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My little cats! 

A new hot spot in the 10th arrondissement again, it is definitely a nice arrondissement in Paris. I'm enjoying myself lately, I'm discovering lots of adorable places. Today it's HAÏ KAÏ104 quai de Jemmapes, +33 9 81 99 98 88, this hot spot really is a gem. I love the frontage that doesn't look like anything, or should I say that looks like an abandoned squat, and it is sublime inside, so white, perfect, as if all the light of the neighborhood was stock up inside it. A diamond wrapped in some newspaper. The deco is impeccable, so is what you have on your plate. And the icing on the cake, this place is from the association of three women, aaah girl power... Amélie Darvas in the kitchen, Gaby Benicio for the wine selection (among other things) and Elsa Kikoïne for the setting.

 

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I think you're starting to get my taste deco-related, and it is all right, the white and natural wooden furnitures, the unmatching linen seats, every object has the right location. Plants are also all over the place but on a sublime and subtle way. It is clear and neat. I make some research about the HAÏ KAÏ name and find out that it is the other name for haïku, these very short Japanese poems, it makes so much sense really. 

I've passed it a million times before actually going in and it is the other day, for one of my previous articlesthe comptoir videothat I came in and I admit feeling stupid not to have entered it before. This place had the same effect on me as light therapy, I didn't want to leave it was beautiful and - when the plates came in (very quickly btw) - so GOOD.

 

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(WANTED ALERT, this checks yellow chair is simply perfect). So I was with Tania the awesome film maker, and I think I can speak for both of us when I say we loved it. Just like the Blue Valentine, plates are these small gourmet and poetic ecosystems, yet with no Japenese cook but the talented Amélie Darvas (Ex Bristol, The Borken Arm among other things). And we want more. There is a permanent menu and another one that changes everyday depending on the Chef's desire and the daily delivery, I love this freedom, and these obligations which develop a bigger creativity I'm sure! Rush there! Everything is of course very fresh and HAÏ KAÏ hires small producers worried to feed us with some organic and responsible food. What more do you want ?

 

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On the bill side I find it very honest, for lunch count on starter + main course or main course + desert at 17 € or 22 € for the whole menu: starter + main course + desert. The restaurant is open from Tuesday to Sunday, for lunch and dinner... Enjoy !

 

 

April 08, 2014