Restaurant Boucherie Les Provinces

The Marché d’Aligre is already one of Paris’s favourite foodie markets, and now there's a new reason to visit. Young artisan butcher Christophe Dru began to make a name for himself hosting events in his shop during the annual Le Fooding festival. The success of these tastings gave him the brilliant idea to transform his butcher's shop into a restaurant as well, and the place has been packed out since the day it opened less than a year ago. As you walk in, all the meat is displayed on the left as usual, with Aligre locals lining up to do their shopping, while the rest of the space is a jumble of tables and counters, heaving with hungry meat-eaters tucking into a giant entrecôte or côte de boeuf, sweet lamb chops or juicy pork ribs. Christophe explains ‘I wanted to open somewhere that has the same spirit as a barbecue, where everything is cooked on the plancha, a cuisson rapide. Originally, I wanted people to order the meat and I would do the cooking myself, but as we’re full nearly every day I have had to hire a chef!’ Les Provinces doesn’t take reservations, and there are only 22 seats, so especially at the weekend be sure to come early. Prices are very reasonable, basically the same ‘per kilo’ rate as at the meat counter plus €9 for the cooking. For starters there are delicious plates of saucisson and pâté, steak tartare and cheeses, and check out the small but excellent wine list, particularly tempting for fans of the new trend in natural wines.