Late last week,  I was alerted by MyLittleParis that a new organic, vegan cafe was opening in the ‘hood.  Intrigued, I checked it out on Saturday for lunch, my somewhat unconvinced husband in tow.

When we arrived at the restaurant, located on the tiny rue de Forzez, it was a mad house; clearly I wasn’t the only person who had gotten the e-mail alert. Nevertheless we were hungry and decided to make a go of it. I saved our seats at a cute two-top while my husband, still unconvinced, stood in line at the counter.

Much like at the nearby Rose Bakery, Cafe Pinson serves a variety of inventive but simple dishes–hot and cold–on any given day.  Their lunch daily formula is a choice of  soup / tartlette /salad + the day’s hot dish + choice of dessert for 17 euro. (You can also order a la carte; for example, the hot dish on its own would be 6 eur0). They had two options for the salads (one lettuce-based, the other comprised of red lentils and carrots) and a variety of dessert options. They also have a daily fruit + vegetable “detox” juice.

We were really pleased with our meals; they were delicious but also simple and light–a rarity for lunch in Paris. The crowd was gamely trying everything, despite not knowing exactly what anything was. The space and decor were great, more San Francisco than Paris–chill, eclectic, open, airy.

Would I go back? Absolutely. Not only am I into this sort of thing, but I’ve sorely missed healthier meal options in Paris. It was great people watching and I’m looking forward to trying more of their ever-changing menu.

That being said, I may wait a while to head back.  The service wasn’t the fastest; waiting in line to order food took upwards of 10 minutes, largely due to confused customers peppering the staff with questions about what exactly is raw hummus or raw maca? But once they iron out the service kinks, I think it’ll be a great place to spend a weekend afternoon.

CAFE PINSON
3 rue de Forez
75003 Paris

Mon-Fri 9 am – 7 pm
Sat 10 am – 7pm
Sun 10am – 5pm