Paris’s 17th arrondissement has a sleek new addition to its fine dining scene courtesy of the 25-year-old Belgian chef Mallory Gabsi. For the rising star’s eponymous restaurant, his first, he teamed with architect Arnaud Behzadi to express the menu’s scents, colors, and flavors through a rich material palette: childhood dishes spiked with saffron inspired the amber-hued velvet seating; his favorite color, turquoise, coats the scarce but deftly used oxidized metalwork of the support columns and white marble tables.
Every detail is considered and on-narrative. Modern interpretations of traditional Belgian dishes such as green eel with caviar, lemon, and herbs are served on Bernardaud plates, accompanied by cutlery from heritage tableware brand Christofle; local ceramicist Lea Soumali provided custom sauce boats and fruit plates. Terrazzo flooring and raw stone furnishings, used throughout the space, are softened by mohair carpet and the golden hues of lacquered plane tree paneling, as well as brass accents in the Behzadi–designed lighting fixtures. The result is a sumptuous feast, full of intricacies and subtleties just waiting to be discovered by discerning diners.
