Is there any better way to rejuvenate that by eating to your heart’s content? After Laurent Audiot during the Gérard Depardieu era, followed by Marc Veyrat for the Moma Group, it’s now the turn of the young upstart Guillaume Benard (Fitz Group), who’s bringing this popular nineteenth-century institution back afloat, enlisting none other than neo-bistro golden boy Roudy Petersen (Vesper, Abstinence and Fitzgerald – also from the same group). In this muted space (patterned wallpaper, plush upholstery, polished silverware, plenty of sparkle), a refined fable unfolds, either in the private salon designed by Lázaro Rosa-Violán or out on the shaded terrace. At lunch the other day, we went all in: scallop carpaccio with grapefruit and passion fruit, a bracing, generously sea-sprayed opener; followed by pristine steamed turbot doused in a glorious caper jus sweetly reduced with artichoke, served with turnip, leek and crowned with samphire; or the more carnivorous option of hand-cut steak tartare, impeccably seasoned with peppery raw egg yolk, finely chopped shallots, fresh chervil and capers – backed, naturally, by a mountain of crispy fries. And to finish on a sweet note: a shatteringly crisp mille-feuille filled with a lavish vanilla cream. The moral of the story? Pure bliss. · Angela Dolu

FEELING THIRSTY? Sommelier David Rougier has carefully hand-picked around 200 labels: Alpha-Omega, a sancerre from Domaine Guillerault-Fargette (€19 a glass), Le Rang Du Merle, a 2020 beaujolais from Jean-Claude Lapalu (€94 a bottle) or Côteaux Bourguignons, a chardonnay from Domaine Prieuré Roch (€186).

PRICE: Daily special €26-32, appetizers €22-38, mains €30-95, sides €9, cheeses €19, desserts €6-21 (except Sundays), kids-friendly brunch €35-65, hors d’oeuvres €14-85 (Sundays).