Puccini Café risotto

There’s no doubt about it: Ivan Baretti is a great chef. Too discreet? No doubt, but it’s hard to fault his shyness. While the rue Henri-Blanvalet is a hive of cocktail-loving night owls, the restaurant Tosca takes a back seat to the crowds on busy evenings. Under the same roof: two restaurants and transalpine cuisine. On one side is the Michelin-starred gourmet restaurant, on the other the gourmet bistro. It’s on the bistro side at the Puccini Café that we set our place settings and discover a menu that reflects Italy. Fried artichoke à la juive, polpette with nonna’s tomato sauce, classic beef ravioli del plin or spaghetti with sweet onions and black truffle. But it’s for the risotto that we succumb with pleasure. Cooked al dente as it should be, it’s topped with a scallop carpaccio, lightly creamed coral sauce and a few samphire. A sentimental pleasure far from the crowd!