Meraki

Blue tones, plus plenty of wood and stone touches… Welcome to this bistro run by two friends who met in Melbourne – Maxime Bocquier in the kitchen (Lamaccotte, La Mare aux Oiseaux) and Clément Richard in the dining room – who, in barely two years, have won over the local foodies in the Place Viarme neighborhood. The night we went, the menu took us on a flavor-packed five-course journey, which began with an enigmatic stroll through the garden – tender iceberg lettuce, a lettuce heart jus and onion jam; before taking to the open seas with an incredible squid ink sponge cake, goose neck barnacles, clams and a squid ink tuile; followed by some delightful meagre with braised fennel and lemony tzatziki; surprising siphoned sheep’s milk cheese and a sunflower seed praliné center; before poached rhubarb, grated beetroot, thyme sugar tuile, mint cream and rhubarb sorbet for the impressive dessert. Total meraki (“something done with love, passion, creativity” in Greek)! // Catherine Jamon

FEELING THIRSTY? Often-organic wines with around 15 labels served by the glass, including a Muscadet from the Domaine de l’Écu (€6), an Alsatian Pinot gris from Josmeyer (€36 a bottle) or a Cadurcian Malbec from Fabien Jouves (€58). 
PRICE: Tasting menus €19-24 (lunch) and €40-48 (dinner).