After Pottoka on the Parisian Left Bank, it’s now on the banks of his native Nive River that chef Sébastien Gravé (who worked for Robuchon and Constant, amongst others) is shaking up the Basque terroir with a light touch. In the luminous post-industrial dining room (white and dove blue tones, wood and metal alloy), we savored a majestic lunch menu the day we went: excellent line-caught smoked mackerel on a bed of vinegary fennel, dill mayonnaise and a crunchy aniseed-flavored tuile; tender chuck steak braised in a sweet and savory sauce, served with roasted onions, panisse-chorizo beignets and a well-made sweet potato purée; before ending the meal with a light plum clafoutis and a magical jar of farm-fresh cream with Amarena cherries, sour cherry sorbet and crushed meringue. // D.N.
FEELING THIRSTY? A broad stretch of the southwest is represented: a Landes Chardonnay from Cyril Laudet (€4 a glass), a Catalan Grenache from Franck Massard (€23 for a 500 ml) or Emilien, a Bordeaux from the Château Le Puy (€75 a bottle).
PRICE: Menus €21-26 (weekday lunch) and €39-50.
