Summer 2019: Australian chef Luke MacLeod (who used to work at the now-defunct La Palombe Gourmande in Lascazères) heeded the siren’s call of this old sharecropping farm’s beautiful stones and wooden rafters. Named Sandikala (“the meeting of day and night” in Balinese, a nod to his time at Legian Bali), the French-Asian plates that he dreams up with Sadayuki Yamanaka (ex-SaQuaNa in Honfleur) catch the eye. The day we went for lunch: superb line-caught meagre over an almond cream with zucchini and redcurrant, electrified by an onion-kaffir lime-ginger-chili mixture; very tender suckling veal cooked medium rare and lit up by green chili and heather honey sambal, with haricots verts, smoked eggplant and a full-bodied jus; cheeses from the Vallée d’Ossau served with a grape-nectarine-red onion chutney; before a delightful strawberry and raspberry macaron sprinkled with ral el-hanout, a yogurt and orange blossom cream and lemon and mint sorbet. And the cherry on top : the restaurant now offers a fully equipped private guesthouse with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a garden with a BBQ, direct access to the lake, and… breakfast included ! // P.L.
FEELING THIRSTY? The wine list was still in its infancy when we visited, but it was promising: L’Ove, a dry Pacherenc-du-Vic-Bilh from Le Clos les Mets d’Ames (€4 a glass), Ampéloméryx, a Côtes-de-Gascogne red from the Domaine de Pellehaut (€17 a bottle) or craft Béné beer (€3.50 for 330 ml).
PRICE: Menus €32 to €50, kids’ menu €8 to €12.50.
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