It’s more than 70 years since the Yamada family opened Yanagiya in the town of Mizunami in the mountains of Gifu. Masashi Yamada and his brother, the third generation of chefs, still use the irori, a small square pit for grilling skewers. When in season, the Yamadas serve game from the mountains. First, in November, there’s duck, then wild boar in December. Spring is the season for freshwater trout. A little paradise on earth and a journey back in time.

Fred Ménager likes to do things differently. This student of Alain Chapel runs a self-sufficient organic farm by day, transforming himself into a chef at mealtimes. You won’t find anything fresher, more local or more organic. Those in the know visit the farm to taste his “vol au vent in nine services” with chicken, crayfish, truffles and dumplings…This is one of the great dishes of 18th century bourgeois cuisine and served only once a month.

Corn, beans, peppers, mezcal and grasshoppers - chapulines - are part of Oaxacan gastronomy in the same way as tamales and seven varieties of mole sauce. Celia Flori and Fidel Méndez’s restaurant turns all these emblems of the region into showstoppers: grilled cheese with lettuce, cactus, onion, roasted tomatoes and grasshoppers; grilled marinated pork served with fried beans and grilled onions; prawns in a corn and coconut crust; or even plates of mole with rice.