L'Essentiel

Rating: 14
Author: Gault&Millau

59551 ATTICHES

14/20
Chef's Restaurant

2 PHOTOS

Chef: Nicolas Rucheton
Cooking: French | Healthy cooking | Modern
Services: Access for people with disabilities | Garden | Private Parking | Terrace

Budget (€)

Indicative price per person (excl. drinks)

45 to 110

Gault&Millau's review 2026

Set menus are no longer the order of the day at this beautiful contemporary auberge twenty minutes from Lille, and the menu is more flexible, while retaining its exacting standards and subtle flavors. Nicolas Rucheton and his wife Constance continue to welcome their customers in a warm setting, where they share grilled octopus, poultry pressé or croque truffe at the start of the meal. The fish is of the highest quality, with sea bass from Boulogne and pike-perch from the region's fresh waters. As for the meats, Aubrac beef takes pride of place, with cuts of up to 2 kg to share, prepared in the finest style. A market menu that changes every day according to what's found at the producers' and the mainstays, such as fried mussels revisited as a starter, scallops cooked on a large boiling granite block to mark the regional roots or Camargue rice with milk for dessert, keep this new menu on a firm footing. Suggestions such as lobster ravioli with saffron and caviar, leeks with homemade oil vinaigrette and kidneys with sherry complete the chef's palette. In the dining room, sommelier Benoît complements the customer's choices with fine-tuned proposals drawn from an impressive cellar. Wine is a member of the family here, and many come to l'Essentiel for the choice, the quality on offer and often for the special evenings with menus created around fine wine labels. Pleasant terrace for fine weather.