ALABRENA

A restaurant, bistro, wine bar and wine shop all in one in the heart of Gaillac. This light-filled space with an open kitchen meets all your dining needs. Julien Bourdariès cooks up bistro-style cuisine, complemented by a selection of regional charcuterie and cheeses, and, in season, a truffle menu. His dishes are indulgent – think cod loin with risotto-style fregola sarda and a lemon and fresh herb condiment. The wine list features over 200 different labels. A convivial location, with a room upstairs available for private hire.

Luck has nothing to do with the current reputation of this downtown venue, facing Jean Jaurès Fountain, as the darling of the town’s discerning epicureans. The stripped-back interior sports a distinctly Scandinavian feel, which given the chef’s Swedish origins is hardly a surprise. On the culinary front, he deploys his undisputed talent, adding a new twist to French classics and conjuring up enticing recipes in tune with the era: generous portions, well crafted and oozing with flavour. The intelligent wine list and crack table staff, as professional as they are friendly, add the final flourish

This game of skittles in Cajarc is on a roll under the supervision of Grégory Dattiches, a young chef from Lot with an ironclad CV. In a lively neo-bistro, he crafts spot-on inspired dishes ranging from gravlax of trout and a stew of thinly sliced beef cooked in lemon confit and chimichurri to roast monkfish in a saté sauce with verbena-flavoured roast apricots and a house sorbet adding the final flourish to this banquet. Food in the zeitgeist packed in forthright flavours that hits the spot every time. Love at first bite.

Already chef at Vigne en Foule in Gaillac, Julien Bourdariès has opened a new place in a delightful brick and half-timbered house on the emblematic Place des Arcades in this medieval village. For lunch, the lively Auberge (open from morning to evening) proposes an amazing set menu at a bargain price, a choice of starters for sharing (charcuterie from the Tarn, pig's trotter croquettes etc) and dishes such as duck confit or veal fillet cooked in the open fire oven. Savvy selection of regional wines.

Françoise and Bernard Bordaries turned this 1771 presbytery into an intimate restaurant that feels like a family home. She extends a genial welcome, while he cracks on with the cooking. He builds dishes on simple foundations to highlight seasonal ingredients in well-crafted recipes.

This gourmet hideaway, which sources most of its ingredients from local growers and livestock farmers, abounds with charm, freshness and flavour. In the heart of the Lauragais, this pretty restaurant with a lovely terrace boasts smiling, well-paced service and confidently executed dishes at very reasonable prices: pig's trotter ravioli with oyster mushrooms, bay leaf and sage sauce; grilled onglet steak with a peppercorn jus; for dessert, vanilla and ginger mesturet. To wash down with wines from Gaillac and Languedoc.

At the entrance to this bastide town perched on the heights of the Quercy Caussadais, this small restaurant is run by a versatile duo who are no strangers to the business. Fresh from Alsace, they have swapped the vineyards of eastern France for the hills of the South-West. There are no culinary gimmicks here: it's all about honest, serious cuisine, allying tradition and fresh ingredients, eg seasonal mushroom vol-au-vent and poulette sauce with vin jaune. Friendly atmosphere guaranteed.