Exactly where the Bab el Oued Cafe formerly stood, La Démesure (literally, ‘excessiveness’) is a new establishment that occupies this same immense space on the Rue du Faubourg Montmartre. Filip Alvès, the new owner, is a veteran party organiser, long used to entertaining Parisians and visitors alike. His personal mantra, apparently, is to ‘drink by the litre and dance by the kilometre’, and that’s exactly what revellers can expect at this latest address.
The actual place comes across like a hybrid of all different sorts of venues, with its covered terrace, large bar, huge floor space and underground dance area, where DJs frequently play. To fuel all that dancing, food is naturally required and we’re completely overwhelmed by the wealth of dishes that come out of the kitchen. At a glance, the menu includes tuna steak in barbecue sauce, roast cabbage, runner bean tempura, salmon marinated in miso, the house terrine, risotto with boudin noir, crème brulée and a brioche perdue (a bit like French toast). Drinks, meanwhile, span everything from a divine Meursault white to some particularly delightful calvados.
TRANSLATION: FLORA HUDSON