With Boire, Frenchwoman Catherine Chauchat has created a winebar and restaurant very much in character with this part of Smith Street. Yet there is much more to Boire than a sense of trendy austerity. Chauchat, a native of Bordeaux and a trained viticulturalist, brings to Boire a loving and uncompromising emphasis on wine, most of which she imports exclusively herself. It is a small, tight, well-priced selection, predominantly French and mostly from Bordeaux. A couple of beers and two vintages of Armagnac complete the drinks list. There are no mixed drinks on offer and coffee only comes short and black.

A small selection of food is in keeping with the feel of the place and rotates weekly depending on what Chauchat and her chef pick up at the market. On a typical night there might be a few snacks, like a home-made rustic pork pate, black olives from the Grampians or boiled eggs, and only a couple of mains, such as braised lamb shank and a vegetarian option of stuffed courgettes. You'll then have a choice of two desserts and some cheese to follow.

After a night at Boire one is left with the powerful feeling that, despite its feel and style – no stereotypical Gallic wine bar or bistrot this – it retains the integrity and focus of the best of its French cousins: it is all about good, unpretentious, well-cooked, seasonal food complementing interesting, stimulating and ultimately approachable wines.