Pechoune At Bord'eaux

To give a private room - or 'salon privé' as it's known here - its own name may seem a tad pretentious, especially when it only has 10 seats, but then Péchoune is no ordinary PDR. Furnished with leather chairs, polished wood panels and a rather lovely carpet, it also has a window looking through to the restaurant's walk-in wine cellar, where a small group can enjoy a tutored tasting ahead of their meal. Food comes from the Aquitaine region on the west coast of France, focusing on seasonal dishes from the area between the Loire Valley and the Basque country, and with wines hailing from these parts, you can get stuck into some really interesting food-and-wine matching. We love the menu's sharing dishes, starting with charcuterie and seafood platters in three sizes, ahead of cote de boeuf with chips and béarnaise or Basque fish stew with saffron potatoes and aioli.

This article first appeared in Square Meal Venues & Events magazine, Summer 2009