Paris, France – I

t used to be gauche to enjoy a hamburger in Paris, if you could find one. But the past decade or so has seen burger joints and burgers on otherwise classic French fare menus emerging approximately every two or three blocks in diverse neighborhoods around town. We personally at The Gourmet Gazette always made ours at home American style. But we finally did venture into one right in the heart of the Latin Quarter where they actually got it right. Now it could be nostalgia on our part. Native New Yorkers we were immediately drawn by the name Manhattn’s Burgers, Manhattn’s is  misspelled on purpose to reflect the French pronunciation of Manhattan, explained Jérôme Vandermeulen the Belgian owner of the restaurant, and with this spelling it is easier to file a trademark. It also wandered into an iconic location overlooking the Place Saint Michel in what was once a book store part of the Gilbert chain of bookstores notably specialised in textbooks for students who abound in the Latin Quarter.  In a nod to its past as a book store, books featuring New York are scattered about the dining room.

The cooking is done in an open kitchen on the ground floor and the eating and drinking is done upstairs with a bird’s eye view of the Latin Quarter. Take a window seat and dive into a delicious burger Rockefeller topped off with smoked cheddar, grilled bacon, browned red onions, lettuce and a special smokey barbecue sauce. In other New York tributes on the menu one finds the tasty Empire Cheeseburger and the luxurious Gatsby Burger. There is also the Saint-Mich’ Cheeseburger a tribute to the restaurant’s location and served only at this location. The house uses, exclusively, grass-fed 100% Irish Angus beef and the burgers are flame cooked (not smashed, a trend we are not particularly fond of) subsequently keeping the flavor in. The burgers are served on freshly baked brioche bread based on a recipe from a bakery in Little Italy, a clear improvement on your basic store-bought burger buns. And the French fries are cooked twice as they should be. French fries by the way are a Belgian specialty, okay go figure. You might want to tuck into the sweet potato fries or the Parmesan truffle fries with one of the house’s sauces which are all made in-house. Don’t worry Heinz ketchup and mustard are within reach as well. 

Two Belgian brothers, Jérôme and Philippe Vandermeulen  are behind Manhattn’s Burgers. Jerome spent two years in Manhattan where he sold Belgian waffles and discovered the unique and authentic New York City food culture. Along with his brother, Philippe, who has a degree from the culinary and hospitality school of  Spermalie in Belgium, they opened their first restaurant n Brussels in 2014. They’ve been operating in France since 2022. The Saint Michel establishment opened last October and just like in New York serves all day long from 11:30am until 10:30pm. By the way, we particularly appreciated the courteous service.  And for the myriad students in the Latin Quarter, there is a student menu. Manhattn’s Burgers – Saint-Michel, 10 place Saint-Michel, 75006 Paris, France.  https://www.manhattns.com/

©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette