Petit Vatel

Forget crushed ice. Fishmongers Arthur and Marie-Victoire Viot believe the finest fish deserves a colder, drier kind of treatment. At their stall in Marché Saint-Germain , every impeccably sourced catch is preserved and matured without ice in carefully controlled, ventilated cold, reaching its peak before it lands on the plate. And now, right across the street, the duo have opened a restaurant that feels more like a culinary laboratory, helmed by the razor-sharp chef Masayoshi Haraguchi (ex-Robuchon and Ducasse). In the silent display cases facing the marble and stainless-steel counter, jewel-colored fish wait patiently for their turn, in full view of the curious, well-heeled clientele from Paris’s 6th and 7th arrondissements. Meanwhile, out back, a small brigade tends the binchotan grill to a soundtrack of spinning vinyl. Call it a love letter to fish, played in glorious high fidelity. · Hector Knor