Le Petit Verdot, Deliciously Understated on Rue du Cherche-Midi, 6th Arrondissement

There are no secrets in the Paris restaurant scene. There are, however, understated addresses that are too earnest in their devotion to good food, fine wine and wise service to be hyped.

Le Petit Verdot is one of them. It’s delicious, confident, owner-served, subtly off-beat and in a world of its own yet completely at home in the 6th arrondissement, making for one of the most pleasant and curious dining experiences I’ve had in Paris in recent months.

Le Petit Verdot, named for a grape varietal, isn’t the kind of restaurant that gets stars and other fancy ratings; they don’t give them to restaurants that have only one waiter who’s also the sommelier who’s also the owner. He’s Hide Ishazuka, he’s from Japan, he bows to a compliment, and he stands out from the lot in offering excellent French cuisine and knowledgeable wine talk in the upper moderate price range.

Mr. Ishazuka’s chef  and others on the staff are from Japan as well. In a broader view, Le Petit Verdot is part of the incursion of Japanese chefs, pastry chefs and sommeliers into French gastronomy. But one can be part of history and still stand out on one’s own.

There’s a delicacy to the preparations here but without frou-frou. Fine savors are brought together, not in the form of kitchen acrobatics, gadgetry and concept food, but as a culinary union of distinctly French Graces in a most ordinary setting.

Dinner runs about 55-60€ for three courses à la carte – small portions, you’ll want and you’ll savor all three – plus wine. Mr. Ishazuka once worked as sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Pauillac in the Bordeaux region. His wine selection (from inexpensive to quite honorable) isn’t so much a list as a personal library. Mr. Ishazuka is not the type to intimidate or impress but simply guide, if you like. Don’t choose without asking the librarian his take before following whatever narrative that tempts you.

With the most low-key storefront on rue du Cherche-Midi and no menu posted outside, Le Petit Verdot might appear abandoned or between owners if you were to walk by during closing hours.

Inside, the décor is as plain as the service staircase in a manor house in Normandy, with seating split on two levels, neither more precious than the other. There is seating for 20-25 depending on Mr. Ishazuka’s sense of a full restaurant for that meal. Catering to the needs of diners on two levels, Mr. Ishazuka won’t be within sight every moment of your meal, yet he’s very attentive, personable when the situations requires, and never seems rushed.

Restaurant spaces for foodies are now designed in part to create buzz, even the white noise of full restaurant. But even when full that isn’t the case here, where seating is too limited and service is too solitary. Cross-table conversation and indiscreet glances at the dishes of others is possible—the atmosphere is far from formal—but come here prepared to enjoy the company at your table, your meal and your contact with Mr. Ishazuka or go elsewhere.

I can understand that the subdued nature of Le Petit Verdot and the lack of buzz-atmosphere would turn some people off and keep others away, but with the right company, someone whose presence you can enjoy without external stimulus (phones off), Hide Ishazuka’s delicious and understated Cherche-Midi hideaway is an attractive and refreshing treat.

Le Petit Verdot. 75 rue du Cherche Midi, 6th arrondissement. Tel. 01 42 22 38 27. Metro Saint-Placide or Rennes. Open Tues.-Sat. lunch and dinner. Seating is largely by reservation only, though no harm in trying a last-minute call.

(c) 2012, Gary Lee Kraut