The story
Paute is a bistronomy restaurant in Pau, France, at Passage Darracq, 1 rue du Hédas, and Le Fooding listed it in 2026. Two friends who trained at Ferrandi in Paris and worked in renowned French kitchens run the room and the stove together, serving a modern bistro menu in a stone-walled dining room.
The menu follows the seasons and draws on the Béarn, with produce chosen from local growers. Michelin has recommended the restaurant in 2026, and the kitchen keeps its cooking deliberately plain, with few ingredients on each plate.
Le Fooding's review describes an organic egg parfait under a siphoned chamomile cream, set over thinly sliced pickled potato. The veal belly from the Larrieu farm is slow-roasted, seared, and finished in a Madeira cream with hazelnuts. Dessert is a caramelised vanilla rice pudding with crumble and brown butter ice cream.
Recognition
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History
Foodie friends Maxime Laplace and Nicolas Moreau spent a lot of time cooking together (Les Crayères in Reims, La Mère Brazier in Lyon, Maison Boulud in Montreal) before opening up a spot of their own in Pau. What’s at play? A bistro run by just the two of them, where they send out unfussy, cheeky market dishes put together with an artistic touch, a stone’s throw from the old Hédas washhouse, accessible via a narrow staircase. The day we went for lunch, seated in the dining room with stone walls, brick and limewashed walls, where Louise Arruat watches over everything: an organic oeuf parfait camouflaged under a siphoned chamomile-infused cream, over thinly sliced pickled potato, fresh herbs (tarragon, chives, parsley) and golden croutons; tender veal belly from the Larrieu farm, slow-roasted and then flash-seared, tucked into a Madeira-infused cream and sprinkled with hazelnuts, plus mashed potatoes and garlic confit; before the deliciously simple finale, a delightful caramelized vanilla rice pudding with crumble topping and brown butter ice cream. // Gérard Roubeix
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