CURRENTLY CLOSED
Address: 52 rue de Richelieu, 75001
Hours: Open Monday-Friday for dinner only. Closed Saturday & Sunday.
Telephone: +33 1 42 97 54 40
Website / Book Online / Facebook / Instagram
COVID-19 UPDATE:
Verjus is currently closed.
Our Most Recent Visit
I never tire of returning to Verjus, which has one of the most creative and affordable modern tasting menus in town. Chef Braden Perkins is self-taught, disciplined and obsessive. He makes time time for travel in order to take inspiration from chefs around the world, returning home to refine and personalize their best ideas. When he wasn’t happy with the produce available from local sources, he partnered with other chefs to cultivate a more direct network from farms in Normandy. The result of all this is a tasting menu that mixes a modest amount of meat or fish with some of the best vegetable creations I’ve ever tasted. Six very small dishes (snacks) are followed by homemade bread and butter, three more substantial dishes, and dessert for 78€. Perkins’ partner Laura Adrian has put together an incredible wine list that is heavy with organic and biodynamic producers, and her wine pairings for the tasting menu (55€) are spot on. On a practical note, there’s a private room that can be booked for 8-12 people, and the kitchen is known to accommodate a wide range of dietary issues with advance notice.
Verjus in Pictures
In Other Words
David Lebovitz (2017) includes this among his Favorite Paris Restaurants, praising the “inventive and outstanding cuisine by Braden Perkins that changes daily, and seasonally. Fixed menus feature a range of ingredients, techniques and cultures, which all come together in multi-course menus that will surprise and delight. There is a casual wine bar downstairs (no reservations) that serves light fare, great frites, and an intriguing selection of wines by the glass.”
Ruth Reichl (2014) says “the food looked lovely, but it was so intelligently put together that I couldn’t help concentrating more on the way it tasted than how it had been put upon the plate. Chef Braden Perkins combines flavors in fascinating ways.”
Timeout (2013) praises a Scandinavian-inspired plate of trout and potatoes, calling it “the best of the seaside in a couple of memorable mouthfuls,” along with a dish of duck breast with sharp winter sauerkraut. “These were the highlights – not everything sung out clearly, but that’s the licence of a tasting menu. Taken as a whole, with the well-priced wines by the bottle and glass, the easy-going, friendly bilingual staff and the general atmosphere of quiet contentment, Verjus is a genuine thrill.”
Saveur (2012) says that “since Perkins revises his two dinner-only tasting menus almost daily (one is four courses, the other, six), his imagination is always sparking. As evidenced by a winter starter of a poached egg with three types of grilled mushrooms (shiitake, button, and a tiny wild Japanese one) on a bed of wild rice with microscopic dandelion leaves and a sprig of dill, his food can be so fragile, intimate, and self-effacing that it induces perfect, fleeting, ego-free moments of Zen pleasure.”
The New York Times T Magazine (2012) explores Perkins’ approach as an American chef in Paris: “Americans grow up with tons of different flavor profiles in their heads — you know, in the states, one night you eat Italian, the next Chinese, so we cook from a huge palate, and I think we’re freer in the kitchen than the French… So the best American food often surprises with unexpected meetings of tastes and textures.” They cite examples of his cooking style including a dish of Mimolette cheese-filled ravioli with cauliflower, capers, chili and cocoa, followed by roasted pork belly and carrots cooked in carrot juice, with frisée and crumbled salted ricotta.
Bon Appétit (2012) says “Perkins sends out a produce-centric tasting menu, filled with dishes like grilled Basque pork belly with semolina gnocchi, Korean-style green onion salad, and apple labneh. This is (cosmopolitan American) food worth crossing the Atlantic for.”
Figaroscope (2012) “On sort d’ici le portefeuille délesté avec charme et l’appétit lesté d’une cuisine mignarde, d’un chic transparent, battant des ailes de libellule sans jamais vraiment décoller.”
Entrepreneur (2012) explains that “thanks to glowing articles in food magazines, Verjus has become a must-visit for Americans traveling to Paris, who typically make their dinner reservations soon after buying plane tickets. That leaves little room for locals–those discriminating diners Perkins was excited to cook for in the first place. But if that’s the price of success, he’ll take it. ‘Parisians don’t book in advance,’ he says with a shrug. ‘Everyone else does.'”
Alexander Lobrano (2011) praises the “really brilliant little miniature as our first course–roasted baby leeks with a quail’s egg, Israeli couscous, oven-dried radicchio leaves and a scattering of ash I’d guess was made from the trimmed green of the leeks. This was a fascinating composition, at once feral and very comforting.” He concludes that “this was a deeply imagined and magnificently executed meal.”
Based on recommendations here and elsewhere we booked a Thursday night at Verjus on our short Paris visit. Fortunately the weather was moderate (between hot spells) so it was fairly comfortable with the windows open. Service was uniformly friendly and helpful; it’s clear that everyone here believes in their mission.
