French food, drink, and boules?

In London, moving from west to east is all the rage, as long as you do it on the Central Line, since those poor little District stops have all been Shore-ditched. Making a culinary west-east move, Cigalon, just opened in Chancery Lane

Run by former chef's from Smithfield's Michelin-starred, western-France-centric Club Gascon, this new fine-diner serves up fare from the east's Provence in a light, airy space where a large central atrium sits above striped-cushion banquettes and c-shaped booths, with low-slung, bicycle wheel-esque lights to illuminate the Greg LeMenu. Starters stretch from citrus & spice'd marinaded sardines, to red wine-sauced shallots, to bull cannelloni, a dish that takes huge balls to make. Heftier nourishment comes via line-caught salt cod w/ aioli, roast rabbit leg w/ Swiss chard and savory jus, grilled ribs of veal w/ olive and chickpea chips, and traditional lamb tripe & trotter stew, a sad but delicious testament to what life really does to eternal optimists

Downstairs can be found the St. Tropez-style Baranis bar, offering a petanque pit and a tasting room specializing in a range of west France's finest vino (Burgundy, Chablis, etc.), plus cocktails like a white rum & thyme daiquiri, and beers including Alcase's Meteor and the chestnut-flour brewed Pietra, from Corsica -- even further east, where the natives say of the country's uninhabitable glacial regions, "hey, at least it's not Whitechapel".