Paris Virgin: Le Potager Du Marais

It cost me more in cab fare to go to and from Le Potager Du Marais than it did to eat there, but it was one of the few solid vegetarian restaurants that I had researched before going. Most restaurants had few veggie options-always some kind of salad, omelet, crepes, or quiche. It's almost as though tofu, seitan, TVP, and tempeh don't exist. You can forget about the vegan junk food that you'd find at Gianna's-they really don't care about us that much.

So it was nice to know about Le Potager. I even made a reservation, because it was supposed to be crowded. When I showed up on Saturday evening, there was one couple and a long, empty community-style table with rustic decor. To get to the bathroom, you had to walk outside into a cobblestone alley.

The menu was interesting enough, with a focus on healthy comfort food rather than the chic vegan art-on-a-plate that you get at Horizons. French onion soup, of course. I chose a gratin after seeing the plate another patron was digging into and stumbled with French to convey to my server that I wanted it. Smoooooth.

The gratin was a casserole, layered with TVP, spinach, and pureed pumpkin. It could have used more flavor and wasn't too exciting, but it was satisfying.



Soon enough, I had the resto all to myself. For dessert, I went with a chocolate mousse.