We were attracted by the format of courses (as described by Meg) and their emphasis on vegetables. I had not specified “pescetarian” when we reserved because the menu at the time had no meat. On the day we went they were serving lamb and gladly substituted another dish when we saw the menu (I never cared for lamb anyway).
The food was all creative and interesting, and some really delicious. One characteristic I always appreciate is when unexpected flavors or textures surface in a dish, which was certainly the case here (without veering into the showy cleverness of “molecular gastronomy”). Clearly a great deal of thought and effort goes into the cooking, even if it’s not all supremely memorable. Portions are smallish, but by the time we finished we were satisfied. And I would say it’s a good value, considering the quality of cooking and service. I could have wished for different music, but fortunately it was not too loud.
Ate there last week on our first visit to Paris. We did the multi course tasting with wine pairings. Solid but not exceptional are my thoughts on the food. Loved our server’s personality. Her enthusiasm for the food and the place was really obvious but the truth is service was spotty – water glasses not refilled , had to ask for more wine, etc. At some points there was hardly any time between courses at others it seemed like it was forever and the restaurant really wasn’t that busy even though it’s small. Perhaps the servers have no control over pacing but this would seem strange. On the other hand whoever is doing the wine program is top flight. Really excellent choices. Guess I have to agree with another reviewer – I really wanted to love this place but have to say for al the hoopla I was underwhelmed. Perhaps it was an off night but not one of the courses knocked me out I’m sad to say.
Visited in spring of 2012–great experience, great food, and all the waitstaff and wife of chef/owner were delightful. We’re going back in spring of 2015, we hope.
I don’t know when that last review was written, but I just ate ate Verjus tonight and I must report that my experience was exceptional, and completely the opposite of what was described above. The food was phenomenal and I am delightfully full. Each dish was lovely to behild and had the most intruiging aromas, and they tasted divine! The service was friendly and casual. I noticed the waitstaff going out of their way to accommodate a guest who had an emergency. The prices were high, yes, but I ate a lot and drank some very excellent wines. The decor was lovely. The airy lightness of the room is a nice change from the typical masculine bistros, and the view from my seat was just charming. To top it off, the chef visited our table and everyone else’s during our dinner service. If you can afford it, I highly recommend a visit.
My wife and I wanted so much to enjoy our dinner at Restaurant Verjus, especially after exchanging friendly e-mails with Laura Adrian to arrange our reservation and meeting her in person at Verjus bar à vin before dinner. Unfortunately, while we would enthusiastically endorse the wine bar (the wine recommendations at both bar and restaurant were perfect and Laura was a wonderful host), we felt that nearly every aspect of the restaurant needed improvement. Above all, the food just didn’t live up to the positive reviews we had read. The portions were tiny, even by Paris standards, and some of the combinations simply didn’t work. Even for adventurous eaters, which we think we are, the amuse bouche of chocolate-covered celery root was literally hard to swallow. Nothing had been done to transform the ingredients or to make this unusual combination work. Things did not improve after that. Nearly every dish suffered from some temperature problem, from seared foie gras that arrived cold to lamb that was underdone (I like my lamb rare, but not borderline raw). Part of the problem might have been our server, who seemed to see her job as some sort of penance for past sins. I don’t think she smiled once. She never asked us about ourselves or showed any interest in our dining experience. Not so much as a “Bon appetite!” or an “Is everything okay?” passed her lips. Her entire interaction with us was limited to delivering our plates and quickly reciting a memorized list of the ingredients with the enthusiasm of a child making her first confession. I did try to break the ice by asking her for butter to go with our bread, but all I got was a shocked look, as if butter with bread were unheard-of in Paris. Perhaps she thought I was joking, because I had to ask her a second time before the butter appeared halfway through the meal. With each new course, we hoped for a dish that would redeem the evening, but it never arrived. Another thing that never arrived was the chef. I don’t always expect to meet the chef, but it does add to a good dining experience, and on the previous two nights we had enjoyed chatting with Daniel Rose at Spring and David Toutain at Agape Substance. At a brand-new restaurant like Verjus, a little schmoozing with the customers would go a long way. This non-appearance by Chef Perkins seemed to confirm what we had experienced on the plate: Things were not going smoothly in the back or the front of the house. If I were to act as a consultant to Laura Adrian and Braden Perkins, as they have done for others, I’d suggest a quick retooling to address these issues: (1) Food – quantity and quality (and temperature); (2) Service – our server needs to be trained, because it truly seemed that she had never worked in a restaurant before that night; (3) Prices – until 1 and 2 are addressed, you need to charge less; (4) Decor – a painting or two on the walls and maybe some kind of window treatment for the wonderful, tall windows wouldn’t hurt. Despite this disappointing experience, we really hope Verjus can, with some work in all of these areas, live up to its potential in the future. It’s clear that Laura and Braden have the dedication and talent – they just need a little more time and perhaps a better supporting cast.
food was quite good but the portions were “hummingbird” sized.