For the last 13 years, this bistro run by Carole and Benjamin Soubeiran – who are now backed up in the kitchen by their daughter Loli Rose – has been bringing a little excitement to the village of Lunel, on the edge of the Petite Camargue region. And if the daughter of a butcher/charcuterie maker was raised on large cuts of meat, these days she honors beautiful fish and vegetables from the region, all improved by natural wines, which can be sipped on the magnificent ivy-covered patio or in the elegant 19th-century building with blood red walls and terrazzo tile floors. The day we went for lunch, we had: delicate siphoned artichoke mousse with artichoke leaf chips; delicious slow-cooked sander fillet served under a fermented milk coulis infused with thyme from the neighboring scrubland; and for the sweet finale, divine bread ice cream with a wild licorice cream, eggnog and a honey bread tuile (made with local honey), plus a Camargue rice pudding and granola as a bonus dessert. // Nour Passages
FEELING THIRSTY? : Benjamin serves up natural wines: Illico, a Côtes-Catalanes white from the Domaine des Schistes or Saint Seau, a Languedoc red from the Domaine de Bartassou (€8 a glass), a chignin-bergeron from Claude Quenard (€32 a bottle), along with a refreshing ginger beer from Renaud Suquet, plus a beautiful selection of rums (including an aged Martinique HSE at €12 a glass) and gins (a Canadian Saint-Laurent at €9).
PRICE: : Set menus €35-45 (weekday lunch) and €75 (dinner and Saturday lunch), food and wine pairings €30.
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