What a lovely story, an American couple moved to Paris, started what they called the Hidden Kitchen, creating a restaurant of sorts in their apartment, serving spectacular ten-course dinners.  Then they opened Verjus, serving contemporary American dishes that earned them rave reviews. Then came Verjus Wine bar downstairs, serving less expensive small-plates.  And most recently they have opened the wine bar for lunch, serving sandwiches that were inspired by the gourmet restaurant sandwiches they miss from the States.  Each sandwich on the menu gives tribute to a different style of sandwich.  We’ve been wanting to try out all three places so we started with lunch this summer and hopefully will get to try out the others.

For 15 euros, you choose one of the sandwiches, a dessert and a non-alcoholic drink (ginger beer, “limonade”, flat or fizzy water). Of course they also serve beer and glasses of wines.

The sandwich choices we had were:

• Mr. Chang’s Buns (Momofuku, East Village, NYC) – braised pork belly, steamed Chinese buns, hoisin sauce, pickles and scallions
• Bakesale Betty (The hottest chicken sandwich in Oakland, CA) – Verjus’ famous fried chicken, Morgan’s buns, cabbage slaw with shallots and parsley and spicy mustard vinaigrette
• Midnight Cuban (Paseo, Seattle, WA) – marinated and tender braised pork shoulder, roasted garlic mayo, cilantro and pickled chilies on grilled baguette

Dusty had Mr. Chang’s Buns and I had the Bakesale Betty.  As expected, both sandwiches were delicious and the desserts were delightful.  We ate in the wine bar but you can also get everything to go which I would love to do next time because they have some beautiful parks close by that you could bring your lunch to and people watch.

Here you can see the entrance to Verjus Wine Bar and if you follow the steps to the right it will lead you to the entrance to the restaurant upstairs.  We’ve always wanted to go to the wine bar (we’ve heard good things about their small-plates) but it’s super small (approximately 12 barstools) and as you can expect is very popular.  The times we’ve walked by in the evening it’s standing room only with a line forming of sorts outside.