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During the next week, I’m going to do a series: Five Great Places in Paris That You Might Not Know About. In a city that hasn’t been overrun by chain stores and restaurants, it’s nice to be able to profile some of the smaller places around town that I frequent.

pizza

When I’ve had friends come to visit and suggested we go out for pizza, they balk.

Pizza? I didn’t come to Paris for…for…pizza!”

To which I always want to reply, “Honey, well I didn’t come to Paris to listen to you diss my dining suggestions.”

But when you live somewhere, no matter how good the local cuisine might be, one cannot live on duck confit and galettes de sarrasin slathered in butter forever, you know.

There’s a handful of great pizza places in Paris, inevitably run by Italians, who make thin, blister-crusted pizzas in the best Italian tradition. They eschew heavy toppings and weighty crusts in favor for lighter and more traditional pizzas. Even if you’re a jaded pizza-phile, coming from out of town, it’s become decidedly very Parisian to tear into a well-made pizza and you shouldn’t feel any regret for doing so. Although to be really Parisian, use a fork & knife, and don’t pick it up.

(Except Romain does it, so I don’t feel like such a slob if I do it once in a while.)

rosé/rossato at pizzeria

When three different people tipped me off to La Briciola, I finally had the chance to stop by for lunch with a friend, who ordered the Napoletana with anchovies and olives, while I had a pizza strewn with wispy slices of spiced sausage. We did the ‘divide-and-split’ method, which I’ve developed to avoid forks and knives wandering across my plate: each pizza is cut in half, then one half is swapped with my dining partner.

The Napoletana was fine, although would’ve been better with top-quality olives; my pizza topped with sausage was the winner of the two. With a chilled carafe of rossato, we were happy, and I’m looking forward to going back to try some of the other pies, as well as some of the terrific-looking salads and antipasti I saw on the other tables.

They even have a child’s menu, for les bambinos, which includes a scoop of gelato. (Which I think is totally unfair!) But for us adults footing the bill, prices are reasonable, too. Pizzas run from 9€ to 15€.

La Briciola
64, rue Charlot (3rd)
Tél: 01 42 77 34 10
Map


Related posts:

Two Delicious New Dining Guides to Paris

Breizh Café

My Paris

Monday Night Pizza

Vegetarian Dining in Paris

Paris Restaurants (Archives)

Part of Five Great Places in Paris That You Might Not Know About (series):

1# La Briciola (Pizza)

2# Dot Paris (Vintage Kitchenware Shop)

3# Grom gelato (Italian Gelato)

4# Musée Fragonard d’Alfort (Veterinary Museum)

5# Goumanyat (Spices & Specialty Foods)

5 Shares

30 comments

    • Carolyn

    I’ll have to try La Briciola; it sounds delicious. I’ve become quite the fan of Pizza Momo in the 4th (on rue Saint-Antoine). Despite the restaurant’s somewhat silly name, the pizzas are quite good, and they are in about the same price range.

    • Flo Bretzel

    I’m going to follow with great interest your series of unknown places in Paris
    La Pizzetta (Paris 9) was one of my favorite place for pizza when I lived in Paris. Have a nice week end!

    • marion

    How great it is to have new adresses to go to !
    I’m parisian, and I’m still looking for THE pizzeria, it’s so funny and charming to get the advice from an american man :op Thank you !

    • delphine

    I had pizza the first night I was in Paris. It did seem a bit silly but it was late, we were hungry and there weren’t many restaurants near our hotel. It was okay but not really memorable.

    • krysalia

    david said : “one cannot live on galettes de sarrasin slathered in butter forever”

    Well, don’t say it too fast, I’m sure I could :) .

    the slightly four dusted pizza crust on your first picture is really mouth watering, looks like it’s some really flavorous dough with an appealing texture.

    • Sandy

    I have a question I think you can answer and I have no one else in mind that could. A French Monk was visiting me recently and gave me a gift of a can of Chestnut Spread “Creme De Marrons De L’Ardeche” and I have no idea what I can do with it. He told me his sister had just sent it to him and he said it is wonderfully delicious! What on earth can I make with it? What is it used for? Thanks David!

