From bar-tobacconist to village bistro, it’s a natural evolution – and one the Lovati fanily has perfected! For over fifty years, they’ve been serving breakfast through dinner on the postcard-pretty square of Nonza, a hilltop gem on Cap Corse. That lunchtime, under the plane trees, the cooking felt both generous and quietly inventive: a Sardinian fregola salad studded with fried artichokes, feta, pickled pears, zucchini and pickled onions; a grilled cheese on organic country bread from Farina in Furiani, layered with baked ham, sweet potato and gooey melted cheddar; a bun lavishly filled with gently spiced shredded lamb, slow cooked for seven hours, lifted by burnt lemon relish and shallot compote. Other grazeables to share (or not) include plates of Corsican farm cheeses with homemade jam, or charcuterie from Pierre-Jean Gristi in Saint-Florent. Seal the deal with dessert like an intriguing “flankie” (a cross between a flan and a cookie) or moist pistachio cake served with crème anglaise and crunchy granola. · Maude Zarella

FEELING THIRSTY? Homemade lemonade and freshly squeezed fruit juices (€3.50 and €3.80), plus a smart selection of natural local wines: Uva, a Patrimonio white from Clos Marfisi (€29 a bottle), a red Saint-Pancrace from Domaine Pinelli (€34); or eminently drinkable bottles from Antoine-Marie Arena and Nicolas Mariotti-Bindi (€32).

PRICE: Breakfast €6.10, mains €9-23, desserts €9.