L'Alter-Native

An Alter-Native – or another birth, even a rebirth – is how Gilles Goujon views this project. In Béziers, where he grew up and studied, the three-Michelin-star chef of L'Auberge du Vieux Puits, who needs no introduction, is carving out a new niche: developing a concept of eco-responsible seafood- and plant-based cuisine. With vegetables from the aquaponics garden and other treasures from the South of France, the executive chef cooks up appetisingly generous and no-nonsense dishes: œuf en blanc-manger surprise, wild mushroom tartlet; a fine morel mushroom in Rabelaisian salmagundi, lettuce broth and green cardamom; sole with sea urchins, asparagus and celeriac millefeuille… Make a beeline for the lovely patio terrace in fine weather.

• A seafood and plant-forward concept developed by a three-star chef, the cooking keeps the ambition but strips out the fuss.
• Aquaponics vegetables are part of the project’s identity, the garden is built into the menu.
• Generous, legible plates served in a central Béziers address, with a terrace-patio when the weather is on side.

• Aquaponics-grown vegetables, a core pantry driver for the plant-forward side of the menu.
• Sole and other local fish, treated with classic sauce work and careful garnishes.
• Sea urchin, used to deepen seafood dishes with iodine-rich richness.
• Morel mushrooms, used for spring depth in both tartlets and larger plates.
• Courgette and summer vegetables, sometimes framed as an homage dish, keeping the menu rooted in the South.

A one-star Béziers restaurant created by three-star chef Gilles Goujon as a second, more urban project, centred on seafood and plant-forward cooking. The kitchen leans on aquaponics-grown vegetables and Mediterranean produce, then builds generous, straightforward plates with fine technique, think mushroom tartlets, stuffed morels, sole enriched with sea urchin, and vegetable dishes built to eat like main courses. A patio terrace pulls the room outdoors in warm weather.