Even if you’re not staying at the hotel, the restaurant of chef Joackim Salliot is the best address for a memorable meal during a visit to Giverny. Salliot’s creativity is displayed in dishes such as grilled langoustines and squid in green tea-flavored cauliflower cream, and lamb fillet with baby leeks and pistachio oil. There is also a good-value prix-fixe lunch menu.
1 Rue du Milieu, Giverny. Tel. (33) 2-32-54-26-35.
A good choice on a day when the restaurant at Le Jardin des Plumes is closed (Monday and Tuesday), this well-run auberge 10 minutes from Giverny in Gasny serves appealing traditional French dishes such as soft-boiled eggs with creamed morel mushrooms, and steak with perfectly made sauce Albuféra.
1 Place Republique, Gasny. Tel. (33) 2-32-52-10-01.
I was wary of this auberge in the town 45 minutes north of Paris where Vincent van Gogh spent the last few months of his life, since I expected it to be a tourist trap. Instead, the dining room has been beautifully decorated to approximate what it may have looked like when Van Gogh was a boarder here, and the food — simple, hearty and generously served — is good. Try the pistachio-studded duck terrine, leg of lamb slow-cooked for seven hours, and chocolate mousse.
52 Rue du General de Gaulle, Auvers-sur-Oise. Tel. (33) 1-30-36-60-60.
The restaurant at Les Etangs de Corot won a Michelin star this year for chef Rémi Chambard’s excellent contemporary French cooking. Working with seasonal, often local produce, Chambard creates dishes such as wild sea bass carpaccio with beets, apples and caviar; and sole with Swiss chard, baby onions and gnocchi. The Grand Marnier and saffron soufflé makes the perfect finale to a fine meal.
55 Rue de Versailles, Ville d’Avray. Tel. (33) 1-41-15-37-00.
Amiable service, a good wine list and the excellent cooking of chef Christophe Poirier make this intimate restaurant in a 1768 vintage half-timbered inn a perfect destination for lunch. Try dishes such as broccoli flan with shellfish or foie gras mille-feuille to start, then perhaps the duck breast in pastry with morel mushrooms, or sea bass with fennel and capers. Fresh strawberries in a vanilla dressing make an ideal dessert.
27 place Benserade, Lyons-la-Foret. Tel. (33) 2-32-48-24-24.
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