Gluten-free · Paris 12
Brittany built its cooking on buckwheat, which is not a cereal and contains no gluten. Ten of our twenty-two dishes are marked gluten-free, from the andouille tasting to the cheese course. We are not a certified kitchen, and this page says exactly where the limits are.
Ty Louis, a Breton restaurant at 240 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, marks ten of its twenty-two dishes as gluten-free, across starters, mains and the cheese course. Breton cooking is built on buckwheat, which is not a cereal and contains no gluten, so this is the cuisine rather than a separate menu. The kitchen is not a certified gluten-free environment, so tell your server when you order.
The list
10 dishes on the current menu are marked gluten-free. Named, so you can decide before you sit down.
Starters
Mains
Desserts
The menu is seasonal, so this list follows it. The full menu in English carries the same markings, dish by dish, with prices.
Why a Breton menu
The reason so much of this menu happens to be gluten-free has nothing to do with a dietary trend and everything to do with poor Breton soil.
Despite the French name blé noir, which translates as black wheat, buckwheat is not a grass and not a grain. It belongs to the same botanical family as sorrel and rhubarb. That is why it contains no gluten at all, rather than a small amount.
Buckwheat spread across Brittany in the 15th century precisely because it grew on poor, acidic soil where wheat struggled. What began as a constraint became the region’s signature ingredient, and it is farmed organically in Brittany again today.
A cuisine built on buckwheat, salted butter, pork, shellfish, vegetables and cider does not need much wheat. That is the difference between a restaurant with a gluten-free option and a restaurant where a good part of the menu simply never contained gluten.
In the bread and the pastry. Our table bread is a sourdough loaf and is not gluten-free, and neither is most of the dessert list: kouign-amann, far breton, brioche are all built on wheat pastry. This is why our gluten-free dessert is the Breton cheese course rather than a cake.
Being straight with you
Gluten-free is a medical constraint for some of our guests, not a preference. So here are the limits, before you book rather than after.
Ty Louis holds no gluten-free certification, and the kitchen is not a dedicated gluten-free environment: bread and pastry containing wheat are prepared in the same space. If you are coeliac rather than gluten-avoiding, that distinction matters, and we would rather you hear it from us.
The dishes marked gluten-free on the menu are marked on their recipe. Seasonings, garnishes and the day’s substitutions can change, so say it when you order and the kitchen will confirm what it can do for you that day.
We are not going to pretend otherwise. The dessert list is built on Breton pastry, which is wheat. The gluten-free option is the aged organic Breton cheese tasting from the Kerguillet dairy, which is a very good way to finish, but it is not a cake.
Our table bread is a sourdough loaf from the Breton baker Thierry Breton, and it is not gluten-free. We offer no gluten-free substitute, so a gluten-free meal here is a meal without bread.
Practical
Mention it when you book and again when you order. Off-peak you can walk in without a reservation, but telling us in advance gives the kitchen time to think about your side dishes and your dessert rather than improvising once you are seated. Book online, or call us on 06 73 08 54 13 and ask for whoever is on the floor.
If you want the background on why a Breton menu looks like this, there is a guide to Breton food explaining buckwheat, salted butter and the rest. And if you are arriving at an awkward hour, we serve right through the afternoon, which most Paris kitchens do not.
Good to know
Ty Louis, in the 12th arrondissement between Bastille and Nation, marks ten of its twenty-two dishes as gluten-free. Breton cooking is built on buckwheat, which contains no gluten, so this is not a separate menu bolted on to a wheat-based kitchen. We are not certified gluten-free, so tell your server when you order.
Yes. Buckwheat is not a cereal and not a grass, despite the French name blé noir, which means black wheat. It is botanically related to sorrel and rhubarb, and it contains no gluten. Pure buckwheat flour is gluten-free; a blended flour is not, which is why the question is worth asking wherever you eat.
A galette is traditionally made with buckwheat flour, which is gluten-free in itself. Whether a given crêperie uses pure buckwheat or a blend is a question for that crêperie, not for us, and it is worth asking. At Ty Louis the question does not arise: we serve no crêpes and no galettes at all.
Ten dishes across the menu: the Guémené andouille tasting, the roasted organic Breton cauliflower, the half Camembert with buckwheat honey, the string-tied andouillette, the smoked aubergine with buckwheat tabbouleh, the beef tartare, the seafood sauerkraut, the Luguen salad, the Roscoff sand carrots four ways, and the aged Breton cheese tasting. Two of them are also vegetarian.
That is your call to make with the facts. The dishes marked gluten-free are gluten-free by recipe, and a good part of our cuisine never contained wheat. But we hold no gluten-free certification and the kitchen is not a dedicated environment: wheat bread and pastry are handled in the same space, so we cannot rule out cross-contamination. Tell us when you book and when you order, and we will tell you honestly what we can do.
One: the tasting of aged organic Breton cheeses from the Kerguillet dairy. The rest of the dessert list is Breton pastry, which is wheat-based, and we would rather say so than improvise.
No. Our table bread is a sourdough loaf from the Breton baker Thierry Breton and is not gluten-free, and we do not offer a substitute. A gluten-free meal here is a meal without bread.
Yes, two main courses are both: the smoked aubergine with mint buckwheat tabbouleh, and the organic Roscoff sand carrots served four ways. Both are full main courses, not side dishes.
The buckwheat version is, and that is the one we serve from October to May: the farz is a buckwheat pudding cooked in a cloth bag. Note that Brittany also has a wheat version, farz gwenn, so it is worth checking which one you are being served anywhere else.
It helps. Booking is not required off-peak, but mentioning it when you reserve gives the kitchen time to think about your dessert and your side dishes rather than improvising at the table. You can book online or call us on 06 73 08 54 13.
Reservations
Tuesday to Saturday, lunch and dinner, non-stop service.
240 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, between Bastille and Nation.