La Vieille Auberge

Timber vaulted ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows opening onto the garden give this restaurant the feel of a greenhouse someone forgot to stop improving. It's a proper sit-down lunch spot in the Gascon countryside, where the kitchen runs a short, sensibly priced menu that leans modern without losing the thread of classical French cooking. The front-of-house team is the kind that makes you feel like a regular on the first visit.