Empreinte

At first glance, it looks like a narrow house with the feel of a vintage grocery shop. Appearances can be deceiving: the place is as discreet as its message is strong. In his pocket-sized kitchen, meticulously organized and set right at the entrance, Baptiste Fournier works small miracles. Follow his wife Marine and climb the wooden staircase to reach the dining room upstairs, intimate and warm with its raw wooden floor and vintage porcelain. The mood is set. But here too, don’t be mistaken: the cooking is not nostalgic, but strikingly clear. After years spent in Montpellier with the Pourcel brothers, in La Napoule with another pair of brothers, the Raimbaults, and finally in Paris in the wake of Jean-François Piège at the Crillon, Baptiste felt the pull of something closer to home. The couple ultimately chose Vannes as their territory: small-scale coastal fishing, committed market gardening just outside the city, organic produce at every level, and foragers combing woods and shores. In the heart of this land of plenty, the chef works with precision, bringing together — echoing his years in Michelin-starred kitchens — a cuisine that is as sincere as it is polished. The short menu changes every week around ingredients that are never distorted, moving serenely from season to season with quiet authority. Nothing demonstrative, just meaning. And pleasure. Marine’s service carries the same cheerful serenity, and the wine list she composes with discernment tells the same stories as her husband’s creations. Crunchy spelt, pointed cabbage with rich jus and a touch of coffee bean, fish with hints of mint and bergamot, roast pork with melting red cabbage and barberry berries, or the house-made bottarga will leave their “imprint” on our small pantheon of flavors. Baptiste’s greatest delight: seeing you mop up your plate with bread. And you wouldn’t want to miss that.