Aux 2 K – Pigalle's duo of sous-chefs turned Bib Gourmand

In a quiet backstreet behind Pigalle, two chefs who share nothing but a first initial have built one of the 9th arrondissement's more personal addresses. Aux 2 K takes its name from Samantha Kagy and Kimiko Kinoshita, whose restaurant was recently opened in Pigalle as the joint brainchild of chefs who met at Jacky Ribault's Michelin-starred L'Ours restaurant in Vincennes. Kagy signs the savoury dishes, having been a sous-chef at the 1-star Le Violon d'Ingres and then at L'Ours; Kinoshita, trained at the Kobe School of Cuisine, refined her pastry craft at the Michelin-starred Atelier Joël Robuchon Saint-Germain and the two-starred Taillevent before her path crossed Kagy's again at Violon d'Ingres and L'Ours. The dining room is small, wood-panelled and built around a short, instinct-led menu that changes with the seasons. It holds a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand, the guide's recognition for carefully priced, well-judged cooking rather than any pursuit of spectacle.

01The room and the setting

Wood is the house's emblem, from the fittings to the logo, chosen for its warmth, robustness and calm, and the room leans into that idea with a chalet-like mood, pale timber, and a tree trunk and branches worked into the decor. Gault&Millau's 2026 review describes the result as a modest, fresh and Zen-inspired setting run by two women with determination and success.

Aux 2 K sits on rue Louise-Émilie-de-la-Tour-d'Auvergne, a side street in what locals call SoPi, the stretch of the 9th arrondissement south of Pigalle. The restaurant opened recently in this part of Pigalle, a few streets from the clubs and cabarets of the Boulevard de Clichy, as a far quieter, more domestic kind of address.

02The chefs

Samantha Kagy and Kimiko Kinoshita, two chefs and two Ks, shared a common desire to open their own restaurant after a concomitant stint at Jacky Ribault's Michelin-starred L'Ours restaurant in Vincennes. Kagy had already worked her way up as a sous-chef at the 1-star Le Violon d'Ingres before following Ribault to L'Ours; it was there that her path properly crossed that of Kinoshita, who had trained at the Kobe School of Cuisine before moving to France to specialise in pastry.

Insider tip

Small room, booking advisable; closed Mondays; lunch Wed–Sun, dinner Tue–Sat.

Kinoshita's own route passed through the Michelin-starred Atelier Joël Robuchon Saint-Germain and the two-starred Taillevent before she, too, landed at Violon d'Ingres and then L'Ours. With near-identical CVs built in some of the most disciplined kitchens in Paris, the two women decided to put that shared formation to work under their own name rather than someone else's.

03The cooking

The kitchen works to instinct rather than a fixed script: the website's own line is that the slate changes regularly according to the seasons. Kagy signs the starters and mains, among them a duck ravioli that has become the house's signature plate, while Kinoshita runs the dessert side, including a hazelnut and black lemon sphere built to shatter at the table. The official menu itself describes the cooking as carrying accents of South-West France, a nod to the region that shaped both chefs during their training and their time together at Violon d'Ingres.

Beyond the signature plates, the slate has included pan-fried squid with bean sprouts, serrano ham and garlic chips; pork cromesquis with a watercress coulis; a roast pigeon finished with smoked eel and grey shallot confit; and red mullet cooked unilaterally. It is food that favours technique applied without fuss, land-and-sea pairings built on a short list of ideas rather than a long list of garnishes.

04What to order

The duck ravioli is the plate the kitchen itself calls a signature, and it is worth starting there. The roast pigeon with smoked eel and grey shallot confit is the dish most often singled out by outside observers, a fuller, more classical main built on an unusual pairing. For dessert, Kinoshita's hazelnut and black lemon sphere is designed to be theatrical in a small way, while figs roasted with pine nuts and orange blossom, or a chocolate, coffee and mascarpone plate, turn up on the slate depending on the season.

05Wine and drinks

The list leans on Bordeaux, with a selection chosen to sit alongside the kitchen's Southwest-leaning plates, and it is filled out with craft beers from small French producers rather than the usual big-name options. For anyone working through the six-course tasting menu, a five-glass wine pairing is offered at €45, read on the restaurant's own site in October 2026, as an alternative to choosing bottle by bottle.

06When to go and booking

As read on the restaurant's own website in October 2026, lunch runs Wednesday to Sunday from midday to 2pm, and dinner Tuesday to Saturday from 7pm to 10pm, with the kitchen closed on Mondays. The lunch set menu is priced at €32 outside public holidays and weekends, a straight starter-main-dessert at €45 runs at any service, and the six-course tasting menu is €80. Given how small the dining room is, booking ahead by phone or through the restaurant's own site is the sensible approach, particularly for dinner service.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.