AU LAVOIR, COLOMBIERS - RESTAURANT REVIEW

We live in a town that doesn't do very much to encourage growth or tourism. The streets are rough and bumpy, the tinted glass has been broken out of the street light nearest our house since we moved in three years ago, and the fountain in the square was activated this week for the first time since we moved here three years ago. Oddly enough, many of us like it that way. Quarante is a quiet little village, not on a main road to anywhere, but with a fine baker, two excellent butchers, and a bar that serves edible if not exciting food. We could use an ATM (cash point, money wall...) and a gas (petrol) station but otherwise, most of us are happy that Quarante is a backwater.

Colombiers, on the other hand, seems determined to do everything possible to turn itself into a crowded, overdeveloped, cash hungry example of all that folks like us are looking to avoid when we move to the rural south of France. Ugly apartment blocks? Check. Newly constructed condos with a 'view', meaning you can see a tiny slice of the Canal du Midi from the top floors? Check. And detours lasting months...years...to accommodate construction? Check. I was pleased, therefore, to learn that the restaurant to which a friend invited us in Colombiers was not in town center but along the undeveloped section of the Canal just over the little bridge on the road from Montady.

Au Lavoir occupies a pleasant space. There are a few parking spaces for early arrivals in the courtyard and a few outside tables for when the weather warms. Our party of four were greeted inside by servers who took our coats and led us to the table where three of our friends were already seated. Nice room. Nice table.

And then things started to go downhill.

A small tray of amuse-bouches sat mid table, a cup of lucques (olives) and a little bowl of fish dip with a few chips of toast - enough for three, not for seven, and never replenished to fit the size of the party. Service was slow, positively snail-paced at some points in the meal, and for the most part the food was unremarkable. One could almost excuse the pace of service. We dined on a Saturday night - a night that we usually avoid. And our table mates informed us that a second dining room had just been opened to handle the expected crowds as the tourist season began to liven up. So, growing pains. But let's talk about the food.   

The entire table began with foie-gras, a nicely seared slice snuggled between columns of pineapple and topped with a bit of greens. Foie-gras is easy if you buy well and this was good foie-gras. I chose the lamb for my main, Cathey the sole. Both were acceptable if unremarkable. My simple, slow-cooked shank with a bit of reduction was accompanied by what appeared to be pureed fava, the most inventive bit of the evening. The best that can be said for the lamb is that the chef didn't screw it up. Same goes for Cathey's sole with a pistachio crust. Nice piece of fish properly cooked. Nothing more

Others at the table ordered a veal dish and a beef dish and claimed satisfaction. A lobster tail was sent back to be heated.

For dessert, I had the molten chocolate cake. Again, done properly but without any originality. A friend's plate of little pears looked interesting. And a little digestif at the end was cute, a bit of coconut cream with chipped chocolate and a tiny bite of a sweet bread.

The table shared still and gassed water, a bottle of local rose, a bottle of local red, and a demi of viognier. The tab came to 45 euros per person.

For that price, one expects attentive service and thoughtful, inventive renderings. That's too much for ordinary fare.

 

HALLEGRIA IN LES HALLES, BEZIERS: RESTAURANT REVIEW

Years ago when we first visited, Beziers' covered market was a disappointment. They seem to have spent some time in the interim, though, upgrading the quality of the merchants on the inside and there's substantial construction taking place around the exterior to facilitate traffic circulation. I don't think that the end result will rival Les Halles in Narbonne but I'm glad for the improvements. When we were in Beziers for a morning appointment and afternoon shopping recently, Les Halles was along the way. We decided to see what sort of lunch we could find. We found Hallegria. We were not disappointed.

At noon the market was winding down and Hallegria was almost deserted. We needn't have worried. By the time that we finished, a lively crowd had gathered. It turns out that Hallegria has a dedicated entrance from the outside and is therefore not totally dependent on Les Halles traffic and hours. The menu on a large, fold-up chalk board was wheeled over and was quite comprehensive. But we all settled for the formula of the day. Start and main or main and dessert for 14.50 euros, all three for 17.50 euros. The start was rillette of saumon fume, two scoops of shredded smoked salmon held together with creme fraiche and topped by lemon wedges. A small side of greens with a pleasant balsamic dressing accompanied the rillette perfectly. Three grilled lamb chops provided the centerpiece of a main plate that included a mound of creamy mashed potatoes, sauteed trumpets, and a taste of ratatouille. Fine French lamb properly grilled. For dessert, a boule of vanilla ice cream between bits of pastry with red fruit and dollops of chantilly. Very refreshing. Our water bottle was kept full and cold. There was plenty of fresh, grainy, crusty bread. And we finished off a bottle of nice rose.

Service was attentive without being intrusive. Food came in an orderly, unhurried fashion. And although three of our party of four only ordered two of the three courses, we all left full and satisfied. 77 euros total, a bit more than a three-course featuring steak/frites and jug wine but of superior quality. Well worth the price.

