L'Antidote

The antidote to what? To when you’ve got the blues! Consider these 500 labels of wine stored in a temperature-controlled cellar cared for by Paul Orjubin, who has an impressive sommelier background, including four years working for Gagnaire in London. Trust us when we say you should come running to this 17th- to 18th-century granite house (two big dining rooms with fireplaces, communal tables and a divine little courtyard with hydrangeas leaning up against the old ramparts). It also boasts some serious culinary merit: on the menu, you’ll find options like thinly sliced beef gravlax pulsating with spices; impressively fresh hake tartare with zingy diced apple and celery, over a bed of chard and bulgur wheat; and a monstrous Eton mess made with voluptuous whipped cream and homemade meringue. Plus, prime rib for two on the dinner menu, in addition to charcuterie boards, eggs mimosa, curried beef samosas, clams cooked in citrus beurre blanc sauce… after a trip through the wine cellar, of course. // Adrien Nouviaire 

FEELING THIRSTY? : Natural wines (along with a few conventional options as well) with prices that are reined in: a Loire chenin produced by Mosse (€34), L’Accent, a Var rosé from Le Clos de l’Ours (€30), a Beaujolais from Mee Godard (€27), No Wine’s Lands, a Rhone wine from Matthieu Barret (€36), Haute Côt(e) de Fruit, a cahors from Fabien Jouves (€18), a 2010 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-pape at €300; and around 20 wines served by the glass (€5-19), including a Touraine gamay from Les Athlètes du Vin and a condrieu from Bonnefond.  
PRICE: : Set menu €15-25 (lunch), à la carte €8-40.