Cantine California (CLOSED)

Paris is gripped by a new trend. All it took was for one Californian to set up a burger van, and before you can say ‘viande hachée’, more and more food trucks are beetling around the crisscrossing streets of the capital. Cantine California, the new van from chef Jordan Feilders, is a gourmet slice of America on four wheels, and the Parisians are crazy for it. And perhaps you’d have to be crazy to stand in a queue for 40 minutes of your lunch hour, just to pay €11 for a burger. But, such is the power of the street, the new chic.

Feilders’ menu covers burgers and tacos, including a Tex-Mex burger. Manning the ovens is Sanna, a Finn, supported by American and Mexican sous-chefs. It’s a solid cosmopolitan team, and they deliver an almost spot on experience, despite a few niggles: the wait, the slightly limp chips (when we visited), and occasional stock issues (no cupcakes for us). But we did visit at the 1.30pm rush hour, so perhaps these issues can be sorted.

On the plus side, there’s charming service, generously garnished tacos with real black beans, and huge, delicious burgers. We left full and satisfied, fingers covered in ketchup, and convinced that if for the moment Cantine California is the victim of its own success, it won’t stop it pounding the Parisian cobbles from some time to come.

You can follow the truck’s route here. Try and arrive bang on midday to beat the queues, or go for brunch – pancakes, crispy slices of bacon, burritos – which is served a little earlier.