restaurant experience in Vienna, Tokyo, Prague, he fell in love with a fruit that is often ignored on menus. The 100+ varieties of apples in France allow him to develop countless ways to include it in each of his dishes. 600kg of apples are delivered each week to satisfy client demand. “The idea is not to serve a baked apple with each dish…” says the founder. Indeed, he goes far beyond using apples as side dishes. The presentation of the dishes as well as the ways in which apples are incorporated is both refined and elegant.
I was astounded by the sheer number of apples on display from the moment we walked in the door. The bottom floor acts as a bar and épicerie where clients can purchase not only juices, cider, apple brandies and calvados but also homemade apple chutneys and preserves, fresh pastries as well as cook books and design knives and accessories. There are several high tables, and couches across from the bar for people to enjoy their drinks or a fast meal, but the real dining goes on upstairs or downstairs in the cider cellar.
The menu offers 6 distinct, fresh apple juices made from different apple varieties (among them granny smith, pink lady, braeburn, golden, etc.), over 30 ciders directly sourced from various regions of France, and apple-inspired cocktails. Though there weren’t any diners in the cider cellar, we went to check it out. It’s also a very romantic dining room with long couches and low lighting. My friend Lora works at the restaurant and told us that the dining room was particularly popular for Valentine’s Day.
What was interesting about the upstairs dining room was that it was actually a former apartment transformed into multiple dining rooms. We were seated in the main dining hall, but there were three others, one of which is essentially one large table meant for a party of 7. But what struck me the most was how American this place felt – not necessarily in the cuisine, but the service and atmosphere. In a city with no shortage of mediocre brasseries and heavy bistrots, it’s so rare to happen upon such imaginative and unconventional cuisine.
The service was memorable as well – our coats were taken before we sat down, and the waitresses were accommodating and convivial. Lora explained to us that all of the chefs are Japanese, as are most of the servers, and customer service is extremely important to them. It isn’t enough for the food to be elegantly presented and as fresh as possible, the service must also be impeccable. And it was. I wasn’t surprised to learn, afterward, that in Japan, there is a famous proverb “okyaku sama wa kami sama” which means that the customer is a god. The meticulous attention to detail on the dinner plate and the removal of bread crumbs off the table in between courses was well noted. Now that I think about it, it was even more pleasant than in the States because they weren’t harassing us every 10 minutes with questions and forced smiles. The kindness seemed genuine and sincere.
So, what did we order?
My dish came with a glass of cider, one of the best I’ve ever had
Goat cheese salad with finely diced apples and walnuts
Mr. C ordered the shrimp in a red fruity curry sauce with mashed apple sweet potatoes
I had the the salmon, wrapped in a filo pastry with apple and citrus sauce
Followed by the homemade French toast with Tatin apple and vanilla ice cream (also made in-house) for me
And for the gourmand, the apple and chocolate fondant with caramel and calvados ice cream
We left feeling satisfied, impressed and just the right amount of stuffed. I hate the way I feel after I leave a brasserie where the food is soaked in butter and cream. The last time I had such an excellent meal was at
L’Accolade, but Pomze is far more inventive. I highly recommend it.
Extra points for my friend Lora who gave us a parting gift: the Pomze homemade carmelized apple chutney façon tarte tatin (it really takes like a tarte tatin! To die for…)
Note: my only critique of the restaurant is that it is on a very residential and quiet part of Blvd Haussmann so it doesn’t attract the kind of passer-by traffic that it deserves in the evening. When you walk past the restaurant and peer through the windows, you don’t see many table or clients so you assume it is empty. This is unfortunate, but also the way the restaurant was designed. Here’s hoping they have a long, successful future ahead of them.
109 Boulevard Haussman
75008, Paris
Metro: Saint Augustin or Miromesnil