    • Susan

    I have been on a quest for my idea of the perfect pizza crust. I am only a beginning breadmaker and don’t have the skill to figure it out..yet. YOU, on the other hand, are a pastry chef in the land of pastry (Oh..Italy-schmitaly, so what? Pizza is everywhere)…The crust that remains in my taste memory as the gold standard for pizza crust was more a pastry/bread; thin-ish (like in your picture here), crisp with a slight chewy texture once it began to collect in the mouth but didn’t get doughy as you chewed, It was more like a sturdy pastry..maybe like croissant or choux, but not quite that flaky but of similar tenderness, (Oh..what am I saying, how am I to clarify what I’m looking for?) I had it at an Italian restaurant near DC way back in the day..it’s long gone but annoyingly, not forgotten. It’s nearly ruined my pizza experience as nothing ever seems to measure up and I hate that. Know of any pizza crust like what I’m trying to describe here? Please say yes. Am I asking this in the wrong place?..I’m sorry.

    • Jeremy

    Check out my last interview with famed Pizza wizard, Jeff Verasano. He tasted almost every pie in the east coast, looking for the NY style pizza a cross between Neopolitan and well New York!

    Ciao

    • Barbra

    Thank you, David, for making me wish I were in Paris and Naples simultaneously (Da Michele!). Looking forward to the rest of this series!

    • krysalia

    Sandy> think about it as chestnut jam, you can eat it on buttered bread slices, put some under apples for a nice pie, or take one spoon of it with a yoghurt.
    Or you can do what we used to do in my childhood : just leave the pot in the fridge with a lot of clean spoons besides. the chestnut cream will just disappear eventually :)

    • Dmitry

    Can you precise (here and/or in the future restaurant reviews) if the restaurant is open on Sundays? It’s quite important in Paris, as you, possibly, know.

    • Susan

    Thank you, Jeremy. Wow! I read most of Jeff ‘OCD’ Verasano’s precise recipe instructions and explanatons for Patsy’s crust. It’s a lot to absorb for a novice. I had to bookmark it so I could rest before I read the other half.. The man was determined, to say the least. I’m glad he was, we’ll all benefit. David…Anything?

    • Gail

    Days & Hours: Mon-Sat for lunch and dinner.

    • Hamza K

    David would you rate this as one of Paris’s finest pizza’s?

    I actually found Pizza Pino on the Champs Elysees had a much better base than your recommendation of Miei Amici, and Pizza Enio on the (otherwise foodie deadland of) Rue St.Denis make good use of a wood fired oven.

    But apart from the base, ingredients everywhere are average and I still find cheese and sauce to be the weak points of Parisian pizza. Everyone has their favourite tomato sauce, be it spicy or herby or light or heavy but in Paris it is uniformly bland. Buffallo Mozzeralla is also missing in action, whatever they use here isn’t fresh or subtle, the only noticable flavour in a margherita is salt.

    Also, spinach and rocket are rare ingredients, only featuring on one pizza at Amici Miei

    Thankfully Parma ham and egg at Pizza Pino at 2am keeps me happy but are there really any AMAZING pizzeria’s in Paris? I’m not asking for Grimaldi’s but anywhere that uses good ingredients and fresh mozza would be perfect

    • David

    Dmitry: I don’t list hours since in Paris, those can change frequently. (Thanks Gail for this one!) I do give a phone number and web site, when available, and even if hours are posted, it’s a good idea to call in advance even if hours are posted.

    Susan: The best way to get a thin crust is to roll the dough, and as it starts to tighten up and get too elastic to roll further, let it rest 5 mins. After than, it should relax and allow you to roll it even thinner.

    A good, hot oven is essential and a baking stone (or hot baking sheet) is a good idae, too.

    Hamza: I would say this is one of the best in Paris. La Pizzetta, which Flo recommended, is good, too. Although the lines can be long there.

    • Helen

    I am a big fan of the half and half method myself. It sure takes the agony out of decision making, at which I am very very bad. I love thin, blistery crusts as you describe them, the way pizza should be. For me, anyway. And not too much topping either. I have to pick it up though, pick up the slice, fold it and eat.

    • ayankeeinasouthernkitchen

    I am saving this info for when I go to Paris again. Sad to say but you can’t get good pizza in the South. Also, thanks for the pizza crust baking tips, I will give them a try.

