Like a lighthouse keeper in the Bearn night, Jean-Pascal Revol (ex-sommelier for some of the greats – Vergé, Troisgros, Guérard) has been keeping Pau afloat for 10 years now in a space with a Formica bar, old bistro chairs and an old soda siphon collection… What’s keeping you quenched? Lots of libations that harness the force of nature (Sarnin-Berrux, Les Foulards Rouges, Coutelou, Schueller, etc.) and stylish tapas to sponge them up with. The night we went: buttery escargot cromesquis with sautéed chard and a nettle coulis; top-notch veal and haddock tartare maki with yellow carrot purée and Vietnamese perilla; divine free-range pork smoked over beech (in the courtyard!), with oyster mushrooms, a leek cream and a juniper reduction; before an excellent Guanaja chocolate lava cake with a red kuri squash and orange sorbet. // D.N.

FEELING THIRSTY? 450 natural labels and some new discoveries: an Ardèche white from Jérôme Jouret (€4 a glass), a Burgundy red from Nicolas Vauthier (€24 a bottle), a dark Gard rosé from Bolognini and Pfifferling (€23) or Invierno, a lovely red from kiwi land (€43).

PRICE: Plates and canned goods €7-13.