I ate at a buzzy Paris restaurant with unlimited chocolate mousse on the menu. Now, I recommend it to everyone I know.

29.09.2024 - 14:27 / insider.com

Whenever I realize a friend is in Paris — likely via a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower's shimmering lights or a snap of the sun hitting the Louvre Pyramid just right — my response is always the same.

"I have the perfect restaurant for you," I tell them over an Instagram DM.

This scenario happened more frequently over the past few months as a new influx of tourists flooded the city for the 2024 Summer Olympics. But my love story with Chez Janou began years prior, on a chilly January night.

I was planning a trip to Paris in that first month of 2020 — blissfully unaware it'd be my last vacation for the next two years — and had saved several recommendations I spotted on the Instagram of former Business Insider food video producer Herrine Ro. Still fairly new at the company, I had never met Ro but loved her videos and trusted her taste.

As I prepared my itinerary and booked reservations, I committed the recs to memory: croissants at La Maison d'Isabelle, duck at La Grange Aux Canards, pasta at Domenico's, and a giant chocolate mousse at Chez Janou.

A post shared by Chez Janou officiel (@chezjanou)

On my first night in France, I walked under Chez Janou's green-and-white striped awning just after 11 p.m. The lights were low, the space cramped, and the atmosphere electric.

A yellow menu was placed before me, each dish written in bouncy cursive alongside a small bowl of pitted olives. Before that night, I had always believed olives weren't for me — a claim that often prompted cries I was a "terrible Greek." But it had been a long day of traveling, and I was famished. So I popped one in my mouth.

The flesh of that first olive, slicked with garlic, surprised me. It was deliciously rich, delivering so much depth and flavor in one tiny bite. I tried another, then another, my tongue dancing with brine.

"Am I an olive person now?" I asked myself, as another thought quickly popped into my head: "My mom is going to be so happy about this."

Emboldened by my newfound olive fandom, I knew I wanted to try a dish I never ordered back in the US. Thanks to a kind waiter who helped translate the all-French menu, I settled on risotto with scallops.

Four years later, I still recall how plump and tender each scallop tasted. Their sweet and buttery flavor melded magically with the creamy risotto, its sauce shimmering romantically under the lights.

Then came the famous chocolate mousse that had first tempted me through Chez Janou's doors. The decadent dish, a mainstay on the menu, is served from a massive bowl and plopped right onto your plate. Unlimited servings cost just €9, or about $10.

It's a delightful spectacle that has made Chez Janou quite popular on TikTok over the past two years — but don't let that dissuade you.

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