Elements

Best restaurant of 2018

People, this place is a real gem! After globetrotting for a few years (New Zealand, Bali, Norway…), Anthony Orjollet has set down his knives at a roadside bistro/wine shop with lots of wooden furniture (oak tables, lime tree benches…), which always fills up quick. The reasons for his success? A hardline stance (no gluten, no dairy, no sugar, so therefore no dessert!), local organic ingredients (vegetables from the Landes department, fish from the Ciboure market…), often natural wines, and low prices! The night of our visit: a vivifying Albacore tuna tartare with grated ginger, thinly sliced cucumber, dried kale and purple oxalis (€10); impeccable line-caught hake cooked teppanyaki-style, with broad beans, peas and cauliflower in almond milk (€13). And what about those wines? €4 for a glass of white Gaillac, Les Greilles, from Patrice Lescarret; €9 for a glass of white cuvée Marguerite from Tom Lubbe; and there’s no corkage fee to pop open this excellent Bordaxuria (an Irouléguy rouge, €14), for example. À la carte €23-33. // Philippe Lafon