This was a lovely place to stumble across and very pleased my old Uni mate recommended and took me here. This is basically a little piece of France in the heart of Nottingham, owned by Corsican born Stéphane. The menu is utterly in French keeping as is the calm beat within the homely setting inside where it simply feels wrong to rush. And why would you when the food is as good as it was! My tartlet was just right, the red wine and blueberry sauce to go with the veal was just fantastic and it was lovely to have a French crêpe for dessert. The only thing in fact that was a suprise was the butter in sachets but this is not the end of the world I do understand as a café – just more fiddle work for the diner… It did not in anyway detract from the flavours at all though, which were all lovely including the gratin and supporting vegetables as well as the Cotes du Rhone that went very well with it all.
The interesting thing about this venue, is that three times a year Stéphane and his wife travel to a different region of France and source all of the ingredients from that specific region in accordance with the local produce and what the markets are selling at that particular time. Then they design the menu based on what they have sourced and gain the accompanying wines from the same region as well. They then bring this all back to Nottingham and serve the next day as a 4 course ‘discovery evening’ in the downstairs section of the restaurant for a limited time (approx 2 days only each time they do this). It’s a wonderful notion to do and frankly if you live in Nottingham, you would be a fool not to book a table for these rare food treat occasions. The next one I believe is in September and I’m already trying to juggle work to attend.
The interesting thing about this venue, is that three times a year Stéphane and his wife travel to a different region of France and source all of the ingredients from that specific region in accordance with the local produce and what the markets are selling at that particular time. Then they design the menu based on what they have sourced and gain the accompanying wines from the same region as well. They then bring this all back to Nottingham and serve the next day as a 4 course ‘discovery evening’ in the downstairs section of the restaurant for a limited time (approx 2 days only each time they do this). It’s a wonderful notion to do and frankly if you live in Nottingham, you would be a fool not to book a table for these rare food treat occasions. The next one I believe is in September and I’m already trying to juggle work to attend.
A lovely, charming and homely establishment which I hope to enjoy again.
https://major-foodie.com/french-living-nottingham/
https://instagram.com/richardbagnold
