Fellows

By the editorial team of Paris.Bouge / June, 17th 2024

Opened a year ago, Maslow has won over Parisians with its creative, comforting vegetarian cuisine. Building on this success, the same team opened Fellows in the 10th arrondissement. A restaurant just as committed to responsible sourcing, anti-waste and well-being at work, while promising to serve “veggie & sexy” dishes.

Fellows focuses on pasta, with unique and personal recipes created by chef and co-founder Mehdi Favri. On the go at the counter or shared with friends over a large guest table, pasta is prepared by hand. At Fellows, fresh, artisanal pasta is made from French agro-ecological flour, direct from producers.

Chef Mehdi Favri draws inspiration from his memories and travels to create sunny, generous dishes. Among the recipes on the menu are Beurre-fromage, pici with Béarn tomme cream, Romesco with Iberian flavors, Ravioli with mushrooms and miso, and Harissa with spicy malfadins. No Parmesan here, but Béarn tomme to grate as you like, accompanied by homemade chili oil.

ParisBouge’s review of Fellows

Barely open, we’re already at Fellows, Maslow’s little brother, which has just landed at the top end of rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis. This lively, popular district now boasts a fresh pasta counter.

Comptoir, because most of the seats here are in counter mode. Whether facing the kitchen or the street, at Fellows you sit side by side. For face-to-face dining, however, there’s this long table in the center, a hybrid between counter and table d’hôtes, and a few bistro tables with chairs and benches, as well as a huge table in the basement facing the pasta-making workshop. A good idea for group dinners. Architect Juliette Rubel, already at work at Maslow, is responsible for Fellows’ modern decor.

In the kitchen at Fellows is chef Mehdi Favri. While the dishes on his menu remain focused on pastas, the starters are very veggie. It’s colorful and naughty, just like Maslow, but a little more raw. We opted for freshness with broccolini (8€) – which their producer planted at their request to avoid importing – seasoned with gremolata. Faced with our usual hesitation, we also ordered the beet carpaccio (6€) spiced up with a lemon-orange chipotle gel and sprinkled with dukkah (a Middle Eastern blend of mixed seeds and nuts) for a little texture. True to form, the chef draws his inspiration from the four corners of the globe, as with our Mafaldines harissa tomatoes and ancho chili, which take us from Tunis to Tulum. A dish for less than a tenner (€9). The mafaldines are large, the harissa has a sweating effect that quickly fades, and the lemon zest in the sauce is refreshing. At this price, the portions are rather average in size. This lunchtime, we’re eating solo, otherwise we’d have shared a second plate (which is actually what the house recommends). So we dipped our plates in focaccia, which replaced the bread on the table, and headed for the desserts for a small bowl of choco mousse with its large, crunchy choco shavings, drizzle of olive oil and hint of spice. We wondered about the concept of Maslow-style pasta, but it worked. At Fellows, we’ve rediscovered what made Maslow such a success: that gourmet vegetal touch, so gourmet that you forget there’s no meat here. The prices are low, the recipes inspired by world food, and the place is very open and friendly. And don’t forget: Fellows has a digital waiting list system, so you can go for a drink or a stroll and wait to be notified by text message when your table is ready if you haven’t made a reservation.