Formerly a rag-trade workshop, the third piece in Mourad Mazouz’s hip and charming Montorgueil triptych is unconventional and hilarious.It opened in autumn 2008, behind (hence
the name) 404 restaurant and Andy Wahloo cocktail bar (see Drink), with which it shares the central courtyard. It’s a concept bistro, but don’t yawn – it’s brilliant! It’s meant to be like being in someone’s house, so there’s a ‘livingroom’ with a ping pong table and loads of books and CDs, a tatty bedroomupstairs with tables set up along the edge of the bed, and a smoking room that you enter via a wardrobe, à la Narnia. It’s great fun, completely irreverent and, perhaps surprisingly, the food is terrific: you might eat artichokes with Espelette pepper jam, grilled turbot with creamy polenta, and millefeuille with vanilla custard. Watch out for ping pong balls in your tiramisu!