aixcentric

Sometimes it’s a treat to go to lunch where there’s a nice ironed white tablecloth and silver plated napkin rings writes Susan Gish.

The two small, bright dining rooms are not stuffy or fancy at all. It’s bustling, with all of the servers saying, ‘J’arrive, j’arrive!’, but in the end you aren’t rushed.

What a cross section of customers! Mostly regulars who know the owner by name, and once you’ve been there a few times she asks your name as well. She runs the house so well, chats to everyone as they are paying their bill at the register. Then there’s Madame who must come every day for lunch, she is quite elegant and old and sits alone. I’ve watched this little woman devour every morsel of her lunch and a glass of wine as well. There are the business people, the blue collar working men, the couples and singles. Everyone cleans their plate and leaves happy.

The menu is small, just 8 dishes, which I like actually. Sam and I always say that the sign of a good restaurant is to execute just a few dishes really well, and the chef certainly does here.

Every day there are two plats du jour. There is also a steak tartare, a tartare de dorade, entrecote, carpaccio (they come with fries!). There’s two salads, one with encornets (squid) and a césar with chicken.

How unique that they offer no appetizers at all on the menu: I can almost hear the owner saying, “The plat is enough and if you want more, have dessert!” She’s a real character, very hands on. I’ve heard at the end of service she gathers up all the tablecloths and napkins and carries them upstairs or next door or something. Maybe they get washed and ironed on-site? You wonder if she might help out with that as well. After all, they’re only open for lunch, she’s got all night to prep the next day!

As you sit down, there are really good olives on the table which were meaty and tasty. Hey, that’s your appetizer, parfait! Then they bring the bread to the table and you can eat that if you’re starving while waiting for your lunch. Which isn’t very long. I think there’s a good amount of prep in the kitchen to have everything come out without waiting long. Oh, and the bread? It’s the best we’ve had in Aix, a bit of crunchy crust, soft on the inside, a lot of flavor – where do they get it?

The plat du jour was Legumes Farci! Wahoo! A whole tomato, zucchini and potato stuffed with ground meat/meatballs. You don’t see that on menus very often. It made me feel like I was getting my daily quota of vegetables with an extra bonus of meat. It was tasty and came with a nice mix of crisp lettuces in a side salad. Their homemade dressing is so much better than the dressings you get at most ho hum places. I don’t know why…maybe a good acid balance? Very fresh tasting salad.

Sam had Entrecote cooked perfectly rare, the way he asked for it. The meat had taste, yay! Tired of tasteless meat and the same old steak/frites, which this definitely was not. His also came with a side salad. And real frites! With a bit of skin on them, not greasy at all, nice and hot like he likes them, just added a bit of mayonnaise and salt and he was in heaven.

For dessert we split the Café Gourmand with chocolate mousse, panna cotta with raspberry sauce and tiramisu. I let him have the coffee.