Presto fresco

Here is a traditional Italian restaurant which is a 9-minute walk from Relais du Louvre and is worth the visit: A real trattoria with quality food, a popular family atmosphere where everyone seems to know each other, a singing chef, easy-going communication, banter from the owner…and reasonable prices. All the people and noise must be accepted as the typical Neapolitan ambiance. If you are the type who stirs your coffee with your little pinky finger raised, then keep going.

Angelo Berti and his brother Alberto, who founded the restaurant, come from the village of Cassandrino, near Naples, where their father and other artisans and friends from the surrounding countryside decided to found a cooperative called Presto Fresco. The Presto Fresco restaurant is the only restaurant in France resulting from this cooperative.

All food products on sale in the trattoria and served at the restaurant are stamped “Zero km” which means a guaranteed freshness of 3 days between the artisan producer and the consumer. If you like the restaurant’s dishes, you have the opportunity to buy their products to prepare them for yourself at home: mozzarella burrata, ravioli and tutti quanti.

As you enter, you will see a counter overflowing with mozzarella, shellfish, antipasto, and lots of dishes and flasks to stimulate the taste buds.

The back room is spacious and there is also a room upstairs. The pizza oven is prominent and the surroundings are very rustic from the stucco and old parquet floor to the shelves painted with old-fashioned lettering and the Italian wines from all the provinces. It all gives the feeling of tradition and sunshine!

The menu is full of choices. All the traditional Italian dishes are offered starting with a very complete assortment of homemade mozzarella served with arugula, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, and homemade jam: Bufala Campana, Burrata, Truffle Burrata, Gorgonzola, etc. I recommend that you order a burrata and  share it. You will also find a wide choice of traditional appetizers (grilled vegetables, octopus and squid, hams and Bresaola, etc.) 

They also offer a very wide variety of pizzas. 12 varieties of “Pizza Rosso “, the red Neapolitan pizza made from tomato sauce, and 8 varieties of “Pizza Bianca,” the white pizza which is the original popular pizza with various products aside from tomato (olive oil, herbs, market vegetables according to what is in season, etc.). Prices range from €9 for the classic Neapolitan Pizza to €19 for the Funghi pizza (porcini mushrooms). Count on an average of €14 for a pizza which is quite reasonable.

The menu is also rich in fresh pasta and stuffed pasta: 14 fresh pasta dishes from €11 to 19 and 12 stuffed pasta dishes from €14 to 19.

Then comes the inevitable tiramisu, panacotta, profiteroles, baba limoncello, etc. 9 different desserts between €8 and 9. 

Homemade olive bread and a wide selection of Italian wines at reasonable prices.

Buon appetito!

PRESTO FRESCO
http://www.prestofresco.fr/
Open daily from 12 noon to 11 pm.
4 rue Montmartre, 75001 Paris.
Tel.: 01 40 26 83 94