    • Emily

    Have you tried Pink Flamingo? Had it not been for a recommendation from a friend I think the name might have put me off. Having lived in Italy I am somewhat of a pizza snob, and I think these ones really rate ~ great thin bases, blistered like they should be (as you say), and the tomato base tastes like the south of Italy. They have some funky asian-influenced toppings but I was pleasantly surprised, they really worked. There is a margherita, and gorgonzola/jambon cru for those less adventurous however.You can dine in, but why do that when they will take a note of your nearby location perched on the side of the Canal Saint Martin, and will deliver it to you?!! (they give you a pink helium balloon to make you easier to find). 67 rue Bichet, 10ème.

    Oh – and great new website. My rss stopped working so I have only just seen it now.

    • Rita

    exactly! i live in hong kong and i don’t do “yum cha” and eat “dim sum” every day ;)

    • Mimi

    Next trip I’ll be staying in the Bastille area and this looks like a quick trip. (It’s 5:10 a.m. here and now I want pizza. Now!)

    • Relle

    Absolutely mouthwatering…

    dare I say it…but the last food I want to eat before dying is a pizza – just like the picture! My french boyfriend is appauled at me for saying so.

    Ahh oui…

    Lucky we have a good one in the 18th – busy all the time – Puccinelli’s – rue Eugene Sue

    • Kim B.

    Our go-to pizza in Paris is Pizza Vesuvio in St. Germain. It DOES feature pizza with jambon de parma and rockette. It’s nothing fancy, but yummy and down-to-earth — not to mention satisfies my Italian husband and his Italian friends, which is good enough for me! I’m excited to try David’s suggestion and the one near Canal St-Martin as well, though!

    Pizza Vesuvio – Paris 6ème
    1, rue Goslin (a little street just behind Blvd. St. Germain, near Rue de Rennes)
    01 43 54 94 78
    Metro: St Germain des Près or Mabillon

    • Hamza K

    Thanks Kim, Emily and David for the suggestions, they all sound like must try’s.
    Has anyone been to le bistrot napolitain on Franklin Roosevelt? Apparently they serve pizzas with mozza so fresh it’s almost raw. Shame it’s closed for August =(

    • Judith in Umbria

    I think I sympathize with the seekers for French chow, although I suspect you might not suggest pizza to someone from Italy. I certainly do not take folks to our (dire) faux Mexican nor our Chinese Light. We may settle for that once in a great while, but I reckon they and we are better off seeking some other version of Italian cucina if we’ve jaded ourselves on Umbrian and truffles.

    Nice pitcher up there David.

    • Jo

    A minor thing, but why don’t the pizzas get served to you sliced? Seems a bit fiddly to be slicing them up yourselves, when the chef can just run a circular blade over it a few times, as they do here in Australia.

    Love your blog, David. You crack me up.

    • Joe

    Oh wow…that looks unbelievably good!

    • Natalie

    Loved it!! The pizza was superb and the atmosphere is exactly what I wanted on a Saturday afternoon with my husband and kids. Though the dessert they gave the kids cannot be called gelato (it was processed, artificial frozen chemicals), they scarfed it down and kept the cute plastic container it came in. My pizza was with chevre and zucchini and my husband’s was arugula and parmesan….they were crispy and flavorful and exactly the way pizza should be.

    David, your suggestions never fail to please. I have tried several…and have loved them all. I am an American foodie living in Paris (married to a Frenchie though probably not for long – did you know the divorce rate here is 70%) and btwn you and Clotilde, I don’t have to look any further for places to eat.

    Merci pour tout!!

    • adrian

    Their other place, Maria Luisa , is much better…

    • Pizzalover in Paris

    Nooo I was hoping to keep La Briciola a secret! :) It’s definitely one of the top few pizzerias in Paris (and trust me, I’ve tried them all! :) I also LOVE La Pizzetta on avenue Trudaine if you’re up for a more adventurous pie with saffron, whole wheat or even squid ink crusts and the most friendly welcome à la Italiano this side of the river Seine. Also, the new Pizza Chic in St Germain-des-pres is delectable, and a très chic spot, but it’s approaching ridiculous prices for pizza (20-15 euros a pie! ooh là là!)

    • chenyze

    I love La Comedia which is right across the street at Metro Censier Daubenton (5th). Apparently they aren’t actually italian but they serve up awesome and fresh pizzas when you order, and my italian friends love it too! it’s 9-12 euros for pizzas, and the other plats look great (and in good serving sizes!) too (=

A

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