Maju

MA(rine) takes care of customers while JU(lien Baradel) is hard at work in the kitchen. The duo opened their modernist spot (hardwood floors, white and pale green walls, an open kitchen) on the Quai du Port in La Turballe on December 31st, 2022. That’s where the chef, who used to work for Ducasse, unveils locavore cuisine that’s impressively aesthetic and full of pep! The summer day we went for lunch, after some clever amuse-bouches (Parmesan shortbread topped with minty peas and trout roe, or line-caught hake escabeche enhanced with buttermilk, sherry vinegar and roasted green pepper oil), we had mackerel from the local seafood market prepared two ways – salted, smoked and then flash-seared on the salamander grill, and as a tartare atop a tartlet with Les Jardins de Kerpondarmes cucumber tagliatelle, plus marjoram oil and makrut lime sauce; then a quenelle made with guinea fowl from Saint-Molf, given a twist with mussels from Kercabellec and celery root from Huitric; as a main, a “simple” slow-cooked yellow pollack fillet paired with black olive tapenade, a locally-caught anchovy hollandaise sauce, and a zucchini blossom with green vegetables; plus strawberries prepared as a light vacherin for dessert, with Brière honey cream and daikon ice cream! // Larosé

FEELING THIRSTY? : A beautiful selection of living wines: a biodynamic muscadet from La Pépière (€8 a glass), Les Montagnes Bleues, a fruity red cévenol from Le Mas Foulaquier (€36 a bottle), Le Pressoir, a fine Cheverny red from the Domaine des Huards (€69).
PRICE: : Set menus €45 (Thursday and Friday at lunch except school vacation weeks and national holidays), €70 and €90.