Bones

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House-made charcuterie, including smoked and cured duck breast and pork saussicon at Bones restaurant

Amuse bouche of Banka trout with trout eggs in radish roll at Bones restaurant

Deeply flavored fish soup with mushrooms at Bones restaurant

Squid, squid ink, onion petals, onion jam at Bones restaurant

Pollack with house-made fresh cheese and carrots at Bones restaurant

Pigon with kale at Bones restaurant

The bar at Bones restaurant

Suckling pig ready to be carved into sandwiches at the bar, Bones restaurant

Suckling pig ready to be carved into sandwiches at the bar, Bones restaurant

Amuse bouche of moked eel with carrots, radish and sea urchin at Bones restaurant

Sea scallops with cuttlefish, beets, walnuts, and horseradish

Lieu jaune (pollack) with pickled cabbage and parsley root puree

The dining room at Bones restaurant

The dining room at Bones restaurant

Lamb three ways (belly, gigot, sweetbreads) with salsify, onion, and kale jus

Vintage sink at Bones restaurant

Bathroom attendants at Bones

Chef James Henry peeling away wood paneling to reveal the Bones

After making a name for himself at Au Passage, Aussie chef James Henry is back with an ambitious new restaurant. Its name is reflected in Henry’s attention to raw materials – stripped-down brick and stone in the dining room, and pristine products in the kitchen. Ingredients that Henry doesn’t make himself (bread, butter, fresh cheese and charcuterie) are carefully sourced from Annie Bertin, Terroirs d’Avenir, La Ruchotte, and other reputable producers. Preparations might be raw, pickled, smoked, barbecued or frozen, but the integrity of the base ingredient still shines through. The no-choice tasting menu, with four generous courses plus amuses bouche, is a good deal at 40€. Up front, there’s a bar serving craft beers and wines by the glass, along with oysters, raw fish sliced to order, and house-made charcuterie. Expect loud music and plenty of youthful eastern Paris attitude.

Practical information

Address: 43 rue Godefroy Caviagnac, 75011
Nearest transport: Voltaire (9)
Hours: Dinner Tuesday through Saturday; bar open from 6pm; closed Sunday and Monday.
Reservations: book a few weeks in advance
Telephone: 09 80 75 32 08

Average price for dinner: 35-49€
Style of cuisine: modern French
Special attributes: natural wine, market-based cooking, nose-to-tail eating, prestige ingredients, no-choice menu
Type of crowd: foodies & locals
Interior: bare bones & minimal
Atmosphere: casual

Reviews of interest

• Alexander Lobrano (2013) “This place matters most as the launch pad for a young man who is quite certainly fated to become a very successful and well-known chef, whether this future unfolds in Paris or elsewhere. It’s also just a big sweet gulp of fresh air for anyone who wants Paris to ignore the 3 Bs–Berlin, Barcelona and Brooklyn, and coin its own idea of a grandly Gallic good time at the beginning of this new century as surely as it did the last one.”
• Sarah Moroz (2013) “At the bar, three kinds of oysters are offered à l’unité, superbly fresh and bright. Bar menu bedfellows include vividly citrusy sea bass carpaccio and fulsome paper-thin slices of cured, dried and smoked duck breast. By-the-glass options span Sicilian Lamoresca to Le Pic Gris from Vallée du Rhône.”
• Le Fooding (2013) “La trouvaille, c’est cet espace mixte et brut, music bar pour picoreurs de nuit, gastro cool pour bâfreurs de sensations, suprême bistroy pour les debout et les assis. La cuisine, griffée James Henry… est un manifeste de gastronomie populaire en vibration avec des pépites de choc… Sans trop se risquer, l’une des adresses de la nouvelle année.”
• Le Figaro (2012 preview) “Barbe de trois jours, tatouages sur les biceps, T-shirt branché… James Henry a le look de son âge: 29 ans… Sa spécialité: cuisiner le cru, notamment les légumes. Il n’hésite pas à dynamiser les légumes oubliés. Sa force: sa jeunesse et sa fougue. Il ose des produits improbables et le résultat est bon. Son lieu jaune, accompagné de sa purée d’héliantis caramélisés en témoigne. Sa botte secrète: peu de produits à la fois. Pas d’assiettes fourre-tout mais des compositions simples, souvent concentrées autour de trois produits.”

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