Paris, France —It’s always been one of our favorite stopovers in Paris. A way to wend away from the urban landscape into a peaceful haven serving up delicious, carefully soured foods in a bright and greenery-filled setting. DS Café is celebrating its 20th anniversary in style this year and has just launched a new winter menu, featuring its signature filling salads, sandwiches and perfectly flavored dishes. The house has several locations in Paris and the greater Paris region. We like the one just off the Champs-Elysées on the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt within easy walking distance of luxury shopping in the Golden Triangle and carefully curated culture at the Petit Palais museum and a host of glistening galleries.

On the new menu agenda, the tried and true favorites abound, like the Konjac spaghetti (spaghetti made from a yam-like starch), served with a mushroom cream sauce, roasted mushrooms, lima beans and a rich serving of succulent Grana Padano cheese directly in from Italy’s Po River Valley. The filling chicken curry with its curcuma rice is a winning combination for those cold winter days while the lentil salad, made with carefully sourced Beluga lentils from Canada, is tossed with feta, sweet potatoes and mushrooms. The Beluga lentil, a black lentil, derives its name from the eponymous celebrated black caviar.

It’s also one of the Parisian spots that gets it right with sandwiches. We enjoyed the pastrami (imported from New York as it should be) with a homemade mayonnaise seasoned with mustard and honey. The Oslo, a smoked salmon with an herb-filled tzatziki is also another fine choice. There are plenty of sides on order including  French-style green beans and sautéed mushrooms. And don’t miss out on the moist melt-in-the-mouth chocolate cake for dessert made with France’s Valrhona chocolate. There are plenty of beverage choices but a standout on the small but select wine list was a rarely seen Chinon Blanc, « Les Pieds Rôtis », an organic wine from the Château de Coulaine. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. 18, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt Paris, 75008, tel: + 33 (0) 1 53 76 03 03, Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm. For additional information and locations: https://dscafe.fr/en/home/