Korus – Bastille dining built on hospitality, not ceremony

A few minutes' walk from place de la Bastille, Korus sits at 73 rue Amelot, in a stretch of the 11th arrondissement wedged between République, Bastille and Le Marais. Founded in 2016 by Yann and Afrae Brasseur, the restaurant has built its name on the idea that serious cooking need not come with ceremony: a tasting menu in the dining room, looser small plates at a counter, and a cellar chosen with evident conviction. Since 2026 the kitchen has been led by Amandine Contant and Jean Lesage, partners in life and in the kitchen, trained in starred houses in France and New York. Korus is selected in the MICHELIN Guide, its Modern Cuisine recognised without the formality that label can sometimes imply — this is a house that treats welcome as part of the dish, not an afterthought to it.

01The room and the setting

Behind its frontage on rue Amelot, the dining room reads like a New York loft set down in the 11th arrondissement. The restaurant's ambiance is modern and loft-like, with exposed brick walls and a raw wood floor, built around a large corner counter for small plates and informal grazing.

The address sits between République, Bastille and Le Marais, close enough to the square to feel the pull of the neighbourhood without sitting in its tourist current. The nearest stations are Richard-Lenoir on line 5 and Chemin Vert on line 8, a short walk from the restaurant's door.

02The chefs

Amandine Contant and Jean Lesage run the kitchen as a couple, in the house's words, as much in life as at the stove — their first posting together as head chefs. Both passed through Michelin-starred houses in France and New York, including time with Daniel Boulud, Guy Savoy and the Maisons Marcon, and at Le Millénaire in Reims, a house awarded a Michelin star in 2025.

Insider tip

Closed Mon–Tue; book ahead for the dining room, walk in at the counter.

Amandine grew up between Paris and Burgundy, shaped early by her family's vegetable garden and the rhythm of the seasons; her cooking leans on vegetables and a precise hand with meat, built towards balance and delicacy rather than display. Jean, a Parisian, draws on the grand French sauces and a close study of spice and seafood, pushing for bitterness, acidity and umami in dishes he keeps deliberately precise.

03The cooking

Korus serves its tasting menu across three lengths rather than an à la carte. Opus and Tempo offer shorter readings of the kitchen's register, while the full Korus menu runs through seven courses: an opening Patiences, then carrot with citrus and tagetes, sucrine lettuce with mussels and miso, langoustine with girolles and elderflower, monkfish with pork and coffee, lamb with black garlic and green Chartreuse, and a closing quince, chestnut and rose dessert before mignardises.

04What to order

The Korus menu is priced at 85€ for lunch and 105€ for dinner and gives the fullest sense of the kitchen's range, from the langoustine, girolles and elderflower course to the lamb with black garlic and green Chartreuse. Tempo, a shorter four-course version at 45€ lunch and 59€ dinner, keeps the carrot and citrus opener and the quince, chestnut and rose dessert either side of the lamb course. Opus sits between the two at 60€ lunch and 80€ dinner, adding the sucrine, mussel and miso course to the Tempo line-up.

05Wine and drinks

The cellar is Afrae Brasseur's domain, built around independent winegrowers committed to working with living soil — bottles chosen to match the kitchen's produce-led instincts rather than to chase fashion. At the counter, small plates run from 7€ to 18€ and wine by the glass starts at 7€, with food-and-wine pairings offered in four glasses for 45€ or six for 65€.

06When to go and booking

Korus is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesday service is dinner only, from around 7.30pm; Thursday and Friday open from 7pm; Saturday and Sunday add a lunch sitting around midday to early afternoon alongside dinner. Reservations are taken by telephone on +33 1 55 28 53 31, and the counter offers a more spontaneous route into the kitchen's cooking for anyone who hasn't booked ahead.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.