Most visitors to the Montorgueuil neighbourhood don’t venture beyond the road of the same name, but there’s plenty to discover on adjacent alleyways like the Rue Saint-Sauveur. Wine bars are legion around here, but Redd leaps out with its open frontage and tall animal skin chairs that spill out onto the pavement.
You won’t find just any old plonk at this bar, as everything comes specially recommended by the owner, Markéta Sitarova, who was previously a sommelier at Alain Passard’s three Michelin star restaurant L'Arpège. As expert a host as you get, she claims to only offer vintages she’s discovered herself in France and across the world. Her only explicit aim: to surprise her customers. The menu is extensive and changes regularly, but an example of one of her more striking finds is Énergie Yin, a Côte du Rhône from an amateur biodynamic producer that has aromas of hay and the countryside. Although not to everyone’s taste, it certainly succeeds in her aim.
Be wary of the price tags (think €6.50-€10 for a glass, €25-€270 for a bottle), but the bill is usually justified by the quality of what you drink. There are a couple of unusual set menus, like ‘Tasting Flights’, which allows you to sample three wines for €19, and the cheaper ‘after work’ menu, two glasses and some nibbles for €15. Either way, the setting is ideal for wine tasting: the cellar is intimate but not too stuffy, the décor refined yet trendy. Come here for a fancy first date.