Taking a bold leap into the culinary scene of Paris, renowned cocktail specialists, Alex Francis and Barney O’Kane, have created an alluring dining ambience with their new restaurant, Comptoir De Vie. Well-known for their innovative, farm-to-table cocktail approach at Little Red Door, a hotspot in the Marais region, this duo has been raising eyebrows in the world of fine dining. They have crafted a trailblazing food concept, geographically nestled in Paris’ Montorgueil quarter, which was birthed in early March. For those fond of their bar work, they reassure their followers that Bar De Vie will surface later in the year.

Comptoir De Vie stands tall as a symbol of innovation and a testament to the duo’s passions: France, food, design, sustainability, cocktails, and more. The restaurant's layout defies traditional fine-dining norms, maintaining that dining should be fundamentally relational and revolve around storytelling. In contrast with a standard dimly lit dining room, Comptoir De Vie offers a lighter, more open atmosphere. It features an open kitchen next to a central comptoir (counter) where? Francis or O’Kane can be seen employing precision measurements to craft their culinary art, all the while fostering conversations with their clientele.

Barney O’Kane, co-founder and bar manager at De Vie, elaborates, “Our aim is to offer the guests a peak into our realm. We want them to interact not just with us but our entire team. For us, having a tasting menu enables us to invest more time in nurturing our relationship with our guests." In the future, the Comptoir De Vie team hopes to offer an extended tasting menu while also considering shorter drink experiences for guests who cannot spend the entire evening at the restaurant.

Currently, Comptoir De Vie offers a hyper-seasonal five-course dining experience which includes a welcome drink (90€), and an optional paired drinks experience (55€). A seasonal five-step drink experience, lasting about ninety minutes, including bar snacks and dessert (70€) is also available.

In an effort to shine a spotlight on local French vendors of food and drink, the guest is invited to understand what they are being served and why, giving a greater transparency to the culinary process. For instance, they are a zero-ice establishment, an unusual feature for a bar, which is driven by their focus on sustainability. As O’Kane shares, “Ice is one of the least sustainable aspects of a bar.”

Guiding the food journey at the establishment is Executive Chef Adam Purcell, once a rising star at Frenchie and Amass, who collaborates closely with O’Kane and Francis. Traditional tasting menus typically focus on the food first, leaving the drink pairing as an afterthought. However, at De Vie, the team collaborates to create a comprehensive experience at each stop in the menu, with each course reflecting the overarching mission of seasonality and sustainability.

Comptoir De Vie aims to transform the culinary culture of Paris, according to Francis. “Coming from our background in world-class bars, and likewise for Adam in the kitchen, we aim to blend these two worlds, creating a new vibe closer to that of a top-tier bar than a traditional fine dining venue.” The restaurant's hyper-seasonal menu celebrates France's abundance of produce at various times of the year. The party, they assure us, has only just begun.