A starter of sea urchin, caviar and cauliflower is disarmingly creamy gilthead bream with Colonnata back fat, Paris cep and black truffle is a major savoury mouthful robustly thyme-scented baby lamb from the Pyrenees is a restrained showstopper.
Tiny appetisers might include beautifully crafted crisps of chicken skin packing a foie-gras flavour bomb or miniature goat’s cheese pastries, light as air. The tasting menu served at the chef’s table (get your hair done – they’re looking at you too) name-checks Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the Périgord, as well as her brother and grandfather. The name is a tribute to her home region of Landes, and there’s no doubting the sincerity of her attachment to the southwest and its flavours. But Marsan by Hélène Darroze (who has three Michelin stars for her London outpost at The Connaught Hotel) is relatively new, opening in 2019 as a fresh incarnation.
The smart Left Bank address – a short-ish walk over the river from many other restaurants here – hasn’t changed, nor have its regulars. Dish to order: Gilthead bream with Colonnata back fat, Paris cep and black truffle
