In Sargé, we knew Les Saisons, the village restaurant. Now, you’ll have to call it Osma, the brainchild of Emmanuel Lacroix and chef Valentin Barbera, who used to work under Christian Têtedoie in Lyon. The dining room is sleek – black and white tones, wood – with Starck chairs and chic vintage tabletops mounted on modern legs, upon which you’ll find Montmirail knives and tableware by the ceramicist Michael Buckley from Orléans… What about the cuisine? Minimalist and sometimes crazy creations by Valentin, inspired by the top-notch, organic and local ingredients (vegetables, meat, honey, saffron) on a four-course menu: very fresh split pea purée with green peas; carnal red kuri squash intensified by the addition of home-smoked trout, shiso, Thai basil and marigold; tender dry-aged Galician steak with wild asparagus, zucchini and a mind-blowing reduction; a sort of tender apple terrine with cider, caramel, vanilla cream and hemp shoots. // Ringo de Balmalon
FEELING THIRSTY? A beautiful collection of living wines: Depuis Le Temps, an Aude white from the Domaine Guilhem Barré (€5 a glass), Magic of Ju-Ju, an Anjou white from Mosse (€35 a bottle), a Slovenian orange wine from Simona and Aleks Klinec (€68), Picrochole, a Coteaux-du-Vendômois red from Ariane Lesné (€35), Silex dry hard cider from Antoine Marois (€21), local beer from La Valennoise (€5.50 for 330 ml) or organic TK kefir and kombucha (€3 for 330 ml).
PRICE: Menus €29 (lunch from Thursday to Friday), €38-44 and €85.
