What’s the prescription for a livelier Lisieux? Take one local cooper (Jules Desfrièches) and one architect turned front-of-house pro (Agathe Péres-Nillus), add a fierce shared passion for natural wines and the region’s dairy miracles, and voilà: a joyful little dispensary of delights on Place de la République. Behind those floor-to-ceiling windows, there’s a cure for hunger and thirst alike – prescription optional: cheeses from near and afar (including a Saint Nectaire from Jaubert that’s just what the doctor ordered), a whole host of wines packing plenty of oomph, hedgerow tipples (like an apple and blackberry co-ferment from Novio Magus), plus charcuterie, farm-fresh eggs and storecupboard staples. For an extra dose of goodness, seasonal dishes are dispensed at lunch and on select evenings later in the week. · Roland Tarte

Shopping list: The Ové Japonais, a little raw-milk goat cheese topped with a sakura leaf (Japanese cherry tree) early in its aging, from Basilou farm in Saint-Julien-sur-Sarthe (€8.20 each).