Veg Option: La Romantica, Paris

On our first night during this trip to Paris, our concierge recommended La Romantica, an Italian restaurant near Opera. We went over not knowing what to expect except that it had vegetarian options.

I opted for the Leggera Romantica, the "star" of their menu, and I was not disappointed. It was billed as linguine in sage creme with cheese. It turned out to be a crazy great alfredo. First, they start with this giant wheel of parmesan cheese and a bottle of alcohol.

There is a bowl of sorts in the cheese, and they pour the alcohol in there  Then, they light it on fire. They stir it around, melting cheese, and then someone scrapes the softened cheese into a big pile.

That happenes a few minutes before they bring out a pot of hot linguini in butter, which they then pour directly into the cheese bowl. They stir it around and mix in the cheese. Here is my bowl of finished pasta next to the wheel.



It was SO good. So not good for me, but SO good. Basically, it was an alfredo with all the perfect ingredients - great pasta, fresh cream and butter, and amazing cheese.

All we had at this place was a main course. IB13 had a clam linguini which he thought was great, along with some of my pasta. The service was a bit slow (but there seemed to be one waiter and one big party there). There were other vegetarian options on the menu, so if you are in Paris, stop by...and definitely come hungry and save room for this amazing dish.