Elements

Best restaurant of 2018

Located along the highway between a hair salon and an optician’s office, free spirit Anthony Orjollet is still delighting crowds at Elements. In a space that feels a bit like a teenager’s bedroom (painted skateboards hung on the wall, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Radiohead playing in the background) that’s been converted into an almost clandestine restaurant (wooden benches, bottles and jars of lacto-fermented vegetables on display), the chef has done away with lactose, gluten and added sugars, without giving into any kill-joy diet fads. The result? The kitchen fires out some rather tantalizing dishes… During our last lunch there: generous taloa, a corn galette which you wrap up around itself with Ibaïama ham, grated carrots and kale, etc. (and now voted the world’s best sandwich); perfect smoked carrots over a fermented cashew cream with red beans from Tolosa; incredible leeks charred on the barbecue and pimped with seaweed, flowers and yuzu juice; delicious white asparagus from the Landes topped with lardo di Colonnata; tonic octopus with golden polenta and a spicy tomato condiment; before a slice of chocolate cake under rice pudding, sprinkled with peanuts for the delightful dessert. // J.G.

FEELING THIRSTY? Ultra-natural, ultra-local wines: 0,0 Sulfitos, a red from Navarre (€5 a glass); Soleil d’Automne, a Jurançon from the Domaine Burgué-Séré (€35 a bottle)… Plus a few favorites from elsewhere, like the Aude orange wine from the Domaine de Courbissac (€7 a glass) or the Muscadet-Sèvre-et-Maine from Jo Landron (€20).

PRICE: Taloa (pork or vegan) €8, mains €6-17 (lunch), €9-27 (dinner), menu €44 (dinner).