After training at La Blanche, a French culinary institution in Tokyo, the brilliant Hitoshi Araki then moved on to cook under Yannick Delpech in Colomiers after falling back, like a rōnin, to the Les Carmes neighborhood in Toulouse. The night we went, in his small spot with midnight blue paneling, cushioned banquettes and Edison light bulbs, we let the “small” four-course menu (€38) cast its spell on us. In order of appearance: delicate glazed pork belly with pickled red onion for the prelude; lovely siphoned cauliflower with al dente cauliflower florets, sheltered by a tomato water jelly; a superb roasted monkfish fillet paired with baby artichokes – both grilled and puréed – and a porcini and button mushroom sauce; lamb chops with a lovely root vegetable soup – beets, multicolored radishes, carrots, sunchokes; before a pavlova combining meringue, a fig brunoise and quartered figs, plus a rich chocolate mousse. // M.R.

FEELING THIRSTY? The wine menu, selected by Yuko Araki and written out on the blackboard, oscillates between natural and conventional wines: a Muscadet from the Domaine de La Pépière (€7 a glass), a Marcillac red from the Domaine du Cros (€32 a bottle), a Pouilly-Fumé Arrêt Buffatte (€36), Cuvée H, an Hérault red from Le Clos de la Barthassade (€35), a Pommard from the Domaine Georges Lignier (€58)…

PRICE: Menus €18 and €30 (lunch), €38 and €50 (dinner).