Le Bol en Bois. Open in 1969, the "wooden bowl" is the oldest macrobiotic restaurants in the city. Good food: miso soup, seaweed soup, sushi.
35, rue Pascal. 75013. 01 47 07 07 01. Daily except Sun., 12pm-2:30pm, 7pm-9:30pm. Metro: Gobelins

Abel Hag Pujol, 38 year old chef/owner of Haiku restaurant.

Q. Why did you open this restaurant?

A. It is a long story. I went to business school and then I worked with a group of people to open the first supermarket chain of organic produce, ÒLes Nouveaux RobinsonÓ. I was a manager, but I often was the one cooking for the staff. I enjoyed that. The next step was to open my own place, which I did in 1999.

Q. But how did you become interested in food?

A. It is part of a long search. After business school, I started a personal quest and I became a Sufi. My master sent me to study macrobiotics in Beckett, a place between Boston and New York. Food is part of the spiritual quest. I spent three months there.

Q. WhatÕs the concept of Haiku?

A. It is a restaurant of fresh noodles in the Japanese tradition. I was inspired by something I saw in London where this type of restaurant is more common. Our imperative is Quality, Freshness and Taste. We make the noodles ourselves and soups. Everything is organic. We have two kinds of noodles: fresh or sauted in a wok. We change the noodles to follow the seasons. For instance, in summer, weÕll have noodles with basil, mozzarela, dill and fresh sardines.

Q. Who comes to Haiku?

A. We have people from the new economy/high tech, but also lots of people in show business, fashion, architecture, film. It is a mixed crowd.