A Vegan Pop-up Brunch in Paris

As everyday passes, there seem to be more and more options for vegans popping up (literally, in this case) in Paris. (Some of my favorite spots can be found here.) It’s a far cry from the meat-and-cheese-and-sauce diet that French cuisine is famed for, but also shows how the city is evolving beyond tradition to embrace creativity.

The Hood, a charming coffee shop with retro décor in Paris’ hip 11e arrondissement, graciously invited me for a brunch cooked up by Yun, a yoga teacher who lives in Paris and specializes in vegetarian cuisine. She has been working on her recipe for her veggie burger for years, and after tasting it, I’m pretty sure she’s perfected it. Yun and her partner-in-crime Amina worked side-by-side in The Hood’s open kitchen, taking time to stop and chat with diners.

The veggie burger is made with quinoa, sweet potatoes, carrots, and other veggies mixed together before being topped with homemade guacamole and vegan mayo. But the star of the brunch for me was the vegan chocolate mousse—it was light as air with just the right amount of sweetness, allowing the chocolate to shine under a sprinkle of coconut flakes. The secret to their recipe? Avocados to make it creamy and bananas for sweetness. It was a winning combination in my book, and one that didn’t leave me feeling like I was in a sugar haze or weighed down by dessert.

As a side note, The Hood serves up coffee roasted at the Belleville Brûlerie, one of the OG-new wave coffee roasters in Paris (if you find yourself in Paris on a Saturday, head up to their spot in Belleville where the roasting happens to taste the featured coffee of the day and take in a non-cliché view of the city). I love this in-depth article about Paris’ coffee revolution if you are interested in learning more about it, and be sure to check out my favorite working cafés if you are ever searching for a place to work/check Facebook in Paris.

The chefs featured at The Hood’s pop-up brunches change every weekend (and a few of my friends will be cooking up a storm the first weekend in June, so go and tell them I sent you!), so be sure to follow along to see who will be featured next. It surely makes for a unique Parisian dining experience!

Editor’s Note: The Hood offered me a complimentary brunch in exchange for this post, but all opinions are my own.