restaurant

L'Espousse

Antoine Antoine

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The Boularès family settled down in the heart of the Ardèche department’s hippie epicenter, near the picturesque Vallon-Pont-d’Arc canyon. Mom and dad welcome in customers in the dining room, while their son Tom (who used to work at Likoké in Les Vans) prepares the food. What should you expect exactly? Innovative fare made with local ingredients (cheeses from Virginie Alix in Sainte-Eulalie, lamb from the Ibie Valley, trout from the Gard River, etc.), given a burst of energy from the supernatural wines produced by winemaker friends. The day we went for lunch, seated on the beautiful ivy-laden terrace: a small salad of warm potatoes, minced shallot and fresh basil; a refreshing combination of cucumber and melon caressed by a melon soup drizzled with olive oil; an organic trout fillet from Les Fumades (a tad overcooked, unfortunately), with paper-thin slices of zucchini and rhubarb – or perfectly cooked pork loin in a buttermilk sauce with shaved almonds. // A.A.

FEELING THIRSTY? A naturalist selection of well-chosen Ardèche wines: Hommage à Robert, a red produced by Gilles Azzoni (€8 for a half bottle), Fai Virar, a rosé from Laurent Fell (€24 a bottle), À Toi Nous, a red from Andréa Calek (€24), En Avant Doute, a red from Jérôme Jouret (€23)…
PRICE: Prix-fixe menu €30.

 

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