Recommended.

PS: While Hallegria doesn't have the feel of a sports bar, there were two televisions in sight of our table. They were showing Moto GP. As a motorhead, I found that an added bonus. You might not.

CAFE DES ARTS, BEZIERS - QUICK TAKE RESTAURANT REVIEW

It had been a busy morning. We were tired. We had to wait to do our last little bit of business in central Beziers until after lunch. So we found the Cafe des Arts just off the Allee Paul Piquet and settled in for a quick bite.

Primitive oil paintings of clowns? Really?

The waiter touted the special - a mixed salad, beef bourguignon, and dessert. Not feeling quite that hungry, we ordered off the slate. Two of us went for the bavette, two for confit de canard. French beef is French beef. If you know what to expect, you won't be disappointed. The two who ordered the bavette knew what to expect and were not disappointed. The confit was a proper joint, properly prepared. The frites were fresh, not reconstituted. The bread was grainy and crusty. Service was attentive without being intrusive. And the pink en pichet was quaffable. With two coffees at the finish, 54 euros and change.

As we left, we noticed some nicely presented plates on other tables. The pizza looked interesting and the salad well constructed. If we'd been less tired and more interested in dining, we might have been a bit more adventurous. It's hard to say if we'll return. There are so many choices in the area. But they took care of our hunger and didn't charge too much, so we have no complaints.

Worth a visit. 

AUBERGE DE LA SELETTE - RESTAURANT REVIEW

They say that familiarity breeds contempt. Maybe that's true. We'd passed by Auberge de la Selette dozens of times if not more, sitting close by a very busy two-lane blacktop, next door to a wine shop, just around the corner from bustling L'Oulibo - the touristy olive cooperative outside of Bize Minervois. A highway joint. With a wine shop next store. And a tourist attraction around the corner. Why waste the time and money?

Over two years go by...

For some unknown reason, friends suddenly began asking us what we thought of La Selette. They liked the place. We'd never been? Let's fix that. A visit was arranged.

Worth the trip.

Five of us sat on a patio, quite close to the highway. But somehow a small retaining wall and some landscaping seemed to modify the noise of passing cars considerably. We had plenty of space although the patio was quite full. And with a bit of adjustment as the sun moved, a large parasol provided sufficient shade. That's not to say that comfort was total. The temperature exceeded 90F (32C) so the girls traded the one dainty little fan back and forth.

Enough side business. What about the food?

We all went for the 24 euro lunch, a bit pricier than our normal, wine not included. (And we went through one and one-half liters of pink and a half liter of red.) We started with a small plate of olives (local lucques) and a cheese-and-cream dip seasoned with Espelette pepper and accompanied by nice toasted bread bits. The table was a bit large for the one small plate but we managed to each get a share. A simple little glass of gazpacho followed, nothing fancy but you can't beat the local tomatoes when they are in season.

Cathey went for an escargot starter that came in four small cups. She could detect no differences between the four, and if the differences were too subtle for Cathey, they were just too subtle. Not too garlicky. I had a good-sized salad featuring what I would call Camembert fritters, four chunks of pleasantly tangy Camembert fried with a crispy crust of bread crumbs. Plenty of lettuce with a creamy dressing and a radish and onions and corn kernels. (The French have a thing for corn kernels on salads. Don't know why. I surely do miss my American sweet corn though. Nothing like that here. But again. I digress.)

Cathey had the seafood gratin for her main course - creamy, cheesy (I say that a lot, don't I? Creamy and cheesy...) piping hot fresh catch flanked by fleurettes of mashed potatoes. Very satisfying. My slow roasted lamb with black pepper and lemon confit just fell off the fork. If you like lamb, the lamb here is heavenly. The pepper threatened to be overpowering at first taste. But once I settled in, it worked. You had to like black pepper, though. Sides included mashed potato, a little dish of ratatouille (totally unnecessary), and a little spoonful of diced fresh tomato with garlic and oil.

Dessert? Of course. I had a tall, wonderfully nasty profiterole (see pic). Cathey's sorbet finished her meal cleanly and well.

I should add that there were a couple of different choices by our table mates throughout the meal. All satisfactory. The full-on cafe gourmand was quite impressive.

I can't speak to the full freight. We were treated to lunch and I don't ask. Whatever the cost, the food was well-prepared and well-presented in a no-rush, pleasant atmosphere, served by attentive, helpful servers. As it should be...

Camembert Fritters

Seafood Gratin

Slow-Roasted Lamb

Profiterole

BUFFALO GRILL, NARBONNE - RESTAURANT REVIEW

I am not embarrassed to be reviewing an American-themed burger chain in France. I am not.

