Two backpacking buddies (Kristian Poppe from Belgium and Juan Matias Ferreyra from Argentina) who struck up a friendship at the restaurant-wine shop Aldo’s in Buenos Aires + a 19th-century sheepfold with breathtaking views of the Pyrenees foothills and the Midi d’Ossau peak = a rustic cocoon of a space (rough stone walls, exposed rafters, wood-clad walls) where the Basque-Béarn terroir sings. On the table, you’ll only find high-born products – fish from the Saint-Jean-de-Luz fish market, meats from the Moure farm in Sévignacq-Meyracq, vegetables from Vincent Mialocq in Lys, cheeses from the Hourquet goat farm, homemade sourdough bread. For us, the day we went for lunch: a lovely cream of greuil de chèvre (whey-based goat cheese), Daubenton cabbage salad with a fermented black garlic sauce and shaved coppa; comforting veal stew with squash purée, green lentils and roasted potatoes; and an incredible almond financier with chocolate cream, cinnamon-spiced poached pear, molasses ice cream and toasted hazelnuts for dessert. // Gérard Roubeix

FEELING THIRSTY? Low-intervention wines: a Madiran from the Labranche Laffont (€5 a glass), Contrastes, a Jurançon sec from the Domaine Coustarret (€27 a bottle), La Suite, a Coteau-du-Quercy red from the Domaine Lafage (€29).
PRICE: Menus €20 (weekday lunch) and €30 (dinner and weekends).