Prosper et Fortunée

Working alone in his one-room-restaurant (an open kitchen and high tables for a dozen guests), Eric Lévy chops, pan-fries, serves and preaches the gospel of good food in a unique ambiance that feels like dinner at a friend’s place. The night we went, his set menu was as massive as it was masterful: a compilation of scallops, some of which were served raw and topped with grated walnuts and fresh mango, while others were paired with Morteau sausage and seared in an olive oil, brown sugar and lemon sauce; mussels moistened with a whipped butter reduction, plus potatoes; “leftover Japanese rice” (sic) buddying up with a blend of raspberries and seaweed soy chutney, served with Scottish Label Rouge salmon baked in a salt crust; bonito simmered in an herb and vegetable broth, then breaded and fried, happily paired with barely seared bluefin tuna from Sète, tucked up against a compote of cherry tomatoes and grilled zucchini. Meat lovers fear not, there was a perfect sirloin steak medallion followed by Corrèze suckling veal cooked for eight hours at 60°C, paired with a duo of glazed carrots and turnips; before the final note: an incredible ice cream in a gazelle horn cookie, doubled – as if that weren’t enough – by a tatin-style chantecler, paired with fresh pineapple and whipped cream. // Vic Beretton

FEELING THIRSTY? A restrained selection of wines recited by the chef: a Saint-Véran from the Domaine du Chalet Pouilly (€9 a glass), Arpent, a vouvray from Sébastien Brunet (€11), and an organic Bordeaux white from the Château de Lardiley (€35 a bottle)…
PRICE: Tasting menu €90, lunch atelier €39-59. FYI, they don’t accept cards: the chef will send you his bank information (and it’s a whole process).