Aux Plumes

Shiso against the seared tuna

The tuna takes the heat first, then the shiso sharpens the finish. Aux Plumes works that contrast from a small kitchen on Rue Boulard in the 14th arrondissement. The cooking here does not flatten French and Asian references into a single gesture. It lets them meet at the edge of the plate, cleanly, with enough restraint that the seasoning has room to register.

The kitchen is led by a young Japanese chef whose cooking is inspired, generous and product-focused, built from the best of the quartier. Seared tuna steak with shiso has become the clearest signature, not because it is ornate, but because it holds the method in view. The tuna gives structure. The shiso gives lift. The plate stays direct.

The Michelin Bib Gourmand attached to Aux Plumes in the 2025 Guide France fits that discipline: cooking measured by consistency and value as much as by polish. The house carried a Bib Gourmand in 2024 as well. Neither honour needs much dressing. In a neighbourhood restaurant of this scale, repetition is the harder craft.

A menu that changes with the bench

The kitchen keeps a daily-changing, non-exhaustive menu, with à la carte choices and fixed formats that leave space for the season to lead. The pattern suits that cooking. A velouté de patate douce can take an émulsion cacao; a blanc-manger au litchi et lait de coco can meet a minestrone de fruits exotiques. The pairings are not decorative. They set sweetness, fat, fruit, bitterness, and acidity against one another until the plate finds its line.

Other dishes speak the same language: cod on black rice with mange-tout, cauliflower, carrots, and a dressing strong enough to call for bread; a lentil salad with octopus; a veggie garden of seasonal vegetables; desserts such as deconstructed rhubarb and strawberry cheesecake or tarte citron. The kitchen’s method favors brevity, with fewer dishes and more pressure on each one to arrive in shape. Natural wine carries the beverage side, chosen to sit with brightness, salt, umami, and the softer textures that run through the menu.

The small room on Rue Boulard

The room is tiny, minimalist, and close to the pass. In a space this intimate, the work has nowhere to hide. Plates cross quickly from kitchen to table; conversations stay at a low register; the counter and the room share the same tempo. Guests notice warmth first, then the cooking’s precision, which is often how a neighbourhood restaurant earns its regulars.

Aux Plumes sits at 45 Rue Boulard in Petit Montrouge, away from the grander circuits of Paris dining, and that distance helps define it. The place feels built for repeat attention: the changed menu, the seasonal produce, the ease of a room that can still carry a serious plate. At Aux Plumes in Paris, the seared tuna steak with shiso keeps the method plain enough to follow at the plate.