Variations

Variations Restaurant Review:

Researchers and doctors at Paris’ Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital only have to cross the street to sample chef Philippe Tondetta’s brouillade of eggs, garnished with olives, garlic and pickles. Tondetta is the successor to a music-loving chef of L’Olivier, who would regale guests with homey (if not a little expensive) fare. Now renovated, L’Olivier became Variations, but the musical and Mediterranean atmosphere remains. Tondetta, originally from Piedmont and the former chef at Le Petit Pontoise in the neighboring 5th arrondissement, however, plays to a different tune than his predecessor. A little detail that needs mentioning: The dishes are hot and spicy thanks to the peppers of “voantsy perifery,” a wild species from Madagascar, which can be found at Bruno’s in the 2nd arrondissement.