Saturday afternoon, the 15th consecutive day of rain and unseasonal cold, I huddled into Jeanne A to catch up with a friend.  The previous evening, she and her husband had their first experience at Frenchie – the ne plus ultra of Paris néo-bistrots and one of the hardest spots in the city to score a reservation. While they couldn’t deny the exceptional value for such beautifully fresh, imaginative plates, they were put-off by the entirely English-speaking crowd – a ubiquitous reality for today’s top tables once they’ve made the rounds in international press.

So when my friend Sasha (Savoir Faire) booked us a table at the freshly-opened new venture from Saint-Germain stalwarts Juan Sanchez and Drew Harré (the duo behind Cosi, La Dernière Goutte and Fish), I feared we were in for a similar fate. Semilla sits right across the street from Fish, the popular restaurant and petri dish for expats, where english voices bellow from rustic, communal tables. I had only read a few tidbits about this new place prior to going (all promising) but I wasn’t expecting to find myself among a mixed crowd.

Semilla proved me wrong (hooray!). The stone-walled dining room welcomed a predominantly French group with only…

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