Sven Chartier and Ewen Lemoigne have taken the concept of cave à manger to a new level with Saturne, a beautiful, spacious wine bar and restaurant located steps from the Bourse in Paris’s 2nd arrondissement. Both were most recently at Racines, a wine bar in the Passage de Panorama known for its almost militant adherence to natural wines and impeccable products. Saturne offers much of the same, but in a much grander setting.
There’s a soon-to-be wine shop/bar when you first enter, with wine bottles lining the walls, a handful of tables and a shiny meat slicer ready for action. Walk a few steps more down the narrow corridor and you’ll reach the handsome open dining room, with sparse Scandinavian blond wood furnishings, a stunning glass atrium and semi-open kitchen.
Chartier’s terroir-driven cuisine is focused on bringing out the best in exceptional products, so sauces and spices are minimal. This Swedish national may only be 23 but he has an impressive CV and has worked in the kitchens of Alain Passard at Arpège and Arnaud Daguin’s one-star table d’hote Hegia in Basque country.
For dinner we choose the 59 € prix-fix menu which included 6 dishes (there is also a 4 course 37 € menu with a choice of either dessert or cheese)
We were first served beautiful marinated raw shrimp and mackerel with herbs and Savagnin vinegar, made from Jura wine.
The next course offered the only choice of the evening—either Blue Lobster with green beans, Solliès figues and honeyed vinegar or sweet breads with oysters and champignon de Paris (I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they get their vegetables from Terroir d’Avenir who sources the last of the authentic champignons de Paris). I choose the sweetbreads as its not something I have very often and loved they way t he crisp sweetbreads paired with the earthy mushrooms and oyster scented sauce.
Then came a bar de ligne (line-caught sea bass) served with smoked mussels and what was probably the best spinach I’ve eaten.
The fourth course was a perfectly roasted Canard de Challans (Challans duck) with heavenly crisp skin, sweet onion, Alexandrie Muscat and more spinach. My only complaint of the evening would be that as much as I loved the spinach, the same vegetable with two dishes was overkill and it would have been nice to try something else.
For the cheese course we were brought thin shavings of Comté and a Saint Nectaire—both excellent.
The meal ended with a delicious brioche perdu with buttermilk ice cream (lait ribot) and fresh raspberries.
Wines are not surprisingly 100% vin naturel and for now there is no list, but you’ll be in expert hands with Lemoigne. I recognized another waiter from La Muse Vin on rue Charonne and remembered him as being very knowledgeable back then, so this is a very experienced and passionate team.
It may have only been their third night open but aside from a bit of a lull between courses, everything was pretty flawless, so a good omen of things to come. The small details from the quality of the bread, to the delicious madelines served with coffee, all point to a team who are passionate about what they do, which is my favourite kind of place. And if Chartier cooks this well at 23, he can only get better and is definitely someone to follow.
Restaurant Saturne,
17 rue Notre Dame des Victoires,
Paris, 2nd Métro Bourse
01 42 60 31 90
Lunch menu: 35 €
Dinner, 37 € for 4 course, 59 for 6
Open: Monday through Friday lunch and dinner, wine bar with small plates opening soon
More about Saturne
Connaissez Vous Saturne, on Bruno Verjus’s Food Intelligence: A behind the scene look at Saturne before opening day (in French)
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We have had lunch a few times at the Verre Vole, just off the Canal St Martin, but never had the clams. Their steamed asperagus is also great.
Ahh looks so delicious. I am dying to go! I am adding this for sure to my list of resto’s to visit.
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I ate at Saturne this evening with a friend and we were both very much forward to trying out this restaurant. Unfortunately it was an expensive mistake and the experience was really quite disappointing. The service was worse than the standard snobby Paris bistro reception you could expect in a touristic brasserie and our plates were practically thrown in front of us like a school canteen… and well the food- under-seasoned, rather bland and lacking love all round. Yes everything was cooked to perfection but for the price and the write-up you would expect something a little more special. The wine list is great and the carrot sorbet dessert was certainly the highlight.
Wow, Rachel, thanks for the feedback. I’m sorry you had what sounds like a pretty disappointing experience. Hopefully it was an off night. I will ask friends who have been more recently what they thought since I have’t been back since they first opened.
Saw saturne when walking past and went in to book but no one was there. Went back early in the evening -7.30 but they were booked out though no one had arrived at that time. Was offered a booking 3 days later but we were leaving Paris before then. So, suggest you book!! Heather
I have to agree with criticisms above…I recently went there for dinner with some friends and found the entire evening at Saturne one of the worst dining experiences I have had in a VERY long time. I go out a lot, but between the horrible service, bland, badly prepared food, and disgusting “natural” wines that smelled like rotten eggs, I was offended by their attitude of superiority and that they called into question my palette, instead of explaining their choices – which might have been legitimate and trying to find common ground. I left with a very regrettable and avoidable desire to tell everyone I know NEVER to go to Saturne!
Daniel
I am sorry you had such bad service at Saturne and very much appreciate that that you took the time to report back. It’s not the first time I’ve heard negative comments on service (See Aaron Ayscough’s Not Drinking Poison for a long list of negative feedback http://notdrinkingpoison.blogspot.com/2011/10/worst-hospitality-in-solar-system.html. And I have heard similar reports when Ewen Lemoigne, the sommelier, was at Racines as well.
I completely agree with you , instead of treating the customer poorly they should take the time to explain why a natural wine might be flawed or at least different from what most people are used to. I did not have bad service at Saturne, but with so many complaints, it seems that they have a problem. I personally can’t understand why anyone would want to be in the restaurant business if they were going to treat customers badly (and can say this as someone who worked in restaurants for over ten years). There are far too many restauranst in Paris to put up with obnoxious service. Hopefully they read these comments and will adjust their attitudes.
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