Pierre Sang Boyer & the Ultimate Guessing Game

Pierre Sang Boyer has two restaurants: Pierre Sang in Oberkamf and Pierre Sang on Gambey. They share a corner, so if you go to the wrong one, it’s really going to be okay.

The first time I went to Pierre Sang Boyer in January 2013, it was the start of something new and beautiful. In January in Paris, all you want to do is hide inside your apartment under a bundle of blankets and four pairs of sweatpants with a gallon sized mug of tea and wait there until Mid-April.

So for whatever reason, my two food-loving friends and I decided to venture out for a Thursday night dinner.

The best part about dining at Pierre Sang is that they don’t tell you what you’re eating – they want you to see if you can guess. The tasting menu is no-choice and changes daily, if not within the same service. That’s how creative they are. After you’ve eaten the dish, they come back to hear your guesses and tell you after you’ve finished what it is.

Now for some people, this could be terrifying. Maybe you think they’re going to hide cow tongue in it, or a pigeon foot, and then go “Ha!”. But no.

It’s light, beautiful, French cooking, often with Korean or other Asian influences.

This, to me, is the ultimate fun game. Guess what you’re eating. It’s a test of the taste buds, a trivial pursuit challenge against your knowledge of fish species and spices and vegetables. It’s my favorite. It’s like dinner, cooking class, and game night, all rolled into one.

It was the first time my friends and I had come to Pierre Sang, and we loved it. We talked about all the other restaurants on our ever-growing list that we wanted to try, and we decided then and there that we should have a weekly girls’ dinner. Our weekly dinner would be Thursday night, and we’d start making our way through the list.

We’ve kept the tradition going pretty strong going on three years now. Typically, we call a restaurant the week prior, reserve a table for 4 or 6, and then see who can join. Sometimes we start asking the day before if we’re feeling like planners, but often it’s the day of.

The great thing is that your table of friends is always changing, and for the regulars who come to girls’ night, you build on your friendships, stories, and experiences. Because sitting down for a Paris dinner means locking in for a minimum of 4 hours at the table, just eating and drinking and talking.

If Paris has taught me anything, it has shown me how good it is to gather around a table together and allow for time to connect and build relationships. In the U.S., the mark of good restaurant service is how quickly they can get you in and out of the restaurant, but in France, it’s expected that the meal will be your event for the evening. You settle in, knowing that there will be long pauses between each course, and that you’ll likely leave the restaurant around midnight.

Whether it’s a dinner out or an easy pasta dinner at home, I’m a strong believer in gathering around the table together to share good food. Food brings people together. It slows you down and sits you across the table from a friend or soon-to-be friend to tell stories and talk about life.

So thank you to Pierre Sang Boyer for being the catalyst for a weekly tradition that has brought me to many tables, with many friends, to eat many good things and have many laughs.

Pierre Sang in Oberkamf/ Pierre Sang on Gambey

09.67.31.96.80
pierresangboyer.com (Online reservations)
No-choice tasting menu: Lunch 20€ & dinner 39€

Oberkamf
55 rue Oberkampf, 75011 Paris
Open 7/7 days – Even Sunday & Monday!

Gambey
6 rue Gambey, 75011 Paris
Tue-Sat for lunch & dinner