Today I discover a newly opened restaurant with gluten free options in Paris 9th arrondissement: Simone Lemon.
I go there with a friend and fellow blogger Ariana from the beautiful Paris to go. You might be familiar with her blog already and her interesting project on zero waste.
Actually, we are both pleased to discover that Simone Lemon has a quite unique business model that is zero waste oriented.
During our lunch, we talk about it with the two beautiful co-founders Elodie Le Boucher and Shehrazade Schneider. They tell us that in France there are norms about how fruit and vegetable should look like, the size they are supposed to have, the weight, and if they don’t fit into certain parameters, basically they go straight to waste.
Every day almost 40% of what is produced, it is judged outside the norms and it’s thrown away. That’s such a waste! So here they come these two fairies, they collect and buy fruit and vegetable from local producers that wouldn’t make their way to the market. Back to their restaurant, they prepare delicious recipes with them and because these fruit and vegetables happen to cost less, they are able to keep the prices at Simon Lemon quite affordable for an expensive city like Paris.
I like the big buffet in the middle of the restaurant where you can pick up the food you want, compose your dish and then weigh it and pay for it.
The choice of the food that is cooked fresh everyday is quite thorough: there are gluten free options, vegetarian dishes, meat, fish, vegan food, cheese, salads, and dessert.
Elodie and Shéhrazade wanted to create a place where everybody could feel welcomed and find something to eat, both healthy and tasty.
Before leaving, they tell us that Sunday is brunch day and the gluten free, lactose free pancakes are something to try.
The brunch costs 27 euro and it gives you access to the buffet as much as you want, one hot drink and one freshly pressed juice. I love brunch and pancakes so much, this is something I really look forward to trying!
pS Simone Lemon is also specialised in catering and you can ask to book the whole restaurant for events and special occasions.
