Maslow Temple, the chic canteen that reinvents veggie

Just a few weeks after opening at 32 rue de Picardie, Maslow Temple is finally bringing life to this seemingly cursed address. Over the past fifteen years, several restaurants have opened in this charming location, none of which have really taken off despite its ideal location at the end of rue Dupetit-Thouars and very close to the Carreau du Temple: Café Rouge (Cathy Closier, the owner of Season and Café de la Poste on rue de Turenne), Les Chouettes, and Le Grand-Duc. Unlike his predecessors, Maslow is fully booked, contributing to the liveliness of this tree-lined street corner.

Here, we discover a 100% vegetarian menu led by Mehdi Favri and his team, who enhance vegetables and original sauces through sharing plates inspired by bistronomy, street food, and Asian flavors. The address also seduces thanks to its vegan and gluten-free options; its selection of organic wines, mocktails, and signature desserts like the Paris-Beirut sesame puffs.

The venue itself is worth a visit thanks to its Eiffel-style structure, which supports a vast three-story patio with walkways. Juliette Rubel's décor is shot through with bright red and bathed in natural light, giving pride of place to conviviality, brunch, and large tables.

But back to the dishes. Here are our favorites. First, the potato churros: long churro-style fritters served warm to be dipped in a creamy sauce, like a quirky nod to street food. Then there are Kimchi Fritters: kimchi fritters served with a vegan wild garlic mayonnaise, inspired by Korean culinary tradition. Ditto the whole artichoke "dip & crunch": it's a whole artichoke to share, served with a coconut-peanut sauce and a crunchy walnut condiment.

And other surprises await us because creativity is the key word. Here is the Pithiviers, a puff pastry pie filled with shiitake and button mushrooms, a dish as generous as it is unexpected for a veggie restaurant. The same emotion seizes us when the oyster mushroom tempura and the okonomiyaki, a house Japanese specialty, arrive, including a version of the cabbage omelet revisited with vegetables.