What we ate at Sur le Pont

This post is just a sample of the food we enjoyed at the Sur le Pont restaurant in Saint-Aignan on Sunday. I didn't take pictures of everything. Mostly I quickly snapped photos of what I was served — and this one of the terrace down by the river where we were sitting.

Here was my first course; Nick had the same thing. It was a nice salad with luscious smoked salmon, cubes of fresh avocado, and a slow-roasted tomate confite "petal" as an accent.

As their main course, both Jean and Nick had a daily special that was a filet mignon de porc (roasted tenderloin) served with green asparagus and (I think) some purée de pommes de terre ("mashed potatoes" doesn't sound so elegant).

I can't say I regret it — well, almost — but I passed up the filet mignon de porc because I couldn't resist trying Sur le Pont's hamburger! Walt had it too. It was a French gourmet riff on the American standard. There were pommes frites (French-fried potatoes), there was a little pile of dressed salad greens, and then there was a very thick mound of rare lean ground beef on a bun with caramelized oignons confits underneath, a lot of melted cheese, and a couple of pieces of roasted red pepper on top. That's a swipe of ketchup on the plate.

This was obviously a burger that you had to eat with a knife and fork, not with your bare hands. (The price of the 'burger ordered à la carte was 15.50 euros. The three course menu was 28 euros, and there was also a 23 euro menu that consisted of just two courses — either starter + main course or main course + dessert — for those with smaller appetites.)

For dessert, Jean, Nick, and I all had what the restaurant calls their café gourmand. It's a little glass of espresso coffee with four small sweets. On Sunday, those included a wedge of strawberry cream tart, a glass of cubed kiwi fruit and melon (cantaloupe), a scoop of grapefruit sorbet, and a glass of sweet fromage frais (cream cheese) with a raspberry coulis (purée) on top.

For his dessert, Walt ordered un millefeuille aux framboises. It wasn't really a millefeuille, which in America we call a "napoleon" and which is a cake made with flaky pâte feuilletée (puff pastry). It was a millefeuille revisité — a glass filled with layers of sweet custard and other layers of crispy pastry and raspberries (I think).

Serving food in glasses — the food preparation then is called a verrine (a verre being a drinking glass), a name resembling  the older word terrine — is very trendy in upscale French restaurants these days. Different verrines, savory or sweet, can be served as starters or as desserts.

As you can see, we were very pleased with the menu at Sur le Pont. We'll go back.