The Great Parisian Plate Debate

16, Rue Lauriston, 75016
Tel. 01.45.00.27.45

The Côté Vignes stands steps away from the world famous Champs-Élysées and the magnificent Arc de Triumph, but if you still need help finding it then the delightfully smoky smells emanating from its kitchen should do the trick. To Dan and my utter chagrin, we were not at Côté Vignes for a Great Parisian Plate Debate dinner, but a simple bottle of their finest, reasonably priced wine. If I had to repeat the 16eme, I would choose this place over Convivium simply based on the smell of whatever it was – a duck, perhaps! - which the chefs had cooking up behind the scenes.

As it should be, the wine list at Côté Vignes dominated one whole wall. That’s right, one whole wall! The only place that usually has menus posted up in the dining room is a fast food restaurant, but I’m here to tell you that Côté Vignes did it much nicer than a Quick Burger joint. The audacity to throw style out the window, to say, “You know what? I don’t care if it doesn’t exactly match the tablecloths,” and nail up an enormous wine list is, in a word, awesome. It’s evidence that the good folks at Côté Vignes take their wine seriously, and that if you’re smart you’ll order a bottle or two.

We had to be quick here because we were meeting others at The Honest Lawyer, but when confronted with the epic bragging of wine right in your face it makes it difficult. I would certainly return to Côté Vignes, not only to sample my way through their board-o-wine, but also to give that duck, beckoning to our senses by way of smoking and simmering in the back kitchen, a chance to prove itself on my plate.