03 June 2013

Start with dessert

At the Relais d'Artémis restaurant in Bracieux, there was a notice at the bottom of the menu saying something like : Merci de commander votre dessert au début du repas (Thanks for ordering your dessert at the beginning of the meal). So when the waitress came to take our order, CHM of course immediately told her that he wanted Tarte Tatin for dessert. The young woman was a bit confused but then saw the humor in the remark and laughed.

So I'll start the restaurant report with dessert too. As somebody said, life is short.

Here is the Tarte Tatin that CHM ordered and enjoyed. It's an upside-down apple tart, caramelized, served with a scoop of
glace à la vanille. It's a local invention and specialty in the Sologne region.

Walt and I both wanted to have the apricot dessert — Poêlée d'abricots au romarin, sorbet framboises — but there wasn't any left. We had a late reservation and the place was hopping. So we chose other desserts.

Walt had what was called a tartare de fraises. It's strawberry season right now in the Sologne.
Thanks to CHM for the photo.

My dessert was Croustillant au chocolat, crème anglaise au poivre de Séchuan.
I won't even try to translate all that. I don't eat much chocolate, and this was delicious.

Even after eating three other courses, I was able to finish my Croustillant au chocolat.

Here's a photo of the restaurant taken from the street.

Tomorrow: appetizers, main courses, etc. By the way, there was an English translation for each dish on the menu in the restaurant.

14 comments:


  1. All of them look very good. The chocolate one might be my favorite.

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  2. Bonjour Cousine,
    Yes, with the help of a northern wind, I brought sun to the Loire Valley. After we left the restaurant, there was a wind shift and, for a change, it rained like "vache qui pisse" for a while on our way to St-Aignan.

    Today it's bright and sunny if not unseasonably chilly.l

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  3. Thank you Ken...
    I've just had some dark chocolate spread and Breiz Karamel on a chunk of baguette...
    to stop my stomach from waking the household!!!

    All three of those puds sound wonderful.

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  4. Have you heard about the dieting idea that recommends you have dessert for breakfast? The only drawback is you can't have it for lunch or dinner as well.

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  5. Having dessert first may become trendy....who knows?

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  6. It's good to hear that CHM has brought you some sunshine! My pick is the tarte tat in. I love the looks of the restaurant with all the vines and lush rain watered foliage.

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  7. I would have ordered the croustillant also .

    All of them look "appetissant "

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  8. They do all look fabulous :) Yumm! The place looks great!

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  9. I always choose from the menu backwards - deciding on what goes with my chosen dessert!!
    But I have never ordered the dessert first - CHM is so witty!

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  10. Great looking desserts and a great looking restaurant!

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  11. Sometimes I have also been disappointed when a particular favorite dessert is all chosen by the time I order, so sometimes I call ahead (!) and reserve a serving.
    I don't think I would have been disappointed in any of the leftover choices at that restaurant, though.

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  12. I'm not a big dessert eater but... I've been practicing making Walt's Strawberry-Rhubarb tart. Funny thing is I suggested to my wife that we finish the latest one off before dinner tonight, she was astounded at the suggestion. Then I read this entry and thought what a coincidence.

    -craig-

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  13. Desserts somptueux ! Moi aussi, j'aurais voulu goûter au dessert avec les abricots :-)

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