French Village and Country Life
No 3: THE VILLAGE RESTAURANT
We are situated in the heart of the 'South West', and to many people here that means one thing..GOOD FOOD, AND PLENTY OF IT !.....Food, cooking and the growing and rearing of produce for the table are the staple diet of conversation . If you want to get on well with folk here, bone up on your knowledge of Gascon cuisine and you will have never ending conversations on the subject.
There are of course some very excellent 'haute cuisine' restaurants in the area, but these tend to be the reserve of well off locals and international 'gourmets'. The production of the area lends itself to what could be regarded as a luxury cuisine, with Foie Gras (very rich duck or goose liver) Magret de Canard (duck breast, grilled, sauteed or smoked) and anything cooked with Garlic or Cépes (famous local, very large mushrooms) featuring often. However, the greatest pleasure for most visitors to our sunny corner, and for those who live here, is to savour the food and atmosphere of the local village restaurant. Often unassuming and serving a very generous meal for between 8.5 € and 11.5 €, these restaurants attract a good, regular clientele
In the centre of our village of Beauville, we are lucky to have one of these restaurants... The Restaurant du Midi. Not to be confused with the dozens of others of this name, this one is rightly famous in the area and is refered to as chez Mme Serres or chez Francine .... the owner of this homely restaurant/hotel (Logis de France) for 46 years before passing it on recently to her daughter Mme Fieuzal (Chantal to her friends). Here is the home of the classic 4 course lunch (served between 12 and 2) for just 11.5 €. Every day of the week, there are at least 30 to 40 customers spead out between the bar dining room ( usually the local 'batchelors', workers and travelling workers such as electricity and water board) and the main dining room (with table cloths !) which gives out onto the terrace with views over the pretty valley below. Sundays, as you can imagine, are particularly popular and Mme Fieuzal welcomes 100 to 200 people for Sunday lunch at around 16 €. All in Sunday best, and seated at all the available tables throughout the building.
Mme Fieuzal is in charge of the service side, with her regular staff of local women, and Mr Fieuzal has taken on the baton from Mme Serres in the kitchen.
This steaming, buzzing kitchen produces not only the daily menu du jour but also a most varied a la carte menu. The main menu is Soup ( different every day, regardless of the weather), plate of hors d'oeuvres, meat dish and separate vegetable dish and then desert or cheese or fruit. A typical 11.5 € menu is:
Soupe au Fèves (delicious broad bean soup with garlic)
Hors d'oeuvres (ham, dried sausage, sardines, crudités)
Veau au cépes (farm raised veal in yummy mushroom sauce)
Artichauts farcies (stuffed artichoke hearts)
Clafoutis de cerise ( cherry pudding)
Wines are reasonably priced with the Reserve du Restaurant at 5 € and a good selection of Cahors, Buzet, Bergerac, Duras and Bordeaux wines to choose from. Try a Madiran and be surprised by this little known wine from the Gers. The à la carte menu offers you such delights as omelette au cépes, salmi de palombe, civet de chevreuil, langoustines......
Well, what are you waiting for !! Make an appointment to come and see us. We are just off the market square where the restaurant is..and in addition to showing you an excellent range of properties, we promise to leave you at the restaurant for a hearty lunch, before setting off together for our afternoon visits.
Bon appetit !!!
Next article.... Having a baby in France.