The Top 31 Places to Eat Near Le Saltimbanque - Auberge du Moulin
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A converted mill overlooking the Somme Valley, this is a rural auberge where the chef runs a surprise tasting menu built entirely around local producers and independent fishermen he knows by name. The cooking is unfussy in the best sense, flavors clear and unhurried, the kind of meal that makes you realize simplicity is a skill. The wine cellar runs to over 300 bottles, and the terrace earns its reputation on a good day.
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Rank 2. Crustum
Modern French
A deli counter full of pâté en croûte, foie gras, and pies greets you at the door, which sets the tone for this market-square restaurant in Abbeville. The couple behind it cook and run the floor together, turning out precise modern plates where the combinations are thought through rather than showy. Desserts get the same attention as the savory side, which isn't always the case.
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Rank 6. Les Orfèvres
Modern French
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Floor-to-ceiling windows face the beach huts and open sea, so the sunset does half the decorating at this coastal modern restaurant in Mers-les-Bains. Interior designer Caroline Tissier handled the rest in shades of blue and green, which feels either on-the-nose or exactly right, depending on your tolerance for thematic commitment. The chef runs a set menu built around Picardy seafood, scallops from small boats and pot-caught langoustines, kept simple and letting the ingredients argue for themselves.
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Rank 9. Le Goût du Large
Modern Seafood
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The signature here is cabbage, stuffed leaf by patient leaf, which tells you something about the kitchen's temperament. This is a modern French restaurant in the countryside south of Amiens, where the menu tracks the season and the pantry leans local. The room pairs waide blue, a pigment native to the region, with raw concrete. Prices run unusually gentle for cooking this considered.
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Rank 14. Anecdote
French
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Rank 15. Au Bon Accueil
French
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Rank 16. Auberge du Moulinel
Traditional French
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Rank 17. Le Pavillon - Hôtel Westminster
Creative Seafood
The dining room wears its animal tapestries and black-and-ochre palette like a well-tailored suit, and the terrace looks out over La Canche lighthouse. This is the fine-dining room inside an old-school Le Touquet luxury hotel, where the kitchen works a seafood-forward creative menu, think caviar, lobster, langoustine, handled with the kind of precision that earned a Michelin star. La Table du West next door handles the lighter appetite.
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A converted red-brick farmhouse outside the village, Origine is a creative restaurant where the team builds their menu entirely around small local producers, from seasonal vegetables through to the meat. The chef pairs caviar with chocolate with an apparently straight face, and it works. The interior is contemporary, the pace is unhurried, and the whole thing has the calm confidence of people who know exactly where their food comes from.
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Rank 20. Le Paris
Modern French
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Rank 21. Le Mezquité
Fusion Mexican
Cochinita pibil cooked over mesquite wood sits alongside mole poblano with duck at this fusion restaurant in Le Touquet, where the menu is a direct product of its owners' geography: he's from Valenciennes, she's from Puebla. The result is French regional ingredients run through Mexican methods, sauces, and smoke, with a fondness for the latter that turns up across the menu in ways you won't quite expect.
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Rank 22. Les Voiles d'Or
Modern Seafood
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Rank 23. Auberge de Monceaux
Modern New American
Terracotta tiles and old beams set the scene at this country restaurant in a small village north of Paris, where two sisters run the room and their partners run the kitchen. The cooking is seasonal and modern, the kind where a smoked trout starter sits comfortably next to a classical braise. The menu rotates often enough that regulars have a reason to keep coming back, which they do.
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Rank 24. Bistrot du Pollet
Seafood
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Rank 25. La Table de Christophe Dufossé
Modern French
A two-Michelin-starred dining room inside a château with a contemporary glass conservatory bolted on, which somehow works perfectly. Christophe Dufossé cooks the north of France with real conviction, leaning on organic produce and coastal catches, and finishing with a dessert trolley of almost comedic generosity. The sauces are old-school classics, the plating is not, and the bread alone warrants a mention in dispatches.
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Rank 26. La Table d'Elka
Modern French
A renovated farmhouse with a glass extension looking out over the chef's own orchard and herb garden sets the scene for this fine dining room in a quiet corner of Normandy. The cooking is rooted in classic French technique, with locally caught turbot and seabass doing most of the heavy lifting, but the odd dashi or raisin turn up to keep things interesting. Dress accordingly: this is a proper sit-down affair.
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Silver-framed portraits of film stars line the walls, giving this hotel restaurant the feel of a supper club that takes its cinema seriously. The cooking is modern French with a generous streak, the kind of place where a sea bass carpaccio arrives looking effortless and house-made profiteroles close the meal without apology. The service runs smooth and unhurried, which suits the room perfectly.
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Rank 28. Côté Jardin
Modern French
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A red-brick mansion on the main square, with a glass roof and a bar that make the whole thing feel more like a stage set than a restaurant. Chef Sébastien Renard, a Top Chef alumnus, runs a carte blanche tasting menu rooted in local producers from his home region. The cooking is precise and a little theatrical, which suits the room perfectly.
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