Alexandre Gauthier, Le Guide Fooding’s 2016 Man of the Year

At the back of a pretty cobblestoned courtyard in a space done up with bricks, stones, wood and spinning spits, Alexandre Gauthier’s (La Grenouillère) batrachian tavern is rekindling the flames of master meat roasters. The night we went, the menu was fit for hungry bellies: delicious peas grown locally that were softly sweet, with mint pesto and faisselle cheese from Montcavrel; perfect fatty pork chops from the Haut-Boulonnais, cooked at a low temperature and then roasted on the spit, with a veal jus, potatoes and salad; before an orgasmic lava cake – we tried our best to get the closely guarded secret recipe… Other house roasts deserving of special mention include the lamb shoulder, the cockerel and the Licques quail stuffed with lemon and sage. // F.P.

FEELING THIRSTY? Craft Quentovic beer (€6 for 330 ml) and nice wines: a Pouilly-Fumé from Nicolas Gaudry (€5.50 a glass), a Saint-Pourçain red from Les Terres de Roa (€6.50), a Coteaux-d’Aix rosé from the Domaine de Sulauze (€26 a bottle)…

PRICE: Menu €24-31, mains €16.