Le Skiff Club

2 Stars • Modern Cuisine. In this 1930s Basque hotel nestled in a pine forest and given a makeover by designer Philippe Starck, Le Skiff Club is a veritable haven with its cosy little dining area decorated in the style of a yacht club. Stéphane Carrade is a talented and skilled chef, cooking up delightful "progressive terroir" cuisine, in a superb celebration of the Aquitaine region in southwest France. He combines generosity and finesse in dishes such as honey-glazed sweet-and-sour Noir de Bigorre pork presa, sauce diable with pig's trotters, and green asparagus with stuffed morels. Finally, Alexandre Blay's desserts are the icing on the cake: his Mexican vanilla, crème brûlée and jumbo grapes with JM rum, caramelised gavotte, ice cream and zephyr with roasted pods is at the intersection of finesse and originality.