Le Bateleur Restaurant, Vaison la Romaine

From the moment we signed the papers to buy our house in Sablet we have been planning for the time when we could spend New Years in Sablet with our daughters, their husbands and children all at one time. As readers of Our House in Provence blog know, we did that this year.

We knew from the beginning that with such a large group including grandchildren Avery age 4 years, Dylan 3 years, Caedon 2 years and newly arrived Madison 1 month old, that we would have to eat most meals at home. We are somewhat realistic and figured it was unlikely we could do that every meal, after all, we are co-owners of Bistro Des Copains, and we all love to eat in restaurants.

New Year's day, having welcomed in New Years with cousins Jean Marc and Christine and a Galette des Rois - King's Cake with fève - a sort of lucky charm that bestows privileges on the person who gets the piece with the fève, the kids decided they wanted to go out to eat in a restaurant.

They really wanted a break from their kids so GG (greatest grandma) kindly offered to stay home with them. Papa was needed to pay the bill so I got to go along on this outing. I called around to find a restaurant, this being a Saturday, lunch, New Year's day, there were not a lot of options, but Le Bateleur Restaurant in Vaison la Romaine was open and not fully reserved.

Le Bateleur Restaurant is located at Place Théodore Aubanel just across the Roman bridge in Vaison la Romaine's lower city, site of the ancient Roman colony and the modern town.

Baby Madison joined us on this outing since she is still nursing; shown here at Le Bateleur Restaurant with her auntie Tricia. I should mention that when I tried to take pictures on my camera, the battery was dead so the pictures on this post were taken by Tricia's husband Alvin, a professional photographer.

After examining the menu and considering the various options, we all chose the three course menu Le Géant de Provence. To accompany our meal, we selected the 2007 Domaine Jean David Séguret Rouge, a delicious blend of Grenache (67%), Mourvèdre (12%), Carignan (10%), Syrah (4%), Cinsault (4%) and Counoise (3%).

Our entrées - starters included Millefeuille de champignon et salades et les herbes - mushrooms in puff pastry with salad of greens and fresh herbs and

a tasty Soupe au Gambas - shrimp bisque.

Our plats - main courses included sauteed Dorade Grise - Black Sea Bream wrapped around roasted squash and

oven roasted Poulet - chicken over diced vegetables and

grilled Boeuf Charolais et épeautre comme risotto - beef from Charolais with spelt cooked risotto style. All of our main courses were garnished with rosemary.

Some chose to finish with a selection of cheeses aged to perfection by Josiane Deal at Lou Canesteou in Vaison la Romaine.

Others chose to finish with something sweet off of the dessert menu. Unfortunately, I failed to make note of what they were so I can't tell you. Maybe you can tell me.

Here is the other dessert.

Le Bateleur Restaurant is under the same ownership with Le Mesclun in Séguret where we have eaten several times. We love the terrace at Le Mesclun and we have enjoyed our meals there, but I think our meal New Year's Day at Le Bateleur was the best we have had in these two restaurants.

I hope all your meals are wonderful. Bonne appétit et à bientôt.

Campagne Vignes et Gourmandises, Sainte Cécile les Vignes

One of my favorite restaurants in the Vaucluse is located not very far from Sablet just outside of Sainte Cécile les Vignes along the road to Suze-la-Rousse. The restaurant Campagne, Vignes et Gourmandises, is owned by Sylvain who oversees the kitchen and wife Sylvia who graciously cares for guests in the dining room.

My first meal at the restaurant was with friends Allison and Adam when they visited last spring. Shirley had returned to California and Allison and Adam were leaving the next morning and they took me out to eat as a thank you for staying with us. We had a wonderful meal and I made a mental note to return with Shirley.

We went to Campagne Vignes et Gourmandises last fall on our first evening back in Sablet. We sat on the terrace and the food was wonderful but Shirley couldn't enjoy her meal as she was struggling to stay awake due to jet lag. It must have been pretty obvious because Sylvia came by and said "its too bad madame is not enjoying her meal".

