We’ve rated Épopée as not recommended with no stars
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When Emmanuel Rubin reviewed Épopée for Le Figaro in February, he said the 11th hadn't just found a new bistro — it had gained a truly brilliant cuisine. The kind, he wrote, you'd cross all of Paris for. Michelin followed with a Bib Gourmand the same month. We arrived in March expecting something special.
I was early; my guests were a few minutes late. I stood at the door while the manager Thomas — someone I recognized from his years as a server at Amarante — looked up and said "Oui madame?" No welcome. No warmth. I was shown to my table and sat alone for twenty minutes. I had to ask for water. Then I had to ask for the menu.
THE FOOD
The price was right (24€ for two courses, 29€ for three), but the selection was slim. One of the starters was dried sausage. One of the mains was steamed veg. We were not exactly salivating at the prospects.
But we were rather hungry, so we added a plate of different dried sausage to nibble on from their selection of snacks. That was fortuitous, since our starters didn’t arrive for forty minutes.
This morcilla, which was served as an entrée, was genuinely delicious. But why was this offered as a course?
More successful was this plate of roasted cauliflower with anchovy sauce. The vegetable was deeply caramelized, the sauce assertive and rich, a dish that showed what this kitchen can do. It arrived on a beautiful scalloped ceramic in a portion roughly the size of a golf ball. One floret. After waiting for forty minutes. I would have paid five euros more for a real plate of it.
This marinated sardine on watercress purée with a quarter-teaspoon dot of crème crue. Tasty but meager.
Here’s that steak, a bavette de boeuf with a jus that was genuinely good, served with mushrooms, potatoes, and some barely dressed radicchio. We liked it. We were happy to have some real food, 90 minutes after sitting down.
The skate wing with savoy cabbage in marinière sauce was well-executed, the sauce delicious, though the portion felt restrained. Both plates arrived with a single dot of apple condiment that added little to either.
We ordered the cheese plate because we were still hungry. It arrived cold from the refrigerator, scattered with a stale nut mix.
The caramelized apple with four-spice crumble and parsley root ice cream was competent; the ice cream tasted of vanilla with a vague rooty undertone, interesting on paper and forgettable in practice.
The castella dessert — Japanese sponge cake with blood orange and fromage frais cream — was the meal's best dish, genuinely beautiful and the clearest expression of what Kitano can do when cooking to her strengths.
THE WINE
The wine list is a real strength at Épopée — it’s deep in natural and low-intervention producers with strong Alsace and Jura sections, interesting Serbian imports, and entry bottles from €32. They don’t offer a written by-the-glass list. That’s not uncommon in Paris, but it’s an approach that relies on good service. At Épopée, the server recites three options without description or enticement or really any light in their eyes. And then they fail to actually bring it, requiring you to walk to the bar to retrieve it yourself while your steak grows cold.
THE VIBE
The vibe is what killed this restaurant for me. Épopée seems to be situating itself as a neighborhood place, with easy-going prices to draw a weekday lunch crowd. But it took them 2.5 hours to serve lunch at an uncomfortably glacial pace. There was no welcome, no warmth, barely an acknowledgment. Our dining room was full, with about five tables seated, and they struggled to keep up. The other two dining rooms sat empty.
THE VERDICT
The food at Épopée is fine, overall. But food that’s just fine in the saturated 11th — with so many within easy walking distance — is already failing. Still, the food is not the problem at Épopée. It’s the service, pacing, and unwelcoming spirit that make this place not recommended. Our restaurant index shows a whopping thirty-five restaurants in the same neighborhood that we’ve rated as great or good. These are worth your time. Épopée is not.
ÉPOPÉE
52 Rue Léon Frot, 75011
Open Tuesday-Saturday for lunch & dinner
Closed Sunday & Monday
Reservations online or at +33 9 85 18 01 57
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Oof. Calling hummus a sauce is like calling tapenade a sauce.
meri ..you just saved us . we're staying across the street from epopee in june and had just found it online.. was planning it for our lunch after we arrive. I think we'll go to another place and we know plenty in the area