Fana is an informal bistrot on the northern side of Montmartre that is offering very good food at modest prices. My article on my lunch there is here: https://thefinewinereview.substack.com/p/fana-14-rue-ferdinand-flocon-75018.
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I love that part of Montmartre (and that museum). Your lunch looked wonderful. I love these kinds of neighborhood places.
There is always a juggling act when one starts to make reservations for a Paris visit, and in the shuffle, Fana ended up as our first dinner, on the day of arrival. Fortunately, we were coming on a short flight from Lisbon, arriving in the afternoon, so we were not total wrecks, as is typical for an arrival from North America.
I don’t have a snap of the room, but if you look at @onzieme’s post linked above, we were behind and to the left of his interior photograph, at the far end of the L-shaped room, on the lower leg along the windows. There is a single corridor between all tables and the kitchen.
The menu structure has been simplified, with only one level of entrée now.
I had not had a Jasnières since a visit to a wine bar in 1992 that Patricia Wells had recommended, also in the 18e, if I remember correctly, so I could not resist.
It wasn’t quite as floral as I remembered, but 30+ years has probably seen some changes both in the appellation and my sensory memory. My partner and I shared the asparagus and the txistora to start.
I personally prefer thin green to fat white, but while both were still in season (as we could see at markets), fat white was what was on offer at restaurants. Both the presentation and the composition were quite good. The txistora were a little underwhelming; I wanted bolder flavours. But Portugal is very restricted in its sausage choices, so we appreciated the change.
Fana has two seatings, at 19:30 and 21:30, and the room filled up shortly after we arrived. I initially thought there was only one server, but I spotted a second one occasionally (she was probably working the leg of the L out of sight). Three might have gotten in each other’s way too much, but if there are to be two, one should not spend a lot of time in extended conversation with a table of men, as ours did. My empty wine glass was not noticed, and though I eventually signalled and ordered a second (the Coucou, only described to me as “a strong wine”, though I later heard and mostly understood a more detailed description in French at another table), it did not arrive until I was partway through my main. Service was friendly, but not what I would call efficient, and this is my main criticism of the restaurant.
Three-quarters of the wild garlic on my plate of veal was inedible. I could not even cut it with the provided knife. Did the chef realize this? Was it just for the presentation? I don’t normally order veal, so I have little to compare it to, but it was, I felt, cooked properly, and probably more exciting than most veal is. My partner said her chicken was good, but not exceptional. We both felt there was a little more emphasis on classic-feeling sauces and purées in these dishes. They were correct, but not more than that, and this is perhaps my second criticism of the place.
However, the desserts regained some ground.
My partner ordered the “fraise” (another seasonal ingredient we were to encounter often) and to have something different, I ordered the “café”. Both were constructed the same way: a tart or crisp concave tuile, a scoop of sorbet, a defining ingredient, some topping. But, and this is important, the sorbet was beneath, meaning these were assembled to order. They would not have lasted very long otherwise. And they were both quite good.
We were out before our deadline, without feeling rushed. It was a good meal, good value for the price, and we felt it boded well for the meals to come.
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