I was in Sablet a few weeks ago with friends Steven and Susan and we decided to go to Campagne Vignes et Gourmandises. As I said, there is a terrace for dining outdoors during good weather and a small very pretty dining room. As the weather was still cool, we were seated in the dining room.

We enjoyed some olives while we considered the options for dinner in the printed menu and on the blackboard which detailed the Retour du Marché menu for 21 Euros. All three of us chose the 3-course Campagne menu for 32 Euros.

We selected a bottle of 2007 Côtes du Rhône-Villages Rasteau from Domaine Beaurenard from the large wine list, a delicious blend of Grenache (80%) and Syrah (20%) to enjoy with our dinner.

Our entrées - starters included Des Ravioles, des petits Gris dans un bouillon aux herbes - ravioles with little escargots in an herb bouillon

and dans une cocotte, un velouté d’Asperges, un Œuf poché, quelques Morilles et crème fouettée - asparagus soup with a poached egg, some morilles mushrooms and whipped cream.

For our plat - main courses, we chose un filet de bœuf, réduction de vin de pays du Vaucluse et Morilles - fillet of beef with a red wine reduction and morille mushrooms and

un filet de Sar, Poivrons et Ail nouveau confit à l’huile d’Olive de Pays - fillet of sea bream, roasted red pepper with garlic confit in local olive oil.

Our dessserts included Des Sacristains, une sauce Araguani, Coriandre et Ananas - sweet puff pastry on a bittersweet chocolate sauce made from a blend of Criollo and Trinitario cocoa beans from Venezuela, coriander and pineapple and

des Fraises de Pays et de Rhubarbe, mousse légère au Lait de Brebis - local strawberries and rhubarb with a light sheep's milk mousse

We also shared a selection of cheeses aged by our favorite cheese lady Josianne from Lou Canestéou in Vaison-la-Romaine.

This was a wonderful meal and I can't wait to go back. Don't hesitate to go to Campagne Vignes et Gourmandises if you are going to be in the Northern Vaucluse.

Bon appétit et à bientôt mes amis.

La Farigoule, Sainte Cécile les Vignes

As I mentioned in my previous post, we knew Sainte Cécile les Vignes for two of the restaurants in the village. As you know by now, good food is one of my passions in life so we are always looking for good places to eat.

We had tried many times to go eat at La Farigoule, a restaurant located on the main street of Sainte Cécile les Vignes but never succeeded because it was either closed for fermeture annuelle - annual closing, fermeture hebdomadaire - weekly closing or complet - fully reserved.

So after tasting wine at several domaines in Rasteau one morning, it was getting close to noon and time for déjeuner - lunch, I decided I would try again to eat at La Farigoule. This time I was successful; they were open and they were not full.

As I said, La Farigoule is located on the main street of Sainte Cécile les Vignes and there is small terrace for outdoor dining along the street. La Farigoule is a hotel and restaurant.

The day was very gray and cool and it was way too early in the season for outdoor dining so I entered the front door into the pretty dining room with adjoining bar.

I was seated at a linen covered table along the wall with a view of the entire dining room. In addition to the printed menu, there was a menu ardoise - blackboard menu, with the chef's lunch menu for that day.

I chose the four course Sélection du Terroir from the printed menu for 29,00 Euros and a glass of local rosé wine. Very unusual from our experience in the South of France, there was no amuse bouche brought to the table to nibble on while I waited for my entrée - starter.

For my entrée - starter, I chose gratinéed moules with velouté de légumes -gratinéed mussels with vegetable soup.

For my plat - main course, I chose braised chicken with a herb flan and balsamic braised fennel and mashed potatoes.

After my plat, I was brought a plate with greens dressed with vinaigrette and a round of fresh goat cheese.

For dessert, I decided on molten chocolate cake with a little pot of crème anglaise accompanied by a scoop of honey milk ice cream.

The food was simply prepared but very tasty and service was warm and attentive. I will definitely return with Shirley on one of our future visits to Sablet.

