Symbiose

“Our menu changes daily to be completely seasonal, and we don’t serve à la carte, because it leads to food waste. We also use most of the fruit and vegetable peels from the kitchen in our bar to make different infusions used in our cocktails. We serve local filtered water instead of bottled, and we can make gluten-free and vegan food on demand due to our very green kitchen. We work with lots of local small producers and try to help them cultivate new products and find other restaurants to buy them.”

Mezcal-marinated mackerel with horseradish foam, broccoli and sesame purée, buckwheat crumble, and black radish brunoise; chocolate and whisky ganache tart with salted butter caramel, cacao nibs, and whipped cream; and yellow chicken and miso ravioli with chicken and Floc de Gascogne broth, shiitakes, daikon julienne, and garden flowers.

This popular bar and bistro on the banks of the Gironde river in Bordeaux is assiduously serious about environmental sustainability in every aspect of their business. The warm, laid-back hospitality of the quartet behind Symbiose, plus Chef Felix Clerc’s delicious market-driven cooking and a superb cocktail programme have made this one of the most popular addresses in the area. The good health of their patrons and community are the axis on which this business spins, right down to their passion for phytotherapy (plant-based medicine) and composting.