It’s almost 8:00 PM in Antibes, in the South of France. Restaurants will start opening their doors soon. We’re on our way to one recommended to us by the receptionist at our hotel. She said our first dinner in Antibes will be très délicieux. We shall see…
This has been an exceptionally good eating trip. In Basque Country, we gorged on pintxos. I had one of my all-time favorite lunches in St.Jean de Luz. Oh, and there was duck confit for lunch in Pau, and cassoulet for dinner in Carcassonne. Could it get any better? It turns out that it could.
Just Follow the Map
Following a map drawn by the receptionist at the hotel, we found ourselves in the old part of Antibes. This part of town is pedestrian-only. Cars and small trucks can enter on a few streets, but most “streets” here are really alleyways.
Even though we had a map and the phone’s GPS, finding the restaurant was challenging. We had to go down one alleyway after another. None of them went in a straight line or met at right angles. Street signs? Who needs ‘em?
Each turn led to a narrower, darker alleyway. Confident we were not!
Then, to our surprise, we found ourselves standing right in front of our destination. No track-backs or detours necessary.
From the outside, the restaurant didn’t look like much. OK. It looked like quite a bit less than much. No problem. We know from experience that these are often hidden gems.
This Is It?
I opened the door and we went inside. Ooooh. It was dimly lit. Logs burned in a big fireplace. As my eyes adjusted, I started to make out old stone walls. They looked like they’ve been here for a long, long time.
There was a reception desk, but there was no one to greet us. Through an archway, I could see a dining room half-full of people enjoying dinner. Just then a young, energetic guy showed up to greet us.
He seated us in the cozy room with the fireplace. He left and returned with the evening’s menu board placed on an easel. If you sit down for dinner in a French restaurant, and instead of whipping out a couple of menus, the server presents the day’s menu board, you’re probably in for a treat.
He spent a few minutes telling us about special items on the board. His passion for certain menu items was evident. Between his english and my française, we managed to communicate well enough.
Bon Appétit!
We started off with a bottle wine and settled in. The space was warm, cozy, and nice. But we couldn’t settle for long. We had decisions to make. The thing about menu boards is that there might be only one for a small restaurant.
Diners have to decide and order so the server can whisk the menu board off to another table. It’s often like this in French restaurants. Servers expect customers to order promptly after sitting down. Chances are, whatever you order might take a while to prepare.
We started off with an escargot appetizer. There’s no in-between with escargot. You either love it or hate it. They’re usually served in a special dish with dimples so the little guys don’t roll off the dish and onto the floor. Not here.
Our escargot appetizer was a work of art. Each morsel – served without the shell – was placed in a snail-shaped swirl of garlic/parsley sauce. Wow. That’s it, shown at the top of this post.
The presentation of my lamb shoulder was equally impressive, as was my Better Half’s seared tuna. Whoever was in the kitchen creating these works of culinary art had it going on.
And of course, it wasn’t just about presentation. Everything was beyond très délicieux. We usually pass on dessert, but we had to order dessert here, just to see what it would look like. Guess what? It was great, too.
What a meal. We were very happy. Hey, I wonder if we’ll be able to find our way back to the hotel?
To be continued…
