I mentioned a day or two ago that on that June day in 2008, Walt, CHM, and I had lunch at the Saint-Aignan restaurant called Le Crêpiot. It's located just down the main street in town, not far from the tourist office and the post office. I think it must have been a crêperie at some point in time, but for the past 20 or so years it has been operated as a more of a café, serving a wider range of dishes. It has always been fun to have a meal there, and the food has always been good. The people who ran it when we first came to live here have retired and the place is under new management. It's been quite a while since I've been there for lunch or dinner, for a variety of reasons — the pandemic and confinements, for example.
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6Back then, the daily special at lunchtime cost you about 12 euros. The day we were there the main course was a grilled slice of ham served with white beans. As a starter, the choices were a salad with grilled goat cheese, a salad with strips of chicken breast, or a half an avocado stuffed with tuna salad. The desserts were a slice of tarte aux pommes (apple tart), a "floating island" (île flottante) or two scoops of ice cream (several flavors were available). Instead of dessert, or in addition, you could choose to have the cheese plate, with pieces of two different cheeses.
We decided to have the €16 menu instead, because we wanted steaks. As an entrée, CHM had a salad with Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine goat cheese. There were four big pieces of cheese on the plate with salad greens and chopped walnuts. Walt had a herring salad — two or three fairly large pieces of fish served with sliced boiled potatoes, onions, and salad greens in vinaigrette. I had the half-avocado stuffed with tuna salad.
Our main dishes were steaks called bavette d'aloyau, which is a sort of flank or skirt steak. It's lean meat with no fat or gristle. We all ordered the steak cooked rare (saignant). Walt and I got frites — French fries — with ours. CHM decided to substitute sautéed mushrooms for a supplement of one euro. I thought the steak was perfectly cooked and tender (French beef is from grass-fed cattle and therefore very different from American beef in taste and texture). It was served with a pat of garlic/parsley butter that melted on top of and flavored the meat. CHM had such a big portion of mushrooms that he couldn't eat them all, but Walt and I both finished our frites.
Our desserts were a crêpe with warm chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream for CHM, a piece of apple tart for Walt, and a floating island for me. Do you know what an île flottante is? It's blobs of soft meringue sitting in a light crème anglaise — an egg custard — with toasted sliced almonds on top.
I completely forgot to take pictures of the food. I was too busy anticipating and then eating. Oh, and now I almost forgot this detail: the Crêpiot always featured a locally made wine as its vin du mois. That month it wass a Cabernet Franc and Côt (aka Malbec) blend made and bottled by a couple over in the village of Couffy, about three miles east of Saint-Aignan. It was tasty.
That’s what blogs are for, refresh failing memory! I remember having lunch at the Crêpiot with you and Walt, but it stops there. Even reading what I ate that day doesn’t ring a bell.
ReplyDeleteHere grain fed beef came into favour for local consumption and export and then fell out of favour for grass fed beef for both. I prefer grass fed.
ReplyDeleteI prefer grass-fed beef too, though some of the U.S. grain-fed beef is very good. The meat is too full of additives like growth hormones and antibiotics, however.
DeleteThe beef in the US nowadays is also quite expensive. Ribeye I've seen here recently for $21 or so a pound. I'm always shocked when I look in the meat department.
DeleteThis restaurant looks wonderful. I would have ordered the île flottante for dessert too! That's one of my favorites.
Yes, that too about hormones and antibiotics.
DeleteOh my... it looks lovely and I'm drooling over the menu!
ReplyDeleteNumber 5 may well be the table where Lewis discovered andouillettes lol! It seems I'm missing France more than ever now despite being there this time last month. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a classic French restaurant, the kind we look for if we're having lunch in a small town or village. And local wine to boot!
ReplyDeleteAs for beef, we pretty much only buy from local farms, and most, if not all, have grass-fed animals, sometimes finished with grain. And I believe no hormones or antibiotics given, except maybe if an animal is sick.
We ate at two different places in Saint Aignan, but I remember seeing your post about this one :)
ReplyDeleteConsider going back to eat there or at another restaurant. You are vaccinated and restaurants need the business. As of August 9, i believe, they will have to check the "pass sanitaire" so no one present should be a covid risk for you. If they serve outdoors, even better.
ReplyDeleteI've been out a few times -- the movies with my daughter, a couple of restaurants. The movie theaters have been pretty empty, only about 6 to 10 people in the room! The restaurants -- depends on the weather. We try to be seated on the terrace (more likely to be parking spaces set up for dining!) when possible.
I assume that the passe sanitaire is not obtainable by Americans yet, which would restrict them from cer5tain activities, like restaurants. Not that we're planning to go to France this year; we're cancelling any plans for the second year in a row. Although we currently can enter, there are too many "ifs."
DeleteI know I'm not yet ready to travel to the U.S., so I understand your decision not to come to France right now. Even we don't understand how the pass sanitaire works, so we're just cooking and eating at home.
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