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Sublimated Franco-Taiwanese fusion? Chiayi’s most humorous French restaurant has cuttlefish omelet, sticky-rice meatballs, and crispy fried chicken on the table—and chicken-rice is on the menu! One can’t help but wonder: is this really a French bistro? Chef Jerry of Pisoni Bistro trained at the Regent Taipei, but returned to his hometown to upend every cliché about French fine dining. He swapped the distant, hushed dining room for a cozy family kitchen, re-imagining Taiwanese street snacks through a French lens, served with wit and warmth. A salad called “Cuttlefish Omelet” arrives: tender squid over crisp greens, hiding a raw scallop beneath; dip it in the sauce and it tastes uncannily like oyster omelet. The bread butter carries the faint perfume of banana-leaf-wrapped sticky-rice meatballs. “Crispy Fried Chicken” is wafer-thin chicken hammered flat, sheet by sheet, then pressed and slow-baked. Behind the playfulness, his duck confit is among the best in Chiayi. Chef Jerry and his family have cooked for children in orphanages across Taiwan; during the pandemic they launched suspended-meal vouchers to feed those in need. A kitchen with heart. Photo: Chiayi City Government Tourism and Information Department | Photographer: Margue