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12:47 PM, rue des Goncourt. On the counter, a coffee. On the table, a scratch card. And before us, a slightly embarrassing question: since when did we find the PMU so desirable?
Welcome to Le Cornichon.
At 2 rue des Goncourt, in the 11th arrondissement, this spot defines itself as a "contemporary neighborhood café." It deliberately borrows the vocabulary of the classic Parisian dive bar: the counter, the terrace, the Française des Jeux lottery, and traditional French cuisine! In the kitchen, Bertrand Chauveau crafts a seasonal menu born of that same spirit: simple enough to serve as a daily neighborhood canteen, yet refined enough to turn lunch into a proper Sunday feast. In the evening, plates are shared as the atmosphere slowly warms.
For some years now, Paris has seemingly rediscovered—with sheer fascination—an entire aesthetic vocabulary it had spent decades trying to modernize: the zinc bar, paper tablecloths, booths, the PMU, steak-frites, a glass of red, and signs that once would have been discarded at the first sign of renovation.
Le Cornichon belongs entirely to this movement. Even its press reviews capture the obsession: "neo-PMU," "faux-vintage dive," "retro 70s," "cafés of yesteryear"… so many phrases used in an attempt to name this return of the working-class bistro to the contemporary imagination.
TASTE
Neo-PMU · Paris 70s · Zinc · French Bistrot · Steak-Frites · Everyday Paris
