Pastis is a gastronomic restaurant in the heart of Montpellier, a stone's throw from Place Sainte-Anne in a pretty, slightly bohemian quarter. Recognised by both the Michelin Guide and Gault&Millau, it is run by two young owners who met in the kitchens of Michel Bras up on the Aubrac plateau, bound together by friendship and a shared passion. In the kitchen, chef Daniel Lutrand — who also trained at L'Astrance in Paris and La Maison de la Lozère in Montpellier — cooks a creative, market-driven cuisine. In the dining room, Jean-Philippe Vivant, whose path has taken him through New York, New Zealand, and Mathieu de Lauzun in Gignac, looks after guests with the same care. Their guiding principle is simple: everything begins with the product. The "right" ingredient is sourced directly — from the grower, the market gardener, the winemaker, the fish landed overnight, the fruit chosen for its flavour — with no middlemen, just a complicity with those who, like their guests, understand what quality truly means.
There's no fixed à la carte here: it's the market and the chef's inspiration that decide. Pastis serves only discovery formulas built around the day's arrivals, from a lunch menu and a longer four-course midday option to an evening surprise menu of several courses served for the whole table. Freshness, quality, and the imagination that defines a real chef guide every plate, so guests are invited simply to settle in and be surprised rather than to choose.
The restaurant plays resolutely on the art of food-and-wine pairing, and the wine list is a remarkable document in its own right. Deeply rooted in the Languedoc and the Terrasses du Larzac — with growers such as Mas Jullien, Domaine de Montcalmes, La Grange des Pères, and Pierre Vaïsse strongly represented — it ranges out across the great French regions, from Burgundy (including Prieuré Roch and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti) and the Rhône to the Loire, Alsace, Provence, and beyond, alongside grower champagnes, natural sparklers, a thoughtful non-alcoholic selection, and the house's own "Terral" beer made in collaboration with Brasserie Sacrilège. Pairings of three or five glasses can accompany the menus, and Jean-Philippe will happily steer guests toward a Coteaux du Languedoc, a Gigondas, or another bottle discovered from a winemaker in love with their vines.
With its produce-first philosophy, its warm welcome from two friends who learned their craft in one of France's great houses, and its choice of terrace or elegant dining room, Pastis is an authentic and refined gastronomic experience in the heart of Montpellier — where the only thing to do is to trust the market, the chef, and the moment.