The story
Anima is an Italian restaurant at 78 Rue du Cherche-Midi in Paris, listed by Le Fooding in 2026. Chef Matteo Testa runs the kitchen, and an enameled wood-fired oven turns out pizza alongside the plates.
Testa was born in Piedmont. The team describes him as a cook who respects products and seasons, guided by the idea of "good, clean and fair." Giovanni Garufi handles the pizza, baking some twenty varieties. The sourdough bread comes from Ten Belles Bread, and the coffee is Giamaica Caffè from Verona.
At Le Fooding's lunch, a scampi tartare arrived with stracciatella and bottarga, sharpened with lemon zest. The Calabra pizza combines yellow Vesuvian tomatoes, fior di latte, n'duja and caciocavallo. A vanilla and raspberry panna cotta with a dash of balsamic closed the meal.
The building was once a tapestry workshop. The cathedral-style glass bays, slatted parquet and period tile floor are still there. The walls are now black, and a white Calacatta marble bar, its veining echoed by succulents on the walls, anchors the room. A Gio Ponti fabric hangs as the only artwork, a nod to the tapestry maker.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
Located in the heart of the city and close to the Danube, the exquisite cuisine with its visible preparation counter serves up to seven courses in succession. The beautifully presented dishes are complemented by a minimalist urban atmosphere.
David Lanher has a real talent for unearthing beautiful old spots (Caffé Stern, Le Bon Saint Pourçain , Racines des Près …) and injecting them with a little soul. Just take Anima, a former tapestry studio he discovered alongside Rome-native Marco Marzilli, Daft Punk’s ex-impresario. They’ve kept the old tiling, the chunky hardwood floors and the big cathedral-like bay windows, and decked it all out in black with an emerald-veined white Calacatta marble bar and an enameled wood-fired oven. Piedmont-born chef Matteo Testa still manages the kitchen, but the pizza paddle has now changed hands, as Giovanni Garufi keeps the twenty-some pizza varieties baking. The day we went for lunch: an energetic scampi tartare combining stracciatella (a fresh cheese from Puglia) and bottarga, teased with a little lemon zest; a volcanic, spicy Calabra pizza (yellow Vesuvian tomatoes, fior di latte, n’duja, caciocavallo, oregano and basil), perfectly cooked and served on a beautiful vintage plate from Blanche Patine; before ending the meal with an excellent vanilla and raspberry panna cotta topped with a dash of balsamic. As a bonus, there’s bread from the neighboring Ten Belles Bread and coffee from the Brûlerie Giamaica Caffè in Verona, just a little further away. // D.C.
Location
Facebook
Instagram