Rouge

Red alert by the big blue sea! After sharpening their knives and hospitality skills under Alain Passard and at Septime in Paris, Louise Perrone and Arthur Le Hunsec have opened up their very own seaside spot overlooking the Vieille Chapelle beach on the Mediterranean. At their zinc-topped bar with vermilion tiling and blown-glass pendant lights overhead, our appetite found safe harbor the day we went for lunch, as we ordered all of the following: deep-fried oyster with panko breading, plus zingy pickled coriander seeds and mayonnaise infused with yuzu kosho (a spicy Japanese yuzu-chili paste); excellent fried Brussels sprouts lounging over a smoked beet condiment; divine scallops paired with a brown butter and sunchoke cream and a heady scallop beard jus that was flambéed with pastis; free-range chicken milanaise with pil-pil sauce and Swiss chard; and some unforgettable squash and mushroom ravioli drizzled in sage butter and pine nuts (a dish we’d have gladly ordered seconds of!); before a show-stopping cream puff with chocolate sauce, tonka bean Chantilly cream and hazelnut nougatine for dessert. For those skipping their weekend nap, come for one of their highly indulgent Sunday roasts, centered around beautiful shared cuts of fish and meat – wolfish and roasted chicken were on the menu last Sunday. // Maude Zarella

FEELING THIRSTY? : A trip to the countryside via the selection of natural wines put together by chef and sommelier Marta Cingano (ex-Clamato): Pur Jus, an Alsatian white blend from Léo Dirringer (€6 a glass), a Rhone syrah from La Ferme des Sept Lunes (€78 a bottle), and Frizzante, an Austrian pet’ nat’ rosé produced by Franz Strohmeier (€48 a bottle). Unless you’d rather opt for one of the welcome soft drinks, like Archipel hibiscus kombucha (€8 for 330 ml) or UMÀ ginger beer (€6).
PRICE: : Set menus €25-28 (weekday lunch), à la carte €39-52 (dinner and Saturday lunch), shared cuts of meat or fish sold by weight (Sunday).