A stone’s throw from Cours Ju’. Alexis Couët (ex-La Robe and Le Palais in Paris) and Serge Lacombe (the owner of Les Rouquins and Giulia, both of which are in Paris) have docked a neo-café with a zinc-topped bar that can seat six, and big wicker baskets covering the ceiling – a Vivier (or “fish tank”) where you can catch yourself a very briny dinner. From inside the kitchen, Corentin Mailloux (ex-Hôtel Amour Nice) unveiled a menu brimming with sea spray, which still had the kinks being worked out the night we went: a half-dozen Isigny oysters, served with seaweed butter and some lovely bread from Pain Pan!; palourde clams swimming around in a seafood broth that lacked a little complexity; sea urchin that was whipped up by a lovely cardamom Bisque emulsion; a delicious scallop carpaccio caressed by coconut oil; a temaki-style cone of nori seaweed, wrapped around a ling tartare and rice that was unfortunately a little overcooked; an exquisite soup that combined corn, crabmeat and spicy jalapeño; before an incredible chocolate cake with lime zest. For lunch, you’ll find more briny options: razor clams in persillade, mussels cooked in chorizo… // Antoine Antoine
FEELING THIRSTY? Strong choices ahead: a Sancerre white from the Domaine Pellé (€7 a glass), an orange Roussillon wine produced by Marc Barriot (€35 a bottle), a Pouilly-Vinzelles from La Soufrandière (€55)…
PRICE: Plates €7-12, oysters €15 for a half-dozen.
