After stewing things up at Les Ateliers du Vent, Romain Joly and Nicolas Meunier have found a new place to hang out for the next three years: the Hôtel Dieu in Rennes! While awaiting its upcoming transformation in 2023, the former hospital will be welcoming this latest gem (amongst others), a cross between a bistro, an outdoor guinguette and a micro-brewery…. You can find the talented duo inside the hospital’s former pharmacy that’s now decked out in mustard yellow tones, as they send out perfect plates to diners seated around a dozen Formica tables. The other day at lunch: lovely scallop / ricotta / lemon tortellini in a sea of herb oil sauced up with some good homemade bread – or an insanely good bao bun stuffed full of pulled pork and pickled mustard seeds; a spellbinding parmigiana topped with baby lettuce; before an incredible Meyer lemon meringue tart. At night, the large cloister turns into a beer garden featuring a barbecue and a tapas cabana, where they deal out pork terrine, smoked burratina, sweet potato fries, whelks with squid ink mayo or even entirely homemade hot dogs. // Simona Leroy
FEELING THIRSTY? Craft beers (Sainte-Colombe IPA at €4 for 330 ml, an American pale ale brewed in house for €3.50) and natural wines: a Loire Sauvignon from Jacques Février (€6 a glass), a Côtes-du-Rhône red from the Domaine de l’Agramante (€23 a bottle), etc.
PRICE: À la carte €19-25 (lunch), small plates €4-14 (dinner).
