Cooking is on the move in Nantes, where a generation of young chefs is flourishing in the dynamic capital of the Dukes of Brittany. Bistro atmosphere, local inspiration, vegan trend, refined recipes... Each one cultivates its own style or even mixes ingredients. On the plate, it's good, fresh and often daring... At the table!
L'Aménité, bistronomic conviviality
Aménité: charming friendliness, according to the dictionary. It is this pretty word, a little outdated but so sweet in the mouth, that Richard Cornet chose to baptize his restaurant, a stone's throw from the Nantes town hall. A discreet street, a confidential terrace and, inside, a sober blue and white decoration... The chef is a former trader but does not like to show off. The menu gives pride of place to Nantes' local produce, with fish from local fish markets, meat from local breeders and organic wines from neighbouring vineyards. It is inventive and always delicate, lively, colourful and fine, like this apple-topinambour tartlet with spicy ice cream.
Canopée, la brasserie verte
From factory to wine cellar, from workers to lovers of good wines... 16 rue Marceau, in Nantes, has had several lives. The last one is not the least spectacular! Reconverted into a luminous brasserie, the place is going green. As if in a green setting, you can sit under a high glass roof on comfortable emerald benches or, closer to the sky, in a cosy corner of the mezzanine. Veal à la Corse, Norman sirloin steak or scallops with spinach and iodine foam, hazelnuts... The menu favours traditional French cuisine with a touch of the exotic.
Omija, all senses awake
A duck in coffee grounds with white chocolate cauliflower cream... Here is a restaurant where you can experiment with flavours and textures, far from codes and habits! Romain Bonnet is an adventurer of taste and Omija, this small Korean berry that is acidic, bitter, salty, sweet and spicy, is his source of inspiration. The young chef invites you to discover an instinctive cuisine, perfected alongside the greatest (he spent three years with the three-starred Pierre Gagnaire). In an ultra-modern atmosphere, with a glass roof and an open kitchen, you can be surprised (the evening menu is blind) in complete confidence.
Sources, the restaurant that traces
It's a great duo that has taken over this small restaurant (with terrace), next to the Place du Pilori and the Dukes of Brittany castle. Ingrid Deffein and Guillaume Decombat have some fine references, including Lulu Rouget and U.Ni, two gastronomic nuggets from Nantes. From their cooking only "sourced", good products that the two young chefs have followed closely and which they marry with creativity, like this Beef Fillet - Broccoli - Peanuts and Black Garlic or, for vegetarians, these Salsify - Walnut - Pear - Milk Crumble. And as routine really doesn't suit them, the menu is renewed every week, to the great pleasure of curious gourmets.
More information :
- The site Les tables de Nantes lists a selection of good restaurants in Nantes
- Also read: Le Voyage à Nantes, c'est toute l'année
By Pascale Filliâtre
Journalist-traveller. I often voyage to the end of the world to explore what France offers... just next door. filliatre.pascale@orange.fr
