01 A casa · The house
The soul of our village,in the heart of the capital
Since 2015, U Mulinu has been ferrying family recipes across the Mediterranean, somewhere between a restaurant, a wine bar and sheer macagne.
We take the food seriously. Ourselves, never.
U Mulinu is Charles Rocchi’s mill, the one that did nothing but sing, the one every Corsican has somewhere back in the village. We put ours on boulevard de l’Hôpital and taught it the rest: to stew, to serve, and to serve again.
It is also a family story that came up to Paris: recipes learned in the village, a dining room carved out of stone and wood, and the accent to go with it. Here, the house serves the Corsica you eat, the Corsica you drink, and the Corsica you tell.
The charcuterie comes over from the island, the ewe’s and goat’s milk cheeses take their time in the cellar, and the nepita, the little wild mint that grows in my garden back in the village, works its way from the fritters right into the peach soup.
On the walls, Marcè Lepidi’s reworked icons; in the room, macagne, the Corsican art of taking the mickey: it’s free, and we never need asking twice.
The cellar takes the same road: Patrimonio, Ajaccio, Figari, Pietra chestnut beers, myrte and cédrat, the island’s myrtle and citron liqueurs, and a few bottles we only bring out if we like you. As for that coppa you liked, the cured pork loin, it goes home under your arm too: just ask at the bar.
« There’s no moment when we feel more at home than when our elders teach us the secrets that will probably be lost one day. For me it was the cooking, always full of a thousand scents, that my grandmother made for us with a real love of good things, and the stories my grandfather told me on the long walks, bringing the animals down from the mountain. At U Mulinu we probably won’t give away all our secrets, but we promise you a fine journey, full of history. »
The story is better told at the table.