Bon appétit et à bientôt. 

Le Tourne au Verre, Cairanne

If you are a regular reader of Our House in Provence blog, you know that wife Shirley and I eat in restaurants often when we are in Provence. Some of that is because we don't get to eat out in restaurants in California much because I am usually at Bistro Des Copains, the French country bistro that I co-own in Occidental California.

We usually go to restaurants that have been recommended to us, I have read about on one of the blogs I follow or the restaurant is in a restaurant guide such as Bonnes Petites Tables du guide MICHELIN, a guide to 600 restaurants throughout France that offer a great three-course meal for less than €29 Euros.

Some time back Julie Mautner at The Provence Post wrote "Where Would Patrica Wells Eat." Patricia is a cookbook author and cooking teacher who lives near Sablet in Vaison la Romaine. For 25 years, Patricia was the restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune. I have a very large collection of cookbooks and among my favorites are seven of Patricia Wells books.

So when I saw that one of the restaurants on Patricia Well's list was in nearby Cairanne, we decided to go try it out. Cairanne sits on a hill with a view east towards Sablet and the vineyards between the village and the Dentelles de Montmirail. Wines produced in the commune are designated Côtes du Rhône-Villages.

We found restaurant Le Tourne au Verre in the center of Cairanne on Route de Sainte Cécile.

Le Tourne au Verre is a restaurant wine bar with a terrace for dining outdoors in nice weather and a large bar and adjoining dining room. We went in the evening and it was sort of cool outside so we chose to sit in the dining room.

Now when we got to the restaurant we discovered that the Le Tourne au Verre offers a four-course menu with amuse-bouche, entrée, plat, and dessert for 25,00 Euros. A great value, only trouble is you have to be an adventuresome diner with no dietary restrictions to fully enjoy it as they only list one choice for each part of the menu.

The wine list is large with 580 selections; we chose a bottle of 2006 Domaine de Mourchon Séguret Grande Réserve. Made from grapes of 60 year old vines, the wine is a blend of Grenache (65%) and Syrah (35%).

For entrée - starter, that night, the restaurant was serving encornets farcis a la brandade haddock, sauce aux poivrons - squid stuffed with haddock brandade sitting on a red pepper sauce.

As I said, Le Tourne au Verre is best suited for adventuresome diners and those with no dietary restrictions. Shirley eats fish but not seafood so the chef prepared her a simple green salad.

For plat - main course, the chef was serving foie de veau, sauce aux raisins, purée de rutabaga et brocolis - braised calf liver with raisin sauce, mashed rutabagas and broccoli.

Again, the chef came through for Shirley with roast salmon with the same raisin sauce and mashed rutabagas and broccoli.

For dessert,we were served cappuccino maison - coffee gelatin pudding, milk chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream.

All the dishes were very well prepared. However, I am not a lover myself of squid or calf liver so I can't say it was a memorable meal. However, I am sure I will return again. The menu changes daily and they have a large well priced wine list.

Bon appétit et a bientôt.

Brasserie Insolite, Lourmarin

As I told you in my previous post, we went to Lourmarin and while we were there, we ate déjeuner - lunch at Brasserie Insolite. I normally try to figure out what are supposedly the good restaurants in a town before we go, but since our visit to Lourmarin was a spur of the moment decision, I didn't get a chance to do that.

Although it was mid-September and vacations mostly over and people back to work, Lourmarin was bustling with lots of people. There were shoppers completing purchases at the Friday market while sellers were starting to box up the fruits and vegetables and assorted merchandise they hadn't sold, shopkeepers were closing for their two hour lunch break and office workers were headed home, baguettes in hand for lunch.

It was a beautiful day, the sky was brilliant blue and we wanted to sit outside and soak up the sunshine and atmosphere. We could see that diners were already seated at most of the café tables that line Place de la Fontaine and the streets near the center of Lourmarin.

