Pertinence – the fourteen-seat table behind the Fontaine de Mars

Pertinence occupies a former bistro on a quiet stretch of the 7th arrondissement, tucked between rue de Grenelle and rue Saint Dominique in the shelter of the Fontaine de Mars, close enough to the Eiffel Tower that a walk over afterwards is part of the evening. Since opening at the end of March 2017, it has been run entirely by a couple, in the kitchen and in life: Ryunosuke Naito, from Nagoya, and Kwen Liew, from Malaysia. There are only fourteen seats, so the intimacy is structural rather than a line of marketing. It holds One MICHELIN Star, awarded within months of opening in February 2018, making Liew one of the first Malaysian women to receive the distinction in France. What sets Pertinence apart from the many small Paris tables chasing recognition is the narrowness of its ambition: two people, one room, and a French repertoire sharpened by years of Japanese and French training.

01The room and the setting

The dining room was designed by architect Gérard Ronzatti in white tones and woodwork, built into the shell of the old bistro that stood on the site before 2017. With only fourteen covers, the space reads as a private dining room rather than a restaurant, and the couple have kept the decor restrained so that the plates, rather than the surroundings, carry the evening.

Below the dining room sits an underground wine cellar, an unusual feature for a restaurant this size, and one of the small theatrical touches of the evening: when a bottle is ordered, one of the two chefs goes down to fetch it personally.

02The chefs

Ryunosuke Naito and Kwen Liew met in 2011 at the opening of Restaurant Antoine, working under chef Mickaël Féval. Naito, who left Japan to train in French kitchens, worked his way through Taillevent under Alain Soliverès, then alongside Yannick Alléno at the Cheval Blanc hotel and at Restaurant 1947 in Courchevel, before becoming sous-chef at Le Meurice, a post he kept as the kitchen passed under the direction of Alain Ducasse.

Insider tip

Open Tuesday–Saturday, closed Tuesday lunch; book ahead, only 14 covers; reach it via École Militaire, line 8.

Liew trained in French cuisine and pastry before working abroad in Australia and Singapore to broaden her technique. After Antoine, the two decided to open a place that reflected them exactly: Pertinence is their first restaurant, and it is still only the two of them who run it, trading places between the stove and the floor through service.

03The cooking

The kitchen describes its own style simply: French cuisine dressed in Japanese technique, drawn out to its essence. In practice that means classic French structures, such as a veal sweetbread pie or a roasted sea bass, treated with a precision and restraint that owes as much to Naito's training in Japan as to his years in grand Parisian kitchens.

Other plates that have appeared on the table include a crispy risotto and a slow-cooked beef cheek, alongside a roasted lamb course, each built around a single clear idea rather than a crowd of garnishes.

04What to order

At lunch, served Wednesday to Friday, there is a three-course menu at 85€ or a four-course version at 115€, with the same dishes served across the whole table. In the evening, the choice narrows to two tasting menus: the six-course Dégustation Pertinence at 170€, and the seven-course Prestige Pertinence at 235€, both again served uniformly to every guest at the table.

05Wine and drinks

Each tasting menu has its own wine pairing drawn from the cellar beneath the dining room: three glasses for 70€ or four for 85€ alongside the lunch menus, five glasses for 100€ with the Dégustation, and six for 120€ with the Prestige. Because the cellar sits underground and is fetched bottle by bottle, service has a deliberate, unhurried rhythm.

06When to go and booking

Pertinence opens Tuesday to Saturday, closing on Tuesday lunchtimes as well as all day Sunday and Monday. Seatings run from 12:15 to 13:00 for lunch and from 19:30 to 20:00 for the last dinner arrivals, in keeping with the single sitting a fourteen-cover room allows. The restaurant takes reservations by email, and given the size of the room, booking ahead is essential rather than advisable.

07The neighbourhood

The address sits in one of the quietest corners of the 7th arrondissement, a few minutes from the Champ-de-Mars and the Eiffel Tower and sheltered by the small, leafy Fontaine de Mars square. The nearest métro is École Militaire on line 8, and the walk back along rue Saint Dominique after dinner, with the tower lit above the rooftops, is part of what makes the address worth the detour from the grander dining rooms across the river.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.