RESTAURANT

Bistro À Côté

ARLES

21 Rue des Carmes
13200 Arles
04 90 47 61 13
www.bistro-acote.com
PRICE RANGE – MODERATE

Have a look at the website for this place and you’ll see an animation in which a stocky, long-haired fellow with a manic gleam in his eye strides down a street of red-fronted restaurants at a frenzied pace. As a portrayal of Jean-Luc Rabanel, Arles’ glitziest chef (snapped above with his latest book), it’s 100% accurate.

Born in Gascony and taught to cook by his granny, Rabanel has turned Rue des Carmes into a culinary empire in six years. First came L’Atelier, the main crucible of his relentless creativity – a soigné little restaurant (how could it be otherwise with a staff of 17 for just 28 diners?). Currently it holds two Michelin stars, ‘and it will have three in 2013,’ he says.

Next came the more relaxed Bistro A Côté. After that, Rabanel added Iode specialising in seafood platters; then Salle à Manger offering a set menu of Atelier dishes at tempting prices… and he still has more projects tucked up his crisp white sleeve.

Why choose the small, sometimes quiet town of Arles for this gastro-explosion? Rabanel’s response is to unbutton his shirt, exposing in the dead of winter a bronzed, medallion-bedecked chest. ‘For the weather, of course!’ he says. ‘The produce here is marvellous all year round – even better than in Gascony.’ His comes from 32 small organic growers all around Arles.

So to the Bistro, an unpretentious place with a Spanish-bodega-meets-Pays-Basque feel. Here chef Eric de la Lande, who has worked with Rabanel for 24 years, conjures up hearty, almost rustic food with noticeable precision. I loved a starter of endives transformed into unctuous richness with smoky bacon and the blue cheese Fourme d’Ambert. Equally tasty was a main course of duck cooked two ways, the leg meltingly tender and the magret pink and firm, served with roast potatoes and roast garlic in an opulent cèpes sauce.

The wine list, although short, is well put together. Only the flesh-baring flamenco dancers on the walls seem a shade tacky.