Piero TT – Pierre Gagnaire's Italian trattoria on rue du Bac

On the rue du Bac, in the hushed luxury of the 7th arrondissement, Piero TT is where three-Michelin-starred chef Pierre Gagnaire gives his long attachment to Italian cooking its own address. It opened on 12 January 2019, built into the space that had been his restaurant Gaya, after Gaya itself had moved a few streets away to rue de Saint-Simon the previous autumn. The format had already proved itself at Les Airelles in Courchevel, and rue du Bac became Gagnaire's third address in Paris at the time. Neither trattoria nor bistro in the strict sense, the room serves pasta, vitello tonnato and cacio e pepe with the same rigour Gagnaire applies at his haute-cuisine flagship on rue Balzac, only stripped of its architecture. Piero TT is selected in the MICHELIN Guide, recognition for a kitchen that chooses precision over invention.

01The room and the setting

Dark wood panelling, a red-and-white checkerboard floor and black leather banquettes set the tone of a dining room built to feel like a well-worn Italian address rather than a Parisian showcase. The décor leans fully Italian, down to the marble-topped tables where neighbourhood regulars linger over coffee once the plates are cleared. The restaurant sits by the Rue du Bac metro station, in a stretch of the 7th arrondissement known for antique dealers and publishing houses rather than tourist traffic, which keeps the pace unhurried even at the height of lunch service.

02The chef

When Piero TT opened, the stove was run by the young Sicilian chef Ivan Ferrara, who had trained at the triple-Michelin-starred Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence and at Gagnaire's own flagship on rue Balzac, while maître d'hôtel Gianluca Modafferi and sommelier Michele Lella completed a front-of-house team with the same dual grounding in Italian roots and the Gagnaire style.

Insider tip

Open Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner; closed Sunday and Monday. Booking advised.

The kitchen today is led by Marco Vigano, a chef formed in the kitchens of Gualtiero Marchesi and Michel Troisgros, who arrived after running the stoves of La Bastide on the banks of the Saône, a post that earned him Gault&Millau's "Grand de Demain" title in 2019, and later a three-toque restaurant of his own in Roanne. Under his hand, Gagnaire has found a partner capable of giving the Italian repertoire its own, more personal notes, while Michele Lella, part of the opening team, still oversees the cellar as head sommelier.

03The cooking

The menu reads like a tour of the classics rather than a reinvention of them: burrata with black truffle, beef carpaccio, octopus with tomato and mozzarella, fritto misto and vitello tonnato among the starters, spaghettini with tomato, gnocchi with sage, seafood spaghetti and veal Milanese among the mains, tiramisu to finish.

Vigano's touch shows in details rather than departures: a vitello tonnato prepared by the book, a prosecco sabayon, yellow tomatoes dressed in a sauce Gagnaire himself developed at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, and white sugar beets of real delicacy, building towards a rigatoni cacio e pepe that outclasses its imitators. The card still turns with the seasons: one recent addition is a red tuna dish dressed with spring onions, cipolle ramate onions and green olives.

04What to order

Start with the vitello tonnato prepared by the book or the burrata with black truffle among the antipasti, then order the rigatoni cacio e pepe that puts the imitations of this dish in their place. The red tuna with spring onions and green olives is worth asking for when it appears on the card. Finish with the classic tiramisu that has been on the menu since the opening, rather than chasing novelty.

05Wine and drinks

The list stays entirely Italian, built to match a menu of pasta and veal rather than compete with it, and it is still overseen by sommelier Michele Lella, who joined at the 2019 opening and remains head sommelier today. Expect reds from Piedmont alongside lighter whites suited to the raw fish and vitello tonnato that open most meals.

06When to go and booking

Piero TT serves lunch from midday to 2.30pm and dinner from 7.30pm to 10.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday, and closes all day on Sunday and Monday. Groups and full privatisations are handled through a dedicated request form on the restaurant's own website, and reservations are best made ahead given Gagnaire's profile and the room's modest size.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.