Walking the streets in the cold weather, roaming around beautiful Paris, I stopped in front of a restaurant; it’s called Hébé. Owned by a Lebanese family, a couple that has spent their time working around the world in London and Nigeria, decided to settle in Paris. Casual French gastronomy handled by the couple the way they take care of their home. Sit down, relax, and enjoy the moment.
If you are Lebanese and love the village, you will recognize the floor tiles. Old tiles from the village, a wall of stone and another of mirrors. Clean and clear, the restaurant decor is simple yet classy and upscale. Simple decorative African faces, a bar occupies the end of the restaurant, ten lamps pend from the ceiling, and black chairs. Beautiful decor, soothing music, and upscale table setup.
Perfection in every detail drew a smile on my face. The water bottle is imprinted with the logo, Chef & Sommelier water bottles, Eternum cutlery, and a silk towel.
On the menu, written in English and French: five starters, ten mains, six desserts. The menu has many vegetarian plates, four choices of fish, the veal, and the deer. I loved the menu that showcases the chefs, the team, and the owners. Expect to eat food created by chef Michel Portos and chef Clement Courtemanche.
White wine: Puligny-Montrachet 2015, a fine wine, dry, smoothly acidic and not sweet.
Starters:
- Vegetarian pumpkin: mousseline with pink peppercorn, squash salad, and citrus fruit. Creamy like silk, with crunchy slices of pumpkin on top; loved it! Simple yet complex and rich.
- Pan-fried foie gras with sweet onions, quince confit, fresh horseradish, and soy sauce. It kicks! The saltiness, the acidity, the cooked onions taste, the caramelization, and the textures are pleasant under the teeth. “Beautiful foie gras laid on a bed of onions”. Bravo chef!
- Trout in Gravlax style with beetroot pickles, buckwheat, and pomegranate. Three thick slices of fish looking like salmon where the taste of pomegranate and beetroot
I enjoyed my mains:
- Gnocchis vegetarian with postales, sage cream, cooked onions, and pickles.
- Sea bass: pan-fried fillet, shiitake mushrooms, fennel, cabbage turnip, meat jus.
- Turbot: grilled filet, noir moutier potatoes, white cabbage, white butter sauce.
- Risotto: seasonal mushrooms, black garlic, oyster leaves.
- Scallops: cooked in a very hot pan, butternut purée, figatellu sausage, and meat jus.
Meats:
- Deer with roasted fillet, chestnut purée, beetroot, and clementines.
- Veal with carrots, grapefruit, lemon cédrat.
- Duck roasted filet with Parma hip filet, pear, and soy sauce.
Excellent desserts! I recommend you have the chocolate crumble with black sesame ice cream, chocolate sablé, fleur de sel, and sesame praline. Top of the line mix of textures, crunchy beautiful things, passion, and love.
PS: visit the restrooms where a photo form the streets of Beirut awaits.
Quality food in a quality restaurant located meters from Notre Dame in Paris. Proudly Lebanese, owner and managed by Carole and Imad Kanaan.
