Method

Overlooking the farmer’s market in the village of La Couarde-sur-mer, Method serves the best alternative currents (natural wines, artsy beers and small-producer spirits) to curious Île de Ré residents with its ultra-fresh menu that’s 20,000 leagues from the other bars on the island. In the small space with concrete floors and a buttercup yellow bar, Tristan Ranteau (who used to work at Mina in Paris) serves six carefully sourced creations, including a very simple cleared with Charente gin and grapefruit water (€12), walking the line between intensity and tang; and a Vieux Normand (Calvados, Catalan vermouth, fig leaf liqueur, €12) that makes bitterness levels rise… Meanwhile, in the kitchens, Jeanne Alméras (ex-Fontaine de Belleville) stitches together some unfussy small plates: zesty arancini; fries as a golden as the Palace of Versailles; and a respectable homemade terrine. The view of the parking lot from the terrace is less than ideal, but everything else will have you coming back for more – again and again! // Paul Hackett