Destination restaurants and sustainable seafood

Every morning around 7am, you'll find Christopher Coutanceau here at the fish market. Around ten wholesale fish merchants come here to sell the day's catch. Down through the years and decades even, these coastal men have come to trust one another and form lasting friendships. Hardly surprising then that the best turbot, sea bass and shellfish are reserved for the menu of this Michelin-starred chef... 

Laurent Hurtaud has been farming organically for many years now. His mussel stakes help to combat dune retreat in the Bay of Aiguillon. When Laurent's finest produce arrives in July, a classic dish graces the restaurant's menu: genuine Mouclade Rochelaise, flavoured with saffron and curry... 

On the Vendée coast, the beaches at St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and St-Hilaire-de-Riez are popular with shellfish pickers at a very low tides. Depending on the season and your level of experience, with a little bit of luck, you can fill your basket with banded wedge shells, sand shrimp, winkles, clams and crabs. Although be sure not to collect more than the legally allowed limit of 3kg. If you are feeling less adventurous, you can always visit the tanks at Vendée-Crustacées, the historic Saint-Hilaire wholesalers. 

An island tradition that dates back to the 5th century, the culture of harvesting salt in Noirmoutier's marshes has profoundly shaped the landscapes here. According to local salt workers, the canals and basins where coarse salt and the more delicate<em fontscheme='2'> fleur de sel are harvested represent almost a third of the island's entire surface area. Some 3,000 <em fontscheme='2'>oeillets (clay basins where salt water is allowed to evaporate) are still operated today by a hundred workers. These passionate producers, many of them young, are keen to preserve their way of life and share the fruits of their work.