We walked around reading the various menu's, some were on blackboards and others printed and posted outside restaurants. After checking menus and availability of tables, we decided to try Brasserie Insolite. They had a selection of salads and pizzas which was what we were looking for given we weren't familiar with any restaurants in the area.

Brasserie Insolite has a few tables along the street, a dining room for inclement weather and a large terrace behind the restaurant. We were offered the last table on the terrace along with a warning that there were no more umbrellas and it was very sunny. Sounded perfect to us.

It seemed like everyone had descended on the restaurant at the same time as it took a while for the server to get over to our table to take our order. In this picture wife Shirley is patiently waiting for our server to arrive.

We ordered a pichet - carafe of rosé wine from the Luberon region to accompany our lunch. For starters we chose a Salade Italienne - a nicely dressed salad of arugula, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese; and

Camembert Fondue - a plate of greens and a whole baked Camembert with little toasts on which to spread the cheese.

We had observed several pizzas carried out to other tables and seen they were very good size. So we decided to share a Pizza 4 Fromages - four cheese pizza. I guess we weren't worried about cheese overload.

To finish, we shared a Café Liégeois, a wonderful combination of vanilla and coffee ice cream, cold espresso topped with Chantilly cream. It was perfect for a hot day.

We will be returning to the Lourmarin area many times I am sure. Brasserie Insolite was wonderful for a simple lunch. I have heard there are several very good restaurants in the area. I would appreciate any restaurant suggestions you might have for Lourmarin and the surrounding area.

Bonne appetit.

Insensé Restaurant, Montpellier

One Saturday morning back in January, after a morning walk around Sablet, I headed over to rendezvous with cousins Jean Marc and Christine at their house near Montpellier. When I got there, I was happy to hear that we were going to meet their daughter Anne-Emmanuelle and Christine's brother Jean Baptiste for lunch near Place de la Comédie as he was arriving by TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) - high speed train from Paris.

The Place de la Comédie is the main focal point for the city of Montpellier so there are many stores and restaurants located nearby. We decided to dine at Insensé Restaurant at the Musée Fabre. Insensé Restaurant is owned by twin brothers Jacques and Laurent Pourcel who also own the two-star Michelin restaurant Le Jardin des Sens, also in Montpellier

Cousin Christine, a pediatrician, with her brother Jean Baptiste, formerly an actor, now restaurateur and owner of Le Chalet des Iles, a restaurant on the lake in Bois du Boulogne in Paris' 16th arrondisement.

Me with cousin Anne-Emmanuelle, a soprano with an amazing voice and a talented flautist too; she now concentrates on her vocal career. She has sung all over France and will be in New York City to perform in September 2011.

We ordered a bottle of Chateau de la Negly from the Languedoc region to accompany our lunch.

Lunch starters included: Tartine de poivron rouge et chèvre - toasted bread with roasted red peppers and goat cheese,

ravioli de champignon avec sauce au potiron et crème de châtaigne - mushroom ravioli with pumpkin sauce and cream of chestnut,

and l’assiette de jambon ibérique, copeaux de poire, parmesan et pousses de roquette - plate of ibérique ham, sliced pears, parmesan cheese and arugula.

Main courses included:

cabillaud et sauce safran, courgettes et carrotes - pan roasted cod with zucchini, carrots and a saffron sauce,

tartare de boeuf classique, pommes frites et salade - beef tartare, fries and salad greens,

filet de daurade royale grillé, jus de cuisson en émulsion - pan roasted sea bass with cooking juices emulsified,

and l’émincé de boeuf poêlé, pommes frites, et fondue d’échalotes - sliced pan roasted beef with fries and shallot fondue.

Desserts included:

feuilleté caramélisé aux pommes confites with glace vanille - layered apples cooked confit style with vanilla ice cream,

tarte fine a l'orange et sorbet senguine - orange tart with blood orange sorbet.

Insensé Restaurant is a good choice for lunch or dinner if you are looking for a moderately priced place to eat near Place de la Comédie in Montpellier. We will definitely go again.

Bon appetit.