Locavore bistro€€Saint-HélierTue 12:00-13:30; Wed-Fri 12:00-13:30, 19:30-21:30; Sat 19:30-21:30
Fezi is Cédric Bruneau's organic bistro on Avenue Sergent Maginot in Rennes, a locavore kitchen with sommelier William Nogris pouring natural bottles.
Why locals love it: Across the river from everything on Avenue Sergent Maginot, an organic bistro locals cross the Vilaine for while visitors stay in the old town.
Tip: The €19 to €22 weekday lunch is the soft entry; dinner steps up to a €40 menu with natural pairings.
Japanese€€CentreTue-Fri 19:00-21:45; Sat 12:00-14:00, 19:00-21:45
Le Fuji runs a Japanese bistro on Rue Derval in Rennes, curry and teishoku set meals rather than conveyor sushi, served evenings through the week.
Why locals love it: A Japanese bistro doing curry and teishoku sets instead of sushi, on the same overlooked Rue Derval as the city's Congolese kitchen.
Tip: Skip the sushi reflex and order the Japanese curry; Saturday is the only lunch service.
Market bistro€€CentreMon-Fri 12:00-14:00, 19:00-23:30
Le 2 Rue des Dames seats diners in the old kitchen of a 17th-century Rennes mansion, the Moreau brothers writing one short locavore menu per service.
Why locals love it: Diners eat in the actual 17th-century kitchen of a private mansion behind the cathedral, on a lane too quiet for footfall to find it.
Tip: The €36 evening menu is rewritten for every single service; there is no repeat visit that tastes the same.
Wine bar€€ThaborShop Tue-Sat 10:00-19:30; tasting cellar Thu-Sat 17:30-21:30
La Cave du Sommelier has advised Rennes drinkers on Rue Hoche since 1994, with an underground tasting cellar of boards, tapas and biodynamic glasses.
Why locals love it: The street level looks like an ordinary caviste; the cave à manger is downstairs, three evenings a week, and nothing outside advertises it.
Tip: Ask to eat downstairs Thursday to Saturday; boards and vegetarian tapas go with whatever the owner opens.
Bistronomic€€CleunayMon-Fri 12:00-14:00; evenings for private groups only
Le Ciel de Rennes serves a daily bistronomic lunch around a glassed-in open kitchen on the second floor of the Centre Culinaire Contemporain in Rennes.
Why locals love it: It sits on the second floor of a food-industry research building in Cleunay, an address only office workers know, with a rooftop terrace nobody expects.
Tip: Weekday lunch only; ask for the south-facing rooftop terrace in summer.
Contemporary bistro€€€ThaborWed-Sat 12:00-14:00, dinner from 19:00
Cope is Clément Couture and David Pellerin's market-cooking room on Rue Saint-Melaine in Rennes, an Ima alumni kitchen in the old Bercail premises.
Why locals love it: It took the old Bercail premises and renamed itself after its two owners, so the address still reads under the previous name in older listings.
Tip: Book the lunch sitting Wednesday to Saturday for the €21 formule; the kitchen reopens for dinner from 19:00.