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In the race for top-notch sandwiches, CheZ Aline remains our favourite. Owner Delphine Zampetti has left her post to run off to the Basque Country with her husband from Aïzpitarte, and it’s now her former second-in-command, Tiphaine Moindrot (who previously worked at Le Dauphin), who has taken over the reins. A change that keeps everything the same, because nothing has really changed.
The décor still channels an old-school horse butcher’s shop: pale yellow tiled walls, a horse’s head outlined in neon, stainless steel hooks and vintage scales. And above all, it still serves the tastiest sandwiches in Paris (from €5.70 to €9.10). The menu swings between flawless classics that would have impressed Commissaire Maigret (a ham and cheese with Prince de Paris ham and Saint-Nectaire) and more inventive combinations like butternut squash with tapenade and feta, or haddock with dill and pickles.
Leaning against the tiny marble counter, you bite into a majestic half-baguette slathered with homemade mayo and stuffed to bursting with chicken pot-au-feu and melting vegetables (around €8–€9), a reminder of just how much simple pleasure a proper sandwich can deliver. There are also well-composed salads sold by weight in a more deli-style setup: veal with lemon and celery, mushrooms with tarragon, endives with orange… plus a daily special.