France Today

Sue Holland, famed chef at The Customs House, offers us a little thumbnail sketch of two very idiosyncratic French restaurants…

I spent January in two different restaurants in France: Chez Dominique at Cibourne in the Basque Country of France, and l'Avant Goût in Paris.

Chez Dominique is in Ciboure, across the estuary from St Jean De Luz, the town in which, in 1660, Louis XIV married Marie-Thérèse of Austria, daughter of the King of Spain. The church, with its unique loggias and baroque gilding, still evokes that famous union. Cross the bridge to Ciboure and you leave the tourists behind, although Ravel was born a few doors from Chez Dominique.

The Restaurant is on the pier, and has been owned and run by Georges Piron since 1991. Prior to that Georges was head chef at le Bristol and at le Café de la Paix in Paris. We've known Chez Dominique since its early days, and as it is fish only I was keen to see things from the inside. Naturally the Basque influence is strong on the menu, but not exclusive.

Sample items:

velouté de crustaces en infusion de cèpes et jus de truffe. (€15 entrée)

noix de coquilles saint Jacques poêles coeurs d'endive aux jus d'oranges améres (€26 main course)

marinières de turbot sauvage raviolis aux cepes. (€33)

biscuit mi cuit au chocolat extra amer glace café. (€10)

I asked Georges what he thought about the future for fish: 'beaucoup plus cher et beaucoup d'elevage' (expensive and farmed). How depressing!

L'Avant Goût is a 30/40 cover restaurant in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Christophe Beaufront is the owner/chef. He has worked with Michel Gérard and Guy Savoy. It's years since you could get into this place without a reservation. His innovative style and great value are now legendary. Lunch menu for €11! OK, the ingredients don't cost much, but it requires years of savoir-faire and a lot of hours at the coal face to make them irresistible. Booked out lunch & dinner. But these days the restaurant is only open Tuesday to Friday (lunch & dinner). Why? Simple: even one more shift would require Christophe to double is staff. With his wife and seven staff he can do eight shifts: even one extra shift would require 15 staff; and that he be on the spot for the 14 shifts! The evening is flawless upmarket bistrôt fare at modest prices. L'Avant Goût has a wine shop and épicerie opposite, which showcases the wines of South-West France.

The future, Christophe? Pessimism; either expensive up-market, or else glorified à la McDonald's chains.

Sample Lunch Menu:

Entrée: carpaccio de bettrave sauce ravigote

Main Course: raie, embeurée de choux oignon, sauce aux poivrons

Coffee and a glass of wine included (€11)

Sample Dinner Menu:

Pressée de courgettes et de saumon marine à la badiane

Rascasse rôtie å l'arête patate douce acidulée, jus de coriander

Mangue rôtie, sorbet de persil (menu €28)

Both these restaurants have interested me for some time and both are at the pinnacle. I wrote to them in the autumn. If they had said no I would have asked elsewhere, but they both accepted. When I thanked Christophe for his professional generosity he shrugged and said 'nous somes tous du métier'. We are all craftsmen. So true! No-one can re-invent the wheel in cooking: it's the accumulated wisdom of centuries, conditioned by intelligence, intuition, culture and hard work.

If you are in the French Basque country you could consider staying at Sare. Officially - i.e. the Govt says - it's 'un des plus beaux villages de France'. Caroline and Franck Rigoux rent self-contained flats in their huge traditional Basque farmhouse. We tried it: climbed 'la rhune' like Victor Hugo; had lunch in San Sebastien; visited the Guggenheim in Bilbao; surfed at Biarritz. Tel/fax: 05 59 47 53 20. email: ertea64@wanadoo.fr

Sue Holland

Chez Dominique
15 Quai Maurice Ravel, 64500 Ciboure
Tel: 05 59 47 29 16

L'Avant Goût
26 Rue Bobillot, Paris 13eme. Métro: Place d'Italie.
Tel: 01 53 80 24 00