This is the new address in the Carmes district! Chez Gardel, a French-Argentinian restaurant, in homage to the tango singer, run by two enthusiasts who are committed to welcoming guests. On the menu, regressive dishes, South American wines, good humor and Argentinian hospitality.
A warm Franco-Argentinian restaurant
This is the new brand to discover at the beginning of 2024. At the corner of rue du Pharaon and place des Carmes, there is a new small restaurant. Red brick wall dotted with wine bottles, vinyl records and paintings hung everywhere in an explosion of color... The decor is extremely cozy.
The brand opened its doors on December 1, 2023. It was a moment of culmination for a couple with a common pleasure: entertaining. The duo, who met in 2020, had been thinking about the project for a long time. Both are career movers, Thomas became a cook 10 years ago and Carla completed her sommelier diploma after the Covid crisis. “This restaurant is a dream come true” they summarize.
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Madeleine dishes from Proust
The chef presents “comforting and regressive cuisine” and a menu that changes according to the seasons. With, currently, ropa vieja, a recipe that all Argentine grandmothers knowbased one shredded beef accompanied by rice or sausage puréed with lemon with chori, even duck parmentier cooked in Argentinian wine.
< strong>A vegetarian menubased on roasted vegetables, fusilli and pumpkin seeds is also included. For those in a hurry, there is the Porteno menu (the name given to the busy residents of downtown Buenos Aires). For €16, it contains three empanadas, a homemade soup and a coffee. Enough to plan a nostalgic break in old Toulouse full of stories.
"You see this scene in Ratatouille when the villain critic tastes the cuisine and experiences an intense flashback that reminds him of his grandmother's reassuring cooking? Is that what I want to succeed in doing?"
Carefully selected South American wines
If Thomas is the only master in the kitchen, oenological expertise is Carla's territory, a passionate since 2010. Originally from Argentina, she presents good wines with a strong South American identity (Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, Bolivia, etc.) so as to surprise French taste buds with what is being done better across the Atlantic.
Moreover, endemic wines from Argentina, notably Malbec wine, are even found in meat sauces. Especially since Carla doesn't just bring with her her wine culture, she shares her vision of Argentine hospitality. "Be humble but want to share and welcome with a smile."
The Temple of Gardel
The founders chose Carlos Gardel to illustrate the mix between Toulouse, Argentina and the tango specific to the place and their couple. "In Argentina, Carlos Gardel is to tango what Diego Maradona is to football! He is an Argentinian personality, an important Toulouse, he deserves to be paid tribute to him" explains Thomas.
The decor is teeming with details. A portrait of the artist is painted on a large mirror. Posters and front pages featuring him are placed all along the walls. "These are originals that Carla went directly to Argentina, having traveled 10 hours by bus, from one of the greatest librarians on the subject."
< p>"Not a day goes by when I enter a restaurant without touching the head of the Gardel statue! It's a way of thanking him"
A tribute evening at the end of January
"We studied the words, life and history of Carlos Gardel. Impossible to create a restaurant in his honor without knowing his life. A tribute is not just about putting up three paintings!" underlines Carla, critic, who was particularly involved in the study of the musicianin order to be able to perpetuate his legend and in speak to customers, as if driven by a duty to remember.
She was helped in this task by Georges Galopa, an expert from Toulouse, who even noticed that the restaurant was very close to where the Gardel family's hat store was located... The specialist will be present January 26 for a special retrospective eveningwith conference, readings of poetry, music and, perhaps, dance.
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