Les Cuizinières, Millau

Les Cuizinières is a friendly and welcoming restaurant in Millau, the Aveyron town in Occitanie that sits in the shadows of the world's tallest vehicle bridge — the Millau Viaduct — and at the gateway to the Grands Causses and Larzac plateau. The restaurant specialises in the mountain and farmland cuisine of the Aveyron, a département that takes fierce pride in its food traditions and where the local products — Aubrac beef and cheese, Larzac lamb, Roquefort, aligot, and truffade — are among the most distinctive in French gastronomy. Aligot de l'Aubrac, the extraordinary ribbon-pulled cheese and potato preparation, is prepared here in the traditional manner: a stretchy, elastic mass of mashed potato incorporated with fresh Tome fraîche de l'Aubrac cheese and garlic, pulled repeatedly until it achieves its signature texture. The restaurant serves it with a farmhouse sausage or as an accompaniment to the Larzac lamb shank. The Roquefort cheese board is sourced from the caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, 25 kilometres to the south — the only place in the world where authentic Roquefort can be produced. Portions are generous in the Aveyronnaise tradition, and prices are honest. The dining room is warm and neighbourhood in character, popular with Millau locals and visitors arriving via the dramatic viaduct.