After cooking at Jean des Sables in Hossegor for 10 years (owned by chef Jean Cousseau), Patrice Lubet decided to go solo in this tiny restaurant (anthracite walls, chestnut tables) across from the Capbreton harbor. Seafood – sourced primarily from the local fish market – is no laughing matter here. Served on the prix-fixe menu the day we went for lunch: a strikingly fresh organic trout gravlax, caught in the Ariège River, smoked in house and covered in lovage, onions and meunière-infused toasts; an irreproachable grilled mackerel caressed by a cheese emulsion, plus bok choy, carrots, Vietnamese rice and a pimentón cream; before a fine chocolate lava cake with vanilla, coconut, rum and marigold. At night? Expect things like tourteau crab with mayonnaise, corn and Parmesan; home-salted anchovy tartines with sun-dried tomatoes and achiote; cuttlefish with bacon and a squid ink risotto; sea bream with butternut squash gnocchi and a beurre blanc sauce… // P.L.
FEELING THIRSTY? Apart from the wines served by the glass (like the Quincy from the Domaine Madron at €5), there are a handful of natural options: a white from Stéphanie Roussel in the Marmandais (€28 a bottle), De Nada, a Roussillon red (€37)…
PRICE: Menus €22 (lunch), €49-54 (dinner), à la carte €46-56 (half-portions for children).
