4 Best Restaurants in Toulouse and the Languedoc, France

Run by four entrepreneurial friends just down the road from the famous Abbaye de St-Michel de Cuxa, this hip bistro serves fine locally sourced fare in large portions, like pork tenderloin in corriollette (fairy-ring mushroom) sauce. Like the food, the setting is stylish: its sleek glass-walled building and steel-framed terrace were constructed by the village specifically to house this Bistrot de Pays (a government-subsidized network of village restaurants promoting commerce in rural areas).

Foodies appreciate Garriane's direct approach to eating and drinking well. Here a plain-Jane decor and a dim neighborhood spectacularly contrast with immaculate plates presented by the Aussie-bred chef (who incidentally shook up Perpignan's sleepy food scene with a strictly seasonal menu emphasizing local produce boldly prepared for an exotic outcome). Wine is the only choice you'll need make; after that the nine-course degustation begins, with dishes like citrusy wild partridge and butternut squash mousse promptly appearing one after the other, ending with three separate desserts (picture chocolate gazpacho garnished with ultrafresh, peppery olive oil).

The post-nouvelle haven for what is arguably Toulouse's finest dining departs radically from the traditional stick-to-your-ribs cuisine of southwest France, instead favoring Mediterranean formulas suited to the rhythms and reasons of modern living. Delicacies like foie gras soup with Belon oysters or wild salmon in green curry sauce prove that chef Michel Sarran's two Michelin stars are well deserved. Don't count on a Saturday-night fête here; the restaurant is closed weekends—the obvious mark of a sought-after chef who is free to choose his own hours.

When a young Catalan native returned home from the pull of the Paris restaurant scene and partnered with a friend to open Percherons, Picasso's Céret finally got a restaurant worthy of a detour beyond art history. The prix-fixe dégustation menu (with two appetizers, two mains, a cheese course, and dessert) calls on Catalan basics like suckling pig from Spanish Catalonia's Empordá, Vallespir tomatoes from the French side, and aged goat cheese from the frontier-forming Alberes mountains.