Before September even began, reports of new openings on the Paris dining scene began trickling in, creating an almost unbearable anticipation. But the spot I was most excited to try was Porte 12, a new 32-seat neo-bistrot in the 10th arrondissement just a few blocks over from other standouts in the category – Albion, Abri, Le Richer and L’Office.
Chef Vincent Crepel presides over the narrow open kitchen where he inventively plays up seasonal produce in a style greatly informed both by his travels through Asia and Europe and his experience under the tutelage of venerated chef André Chiang whose eponymous restaurant in Singapore was ranked 6th best in Asia for 2014. Chiang’s cooking is anchored in French technique and hinges on a number of tenets – Unique, Texture, Memory, Pure, Terroir, Salt, South, and Artisan – many of which have followed Vincent into his own kitchen.
Tucked into a quiet pocket off the rue Faubourg Poissonnière, the space itself is discreet, subdued in style but with a few design statements that instantly catch your attention, chief among them the corset-shaped light fixtures that recall the structure’s former incarnation as a textile and lingerie atelier. This pared down focus translates to the…
