When we visited the winery at La Garrigue, we got a brochure for our host's cousin's restaurant just outside Gigondas. Called Les Florets, we had passed this restaurant when exploring Gigondas and the Dentelles early in the trip. It has a beautiful terraced setting and the menu looks scrumptious. Decision made.
With no other plans for the day, we slept in and had a late, light breakfast (croissants of course) so as not to ruin our lunch. The day was partly sunny with cold blustery winds (again?), so we had a lazy morning, leaving around noon for the short drive to the restaurant.
We chose indoor seating as eating in windbreakers didn't seem very elegant. It was a good choice as the indoor setting of this hotel and restaurant was luxuriously comfortable.
The wait staff was impeccable. Over the course of our meal, they changed our silverware 4 times, and brushed crumbs off the table before serving dessert. Sometimes it's fun to be treated like kings and queens.
We started with an amuse-guele (literally, happy mouth, that is, a nibble) of olives and small pieces of a delicious bread. Along with a Rasteau aperitif wine.
Janis, Dave and I each ordered the menu of the day, paleron (short ribs) with carrots and wine sauce. Clark ordered a tenderloin steak.
The Prélude was a lovely concoction of herbed chevre with tomato wrapped in thin slices of zucchini. Melts in your mouth. So satisfying.
The first course for those of us who chose the menu was a crab . salad of celeriac with granny smith apple served with a ribbon of a green curry sauce. Just slightly piquant with a pleasant crunch in a just-right sized serving.
Then came the main course. Beef paleron with polenta. The deep rich gravy and tender carrots covered fork-tender strips of beef. Every bit of gravy was sopped up with crispy crusted French bread.
Clark's steak came beautifully plated on white and green asperagus.
Finally dessert - Savonnière (sponge cake) soaked in raspberry sauce, covered with fresh red fruits, splashes of whipped cream, with a side dish of mixed yellow fruits.
Our wine was, naturellement, a red from the Vacqueyras vineyard of La Garrigue, the plot of the family cousin. We left as the sun came out making this adventure in eating a doubly happy day.
We stopped on our way home at a demonstration vineyard that had a row of each of the grapes of the region. With rose bushes planted on the ends of the row.
We were home in time to welcome the kids back from their adventures. Our house is becoming lush with greenery and the roses are out in full bloom.
Chaos reigns as the grandchildren take over the arrangement of the house furnishings and the children start doing laundry.
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