Previously Alexandre Couillon's sous-chef at La Marine, Simon Bessonnet has set up shop in premises dating from 1860 in the heart of a wine-producing village in the Fiefs Vendéens. But as the contemporary interior he has designed for his restaurant suggests, the chef is very much in touch with the times. Drawing on a regional pantry (trout, scallops, venison), he comes up with bold and original combinations and chooses just the right emulsions, jus and condiments to intelligently boost his dishes (eg citrus clementine on pumpkin, sweet and sour grapefruit with hake). For dessert, his marriage of apple and lovage, fromage blanc mousse and crumble is exemplary.