While some recent openings in the traditionally mixed Goutte d’Or neighbourhood seem to have excluded the local clientele, this bar has a much more relaxed feel. Le Tout-Monde’s brick-wall décor and inviting atmosphere ensure it fits nicely into the tiny Rue Affre, which is slowly becoming one of the most affable streets in the area.
Marketing the place as a wine bar, the owners have made sure to source many of their products and ingredients locally, near La Chapelle or Barbès. And so, bread is provided by the charming Boulangerie Tembely on Rue Myrha, while beer is brewed by the Brasserie de la Goutte d’Or and Don Doudine is the bar’s wine merchant of choice. If the drink isn’t local, then it’ll almost certainly be sourced from another small organic producer elsewhere in France. The waiters are on hand to offer shrewd and generous advice (they seem to relish sharing their discoveries), and prices are more than reasonable (bottles start around €15). Pair your choice with a starter of succulent Galician beef, burrata cheese or a marvellous sea urchin tartare.
The daily specials include salmon fillet, cod ceviche and veal skirt steak, and all come served with mashed potato and vegetables, and the cooking shows off the simple flavours of the individual ingredients. Only a dessert of crème de citron with speculoos biscuits failed to wow, but really, we’re grasping at straws. Book ahead for this one, as only 20 tables and relatively low prices (€16 for a main) mean the room fills up quite quickly.