After my fifth dinner at Muse I decided I had to expand my horizons. And so I hiked up to the shabby part of the 3rd arrondissment to Autour d’un Verre (21 rue de Trévise, 75009 Paris, tel 01 48 24 43 74).

Last year American Kevin and Swedish Marie were bitten by the natural wine bug and decided to convert their internet café, into a wine bistro. The place is like some messy college kids dorm room. The wine list is tiny, packed with winemakers on the rise, and none higher than 28 euro. The comfort-style food is modestly priced (plats are under 12 euro; cod steak with hefty dose of pink peppercorns and lime peel, great salads and tartines). This is an address to seek out--even if the environment is coffee-house collegiate. The couple on our left (accompanied by well-behaved child and rather huge, elderly dog) eats and drinks here on nights their own restaurant is shuttered. When they left, Marie and Kevin took their place and poured us one of their new favorite wines, a rich, sunny wine from the Ardeche, Azzoni’s, L'Ange et Le Raisin Hommage à Robert. This was one of the friendliest nights out I’ve ever had in Paris.