I will not be reviewing McDonald's or KFC or other American fast food chains. I didn't patronize them when I was living in the States and I won't patronize them here. But every once in a while, especially if you've lived for two years in France without one, you need a burger. That's nothing to be ashamed of.

So what do you do, particularly if the point of the exercise is to have someone else do the cooking? One answer is Buffalo Grill.

Here's where reviewing a place like the Buffalo Grill gets a bit dicey.

Ambience? American country music. Photos of John Wayne and prints depicting scenes of the American west on the walls. Life-size fiberglass statues of cowboys and Indians...cartoonish in the extreme. Booths lined with padded red Naugahyde. And wait staff wearing red flannel shirts and jeans. So basically, there's nothing approaching the type of atmosphere you expect in a French restaurant at all. It ain't fast food plastic, but it ain't ambience.

Service? Adequate. We came. We ordered. We were served. We ate. We asked for the bill. We paid. All in good time without undo waiting.

Food? Ah, yes. The food. Remember, this is a burger joint. And we got a burger. A beefy, juicy, drippy burger. There was a bit of a salad with kernels of corn, a few kidney beans, and commercial ranch dressing at the start. The burger came with standard, reconstituted frites along with a little bowl of dipping sauce that was too sweet to be the barbecue sauce that it was pretending to be. And the bun was a typical French take on a hamburger/hot dog roll, more brioche than bun and therefore prone to falling apart.

But all of the above having been said, we wanted a burger and we got a burger.

With an on-tap beer apiece, the tab came to 27 euros.

I am not embarrassed.

View my consolidated restaurant reviews by clicking HERE.

LE POURQUOI PAS, CAPESTANG - RESTAURANT REVIEW

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

                                                              ~ Yogi Berra 

You find a new restaurant. Everything is perfect - the setting, the ambience, the service, the food. You want to keep it to yourself. You know that if your new favorite generates the latest buzz, it will lose some of its charm. Maybe you won't be able to get a last minute reservation. Maybe the idiot at the next table wearing an earbud will start talking too loudly into the ether. And your perfect place won't be perfect any more.

Please. Don't visit Le Pourquoi Pas.

On the other hand, many more restaurants fail than succeed. In the States, it's estimated that 80% of restaurants close after less than one year. Some that fail deserve a better fate, deserve to become staples of the local cuisine scene. Le Pourquoi Pas deserves to survive and thrive.

Please. Visit Le Pourquoi Pas.

Get it? I'm conflicted. Cathey and I already love this place. After just one visit, we know that we'll be back again often, introducing this charming restaurant right up against the Canal du Midi to friends and family. Because we want Le Pourquoi Pas to succeed. And we have a feeling that it will succeed. But on its own terms - as a friendly, easy going, out of the way meeting place for small groups of friends who enjoy good food lovingly prepared from the freshest, best available local ingredients.

I mean it when I say that Le Pourquoi Pas is out of the way. You follow signs tacked to trees through the vineyards that lie between Capestang and Quarante, ending up on a dirt track along the canal. Your Belgian host Yves Urbain has taken a ramshackle canal house left to the elements and created a comfortable blend of stonework walls, tile floors, and modern amenities. Patios are in the making...when he recharges his energy. And then there's a kitchen garden to institute. But for now, let's talk about the food.

We chose from the tapas menu. You can choose individually or in groups of four, six, or nine. Cathey and I opted for four choices apiece. In truth, the portions were sized so that an array of six would have been sufficient for the two of us to share. Between us, we had a smooth, mild boudin; a pate fin de campagne equally smooth and delicious; a tasty saucisse sech au Roquefort; anchovies both salted and in vinegar; and petit gris a la persillade (snails in a parsley sauce infused with garlic). The charcuterie comes from the town of La Salvetat in the hills to the north, the anchovies from the lovely coastal town of Colliure. Yves' care in the selection paid off. Each morsel represented the best of its kind. And the one example of Yves own work, the sauce for the snails, was impeccable. The next visit, we'll order the plat du jour to fully test Yves' kitchen skills. I have no doubt that he'll pass.

Local olives and chunks of petrissane (the bread from our very own bakery in Quarante that Cathey and I purchase several times each week) accompanied the tapas. And we had plenty of choices for our wine, including the local pink that we ourselves serve to favored guests.

I often say that the French know chocolate. Of course, so do Belgians. The chocolate cream (Not mousse. No eggs.) topped with berries and lightly whipped cream was simply heaven. And Yves insisted that I taste his apple tart with cranberries. Not chocolate, but well executed just the same.

With coffee for me at the finish, the tab exceeded 50 euros. No, not cheap. But we could have done with the less expensive tapas choice and we spent the better part of three hours in a tranquil, comfortable, off the beaten track setting with the best of the terroir in front of us, a congenial host seeing to our every need, and that chocolate cream. An afternoon well worth the price.

Reserve early. Reserve often.

All of my restaurant reviews appear HERE.