Vivants

It’s easy to imagine Tanguy Laviale and Maxime Courvoisier belting out their interpretation of François Valéry’s “Aimons-nous vivants” into the microphone during a cheeky night of karaoke after receiving the keys to their second Bordeaux restaurant, the little sister to Ressources… Whether or not that actually happened, their new spot on Rue des Bahutiers is quite inviting with its wooden storefront, stone arched ceilings and old rugs strewn across the floor… And in the kitchen, their chef Victor Chenon (ex-Au Bon Jaja) sends out cool French plates to be savored in three, four or five courses. We tried all of the following: sublime barbecued red mullet, covered in sauce genevoise made with fish fumet and red wine; addictive roasted carrots with gomasio, plated atop a russet-colored cream reminiscent of brown butter; an incredibly tender cut of venison dressed with a few radicchio petals, paired with glazed salsify and shaved black truffle; and for the final act, a subtle Sakura-No-Ha (raw milk goat’s cheese) with a cherry blossom leaf in the center, served with some deliciously tender quince poached with bay leaf. For more in the same vein: clams from Le Croisic with saffron squash butter, sweet potato ravioli in a button mushroom sauce, Montbéliarde steak with celery root and guanciale… // Marise Effouet 

FEELING THIRSTY? : A verrrry long wine list, composed of both low-intervention and conventional wines, featuring options like Les Molates, a Jura chardonnay from the Domaine des Marnes Blanches (€48 a bottle). Otherwise, there’s pilsner and pale ale from the Azimut brewery (€7 for 330 ml), Archibault tonic water (€6 for 250 ml) and yellow or green Chartreuse VEP for an after-dinner drink (€20 for 40 ml). 
PRICE: : Hors d’oeuvres €6-12, tasting menus €45-60-75 (for 3/4/5 courses).