Now this is the way to eat! When I first read this NY Times article, I immediately thought of the hidden bar in the East Village (Phone Booth? Telephone Booth? What was it again?) that everyone keeps trying to get me to go to. Apparently you go through a hot dog joint to the back of the restaurant and say some code into a telephone booth to gain entrance to this (probably not so anymore!) private bar.

You can’t make this stuff up, kids.

However, what Braden Perkins and his girlfriend Laura Adrian have created in Paris with their Hidden Kitchen seems infinitely more classy.

According to the article, the couple created their secret restaurant with the plan of offering up food once a month to “invite some cool strangers, get some cool people at the table, strike up a conversation and from that meet some new people.” Apparently these “cool” people loved the idea though, and passed the word on—the pair now serves two dinners a week to a small group of hungry travelers for roughly $100 each. And the menu—which they dubbed as “new American, pan-European”—changes every month.

A quick peek at their web site shows that their menu for March 26 included house-made linguine w/ radish leaf pesto, raw milk ricotta, shaved radish and crispy pancetta, as well as black olive encrusted pork roulade w/ roasted garlic and red wine barley risotto swiss chard and pickled beets.

And that’s just the “Amuse.”

Yum!

Sounds like the next time you’re in Paris, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try to book this place ahead of time if you’re interested in great food, good company, and a little intrigue.

Lucky for us, we can avoid the ‘Hey, I’m a tourist and I have no idea where I’m going’ look when searching for the hidden restaurant.  NY Times writer Seth Sherwood hints, “Look for the building with the red door and small sign for a gynecologist’s office.” Thanks, Seth.