A Meal from the Food Gods

It’s not as if we’ve been lacking for good meals here in France. Not close.

In Aix, we’ve consistently enjoyed the lunchtime formule at Bistroquet, a plat du jour, dessert and glass of wine for about $22. Or we’ve relished the chevre chaud, plat du jour and absolutely divine chocolate cake at Fanny’s Bistrot Gourmand. This Sunday, we spent one of those marvelous moments of slow lane travel basking in the sun at Grand Cafe de la Sorgue, alongside the river and in the midst of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue’s magnificent market.  I sipped on rose and downed a delicious bowl of potato, celery and crouton soup with a huge slab of country ham in the middle.  And on Monday, in Avignon, we noticed a crowded Brasserie du Theatre across from the Office of Tourism, ate lunch there and soon discovered why it was popular.  Our light lunch was excellent.

But today. Ahhhh.

Today was our first full-fledged three-course French meal.  The two and a half hour variety.  Where the waiter doesn’t bring the check until you wave both arms.

We were in Cassis, on the Mediterranean, and our table had a view of the harbor and the red cliffs that tower over the town.  The occasion: the last day of Kathy’s sister’s visit. It’s been a really good one, that’s taken us to Roman ruins, to museums, to the hill towns of the Luberon, and to the sea. But what’s a visit to France without that special meal?

When we arrived in Cassis, we paid for three-and-a-half hours in the metered parking just to make sure we’d have adequate time.  Kathy and I remembered eating in La Vieille Auberge seven years ago.  It’s the second to last restaurant on the right in Cassis’s crescent-shaped harbor,  the kind of place that has red table cloths with cloth napkins and serves vegetables family style. Tasty, hearty but probably not for real trendy food snobs.

Why? This is old France. The clientele is older.  One couple had a dog under the table. Another, about 70, was dressed to the hilt, she with matching purple shoes and dress. Inside, a group of nine gathered for what we imagined might be their weekly lunch together.

But the food!  The lunchtime menu — the less expensive one — was $33.50 per person (tip included). That covered the entree, the main course and dessert. Wine and coffee were extra.

For the entree, I chose the fish soup.  The bowl could have served a family of four. This is filling stuff that comes with cheese, croutons, and aioli, a blend of garlic, olive oil and mustard, among other things, that is Provence’s distinctive, high-octane version of mayonnaise.  Kathy had the cured ham entree, Chris, her sister, a cold seafood salad that included shrimp, scallops, calamari and a lot of flavorful herbs.

And that was just the appetizer.

For the main course, we all settled on dorade, a relatively mild fish cooked whole on a wood grill with a hint of fennel. The waiter showed each of us our entire fish  before filleting them. The vegetables — spinach in a butter sauce with lemon and a bit of garlic and stuffed tomatoes — were served family style for us to share.  The wine, a Cassis white named Domaine du Paternel, was clean and refreshing.

But it was the dessert that provided the exclamation point. It was something called pommes, chaud et froid, apples hot and cold, a specialty of the house.  It may not sound like much — baked apple with a a delicious caramel sauce, raspberry coulis and vanilla ice cream. But trust me. It was worth the price of admission.

We will return to La Vieille Auberge in Cassis.  You should stop by, too, if you’re planning a visit. But leave plenty of time to eat — and digest. This is a big, and filling, meal, one to savor slowly.