Places to eat and stay
Places to eat
There are many more options in the area than there were a few years ago, and while we like nothing better than heading to a picnic area to grill some local Saucisse Catalanes on vine embers, we do like to go out for a bite to eat from time to time
1. Maison Vidal (aka Le Pichenouille), Maury
33, avenue Jean Jaurès
66 460 MAURY
Tel. 06 70 01 81 47
They no longer have a website, but here's the google entry
https://g.co/kgs/Mwx6Czu
Laurent Vidal’s wine shop has a long table down the middle, and a lovely seating area out the back with an open fire where they grill and barbeque. The food is tasty, and there's a decent range of local wines.
Mostly only open at lunch though. And leaves the sign on the road that says 'Open' even when they are closed. Ask Laurent about it and he shrugs and says 'everyone around here knows to check the sign on the door'. A very French approach.
2. Brasserie La Placette (aka 'Le Café'), Maury
The presence of the main road through Maury just yards away from the outside seating detracts a little from the ambiance, but this is a decent place for a steak-frites, or a goats cheese salad, while various villages characters wander in and out, or watch ‘le rugby’ on the TV screen.
3. The Maison du Terroir in Maury
Avenue Jean Jaurès
66460 Maury
Tel: 04 68 68 92 54
Another place that no longer has a website - best to check the google listing: https://g.co/kgs/MM8xPaB
When it opened with chef Pascal Borrel, the Masion du Terroir quickly gained a deserved Michelin star. But the service was patchy, the prices high, and the atmosphere a little intimidating for anything other than a special occasion.
Now it has changed hands a couple of time, and is now more affordable and easy-going, though sadly not quite as good as it was. The wine list has many fine reds, and a growing list of good whites from the growers of the village.
There's some beautiful seating outside under the olive trees, and on a balmy evening it is a great place to be.
4. Restaurant 'Le Co-operative' at the hotel Domaine Riberach
2 Route de Caladroy, 66720 Belesta
Tel: 04 68 50 30 10
www.riberach.com/
An amazing hotel and restaurant that has been created inside an old co-operative winery. The old concrete tanks are now bedrooms (they now have windows….). The restaurant is really fantastic, and the hotel is slowly building up a very seasonal clientele among walkers, cyclists and wine-lovers - it is in the middle of nowhere!
We now host our harvest weekends at the hotel, and the Saturday night dinner in the restaurant, and the last couple of visits have been exceptional. Probably explains why the restaurant was recently awarded a Michelin star.
5. Le Relais de Sceaury, Rasigueres
1 RUE DU CENTRE, 66720 RASIGUERES,
France
04 68 63 33 42
https://lerelaisdesceauryrestaurant.eatbu.com/?lang=en
Rasigueres is the commune where our house is (although our house is nearer to Maury and Lesquerde) but it took us a while to tune in to the quality of this small local restaurant. The chef is a patissier, so the puddings are particularly good.
They also usually stock one of two of our wines. And if they don't, ask them to re-order!
6. l’Auberge du Cellier, Montner
1, rue de Sainte Eugénie. Montner, France
04 68 29 09 78
www.aubergeducellier.fr
A small, intimate restaurant with a great wine list, and a very talented chef – Pierre-Luis Marin, who has previously held a Michelin star. They now have a lovely terrace at the back, but even so, you may need to book, especially at weekends.
7. Le Divil, Perpignan
9 Rue Fabriques d’en Nabot
66000 PERPIGNAN
Tél : 04 68 34 57 73
www.restaurant-le-divil-66.com
A fantastic place to eat beef. And rare-breed pork. Has been recently recognised as 'meilleur restaurant de viande de France'. Well worth a trip to Perpignan. Maybe don't go in July and August as outside seating is limited, and a little dingy. It's lovely inside though.
8. Auberge du Vieux Puits, Fonjoncouse
5, Avenue Saint-Victor, 11360 Fontjoncouse, France
Tel: 04 68 44 07 37
wwww.aubergeduvieuxpuits.fr
OK – so it is over an hour’s drive, but this is one of the best restaurants in France (Three Michelin stars), and although it is in a hilltop village in the middle of nowhere, you won’t find better food in the area.
They also have rooms, if you don't fancy driving afterwards.....
Places to stay
There are very few hotels within striking distance of Maury – though there have been rumours for some time that one might be about to be built.
Domaine Riberach - Ecolodge and hotel
2a, route de Caladroy
66720 Bélesta
+33 (0) 4 68 50 30 10
contact@riberach.com
The Domaine Riberach Ecolodge and hotel is far and away the best prospect for a hotel in the region, although it is not cheap - rooms are usually in the range of €200 - €280 a night.
The building is the old co-operative winery of Belesta, and the rooms on the lower floor are constructed inside old concrete wine tanks. The architects have left plenty of features from the old winery, and yet is it extremly comfortable and modern, with a spa, a reed-bed swimming pool and a beautiful terrace overlloking the village.
Borde Neuve hamlet, Rasigueres - AirBnB house
Our immediate neighbour Kat has started renting out her house on AirBnB, and while it is narrow and rustic, it has a couple of lovely terraces, and a great deal of charm. And it is cheap!
www.airbnb.com/rooms/896371991213825712
