Eutrope-moi si tu peux! Ever since British gastro-pubbers Alexandra and Harry Lester (who used to run the Auberge de Chassignolles) opened this authentic bistro in 2015, it remains the undefeated champion of its category. A new show of force came the other night, in the pretty dining room with a Formica bar, white tablecloths and framed artwork, where Harry gave us a lesson in applied bistrology. Served à la carte: a tantalizing pork bao bun, a pistou soup with lots of beans, ham (made from pigs raised by the owner) stunningly paired with thinly sliced melon, to warm things up; then he sped up to a gallop with a clever veal’s head with sauce gribiche, a blessedly good fried glazed pork belly over a bed of kimchi, and a beautiful veal roast glistening with a perfect, full-bodied jus, over a bed of spelt wheat polenta… Before a monumental chocolate-apricot tart for dessert! FYI: during the Covid-19 situation, Le Saint Eutrope and Le Quillosque (the adjacent wine bar) are operating as a single unit. // A.A.
FEELING THIRSTY? A glass of Ardèche Viognier from Andrea Calek (€6.50 a glass), the best of the Auvergne region (a Pinot noir from the Tricots at €33 a bottle, a Gamay from Patrick Bouju at €47…) and elsewhere – Grande Soif, a Riesling from Ruhlmann Dirringer (€22), Helvète, a Languedoc red from the Domaine La Sorga (€53)…
PRICE: À la carte €29-42.
