In Paris, an au revoir meal at divin

Paris is good to my comings and goings – little things to welcome me back or make me miss her when I go.

Before heading out for the summer, I bumped into Fred Valade in the northern reaches of Belleville while looking for my last lunch in Paris and asked where to get a good steak tartare in the neighborhood. He gave me a "no-can-do'' shrug and instead pointed me toward the new divin restaurant – a shiny, new and unfettered by capital letters.

The concept isn’t new, but there’s nothing to be tired of: a product-centric menu that cleverly goes easy on the chef at service time and a host of good organic and natural production wines. The restaurant is run by a pair of brothers, but divin is a direct cousin of the likes of La Crèmerie and Le Verre Volé; the more the merrier for this kind of place.

I had a thick slab of chunky pâté, full of deep, meaty and wonderfully liver-y flavor, all protected by a snow-white layer of fat and served with big, plump capers and good bread.
I washed it down with a (well-recommended) Côtes du Rhône, smacked my lips, and headed to the airport with a smile.

divin
35 rue des Annelets
75019 Paris
011 33 1 40 40 79 41

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo of organic and natural production wines at the Crus et Decouvertes wine shop in the 11th by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe