The grill, which opens onto the dining room, offers an enticing spectacle: a piece of dry-aged Aubrac beef browning over the fire. The spare ribs are achingly tender and the local cheese croquettes whet the appetite. Finding this kind of gratification in one of the oldest bistros in the country, in the heart of the rural north, is a wonderful surprise. As almost everything is regional, a stiff homemade gin sets the tone in a thoroughly bucolic atmosphere.