If you haven't figured out by now that one of the neatest perks that life in France provides is the quality of the food, you just haven't been paying attention. I'll do a deep dive into the quality and price of fruit and veggies at the grocery store in a subsequent post. Today, let's do lunch.
At first glance, one might conclude that lunch choices in France don't differ that much from what's available in the USofA, particularly in such small cities near us as Beziers and Narbonne. Both with populations under 100,000, they host chains painfully familiar to Americans - Burger King, McDonald's and KFC. In Paris recently, I've seen Popeye's and Whataburger franchises. And France-specific joints also dot the landscape. I've reviewed La Pataterie, a chain with franchises throughout France that serves burgers between patties of hash browns instead of buns. (But the beer is cold.) Pizza is ubiquitous, some with cracker-thin crust, some wood-fired. The best is Sicilian and we have a couple of good ones close by. Believe it or don't, pizza vending machines are a thing. I've had the urge to try one. I have resisted the urge.
Bar food can be interesting in the States. In my old stomping ground of Allentown, PA there's a place called Ringer's Roost that has an interesting menu of mostly fried food. And Stahley's has been around for 60 years and knows how to put together a cheese steak. I've enjoyed lunching in both joints and I have nothing against American bar food. But the lunches served in local bars here in France, one within walking distance, two more that I'll discuss a short ride away, differ substantially in quality from similarly situated American establishments. And are probably cheaper as well. Again, it's been awhile. You decide.
BAR LE 40
Quarante is the name of the town that we live in. Quarante is also the French word for 40. Thus, the local watering hole has taken the name Bar le 40. (The reason for a town founded by the Romans a bunch of centuries ago being named for a number is a topic for conjecture to this day.) Bar le 40 sits near the center of our little village, a couple of hundred meters from our house, and is open for a morning coffee and croissant plus full lunches and dinners from Tuesday through Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Dinners feature relatively simple fare - burgers, dinner salads, steak and fries. But the lunches can be a treat.
The lunch menu features daily specials that are announced at the beginning of the week. Fridays are always seafood. Choose a small salad or an assortment of charcuterie to start. (Charcuterie is French for little pieces of ham and sausages and paté or whatever to pick at, maybe accompanied by a gherkin and butter and slices of baguette.) Then the special of the day. Then the dessert of the day or ice cream. This week's specials, excluding the fish on Friday were:
Tuesday: grilled hanger steak with sauce Bordelaise and mashed potatoes,
Wednesday: grilled chicken skewers marinated in honey/mustard sauce with rice, and
Thursday: pork tenderloin with smoked paprika sauce and new potatoes.
Start plus main plus dessert plus a glass of wine = $22.75 at the current exchange rate. Less than a DoorDash combo meal and not the same old, same old.
LA BELLE EPOQUE
In a little collection of small businesses and restaurants in a small town down the road about 20 minutes, La Belle Epoque calls itself a brasserie. I suppose that a bar with decent food can call itself a brasserie if it wants, although to me the appellation implies a bit more upscale establishment. Not the La Belle Epoque is in any way seedy. It's just a bar with decent food. And speaking of the food...
La Belle Epoque posts the lunch special of the day on Facebook every morning at about 9am. The special changes daily and includes a start, a main, and a dessert. One of the starts is typically a charcuterie plate like the one mentioned above. One of the mains is typically a steak with sauce - might be pepper or parsley butter or Roquefort. Tiramisu seems to be a favored dessert. If those three standard choices don't interest you, try picking from one of the recent menus:
* Rustic salad with mushrooms followed by sauteed pork with olives and panacotta for dessert,
* Gaszpacho followed by grilled pork tenderloin in garlic cream with lemon tart for dessert,
* Fresh melon with ham followed by breaded turkey in mushroom sauce and panacotta for dessert,
* Salad with goat cheese followed by stewed Basque chicken and yes, panacotta.
Again, $22.75. If you are worried that you won't like the day's special, you have to check in early to make your plans for the day. But then, there's always charcuterie and steak if the special doesn't suit.
LA BONNE FRANQUETTE PIZZERIA
On a main road between Quarante and La Belle Epoque, La Bonne Franquette has recently reopened after a bit of a makeover and upped its game. Of the three I'm talking about today, this is the one that comes closest to being a full-on restaurant. Oddly, although it calls itself a pizzeria, La Bonne Franquette only serves pizza in the evening. France. But the lunch menu is varied, very French.
I'm not going to translate. Check out the slate. This is the sort of thing that you will see when you visit a rural restaurant in France. You should be able to recognize gazpacho and salad. Thon is tuna. Enjoy figuring out the rest.
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