La Cave de l'Insolite

The Cave de l’Insolite (Cellar of the Unusual) is on Rue de la Folie Méricourt ('Mad Mericourt Street'), but the Baraquin brothers (Arnaud and Axel, who used to work for Thierry Faucher at Cave de l’Os à Moelle and Thierry Blanqui at ‘Beurre Noisette’, respectively) aren't crazy, except for good food and wine. Since it opened in 2011, this welcoming restaurant/winery has quickly become a favourite in the Oberkampf district. In the large neo-rustic room, you choose your food from the blackboard menu, and choose your wine directly from the well-stocked shelves, with over 120 reasonably priced vintages. Favourites include a Sainte Epine from the Ardèche produced by Hervé Souhaut, Le Pressoir de Saint Pierre by Renaud Guettier in Touraine, a Terre des Chardons ‘Bien Luné’ from Nîmes. All these wines come from hand-harvested grapes from small vineyards of not more than 6 hectares.