The Restaurant A. Lefevre, in the Rue de 1’ Hotel de Ville, has a clientele of men of the brush and pen. It is to all outward appearance a workmen’s Restaurant A cafe, for it turns to the street a room Lefevre, Rue de with brown walls and black covered 1 Hotel de Vllle seats against the walls and zinc tables. Little chairs and some white painted tables are outside on the terasse , an old woman who is the grand-mere sits at the comptoir inside. This simple establishment is the restaurant beloved of old by Whistler, and Madame Veuve Bellet, the young and sprightly widow who is the proprietress, will tell you how he used to come there every day to breakfast, saying that he could not get a Sole Dieppoise really well cooked anywhere else. 72 fhe Gourmet's Guide to Bur ope Many artists of note have followed Whistler’s example in breakfasting at the cafe, and there is a pleasant artistic and literary and theatrical atmosphere about the place. Henri, the waiter who spends 'his spare time in the kitchen, the shining pots and pans in which can be seen down a passage, is a character who is quite willing to go out fishing at unearthly hours of the morning to secure soles for a favoured customer. Madame Bellet, who is a cook, and a very good cook too, on occasions, will cook the fish secured by Henri to oblige any old friend. I was taken to lunch by one such old friend, and the excellent meal I was given left a mark on my memory. A table was laid for us in the salon, a little room where a stuffed seagull hangs from the ceiling, where a piano occupies a corner, and the windows of which look out on to the sunny little square, in the middle of which stands the old grey church of St. Remy. Madame was in the kitchen, but Mademoiselle, her daughter, in rose- sprigged muslin, was there to wait on us. A pretty smiling girl is Mademoiselle. The great question of the wine to be drunk with breakfast had to be settled. Madame had sent us a message that she recommended the old Chambertin. Mademoiselle thought we should prefer the Barsac. We solved the difficulty by drinking a bottle of Chambertin first and then a bottle of Barsac, and we came to the conclusion that Mademoiselle was a good judge. An omelette aux credettes was followed by the Sole✪ Sole Dieppoise Dieppoise , with a delicious sauce in which tiny mushrooms and moules and shrimps were bathed. A grilled chicken came after with lemon squeezed over it, and then Madame in black silk and lace walked into the salon to hear what we thought of the sole. For the sole we had nothing but compliments, but Madame was a little grieved to hear that we thought the old Chambertin had seen its best days and that we liked the old Barsac French Provincial 7 owns 73 better. “ Oh, you gentlemen ! It is always like that. You like the Barsac best because it is a pretty girl that recommends it,” said Madame, shaking a finger at her daughter, who laughed back at her. A cream cheese of the country, so light that it melted in the mouth, completed the repast.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The Restaurant A. Lefevre, in the Rue de 1’ Hotel de Ville, has a clientele of men of the brush and pen. It is to all outward appearance a workmen’s Restaurant A cafe, for it turns to the street a room Lefevre, Rue de with brown walls and black covered 1 Hotel de Vllle seats against the walls and zinc tables. Little chairs and some white painted tables are outside on the terrace , an old woman who is the grand-mere sits at the comptoir inside. This simple establishment is the restaurant beloved of old by Whistler, and Madame Veuve Bellet, the young and sprightly widow who is the proprietress, will tell you how he used to come there every day to breakfast, saying that he could not get a Sole Dieppoise really well cooked anywhere else. [illustration: section break] Many artists of note have followed Whistler’s example in breakfasting at the cafe, and there is a pleasant artistic and literary and theatrical atmosphere about the place. Henri, the waiter who spends 'his spare time in the kitchen, the shining pots and pans in which can be seen down a passage, is a character who is quite willing to go out fishing at unearthly hours of the morning to secure soles for a favoured customer. Madame Bellet, who is a cook, and a very good cook too, on occasions, will cook the fish secured by Henri to oblige any old friend. I was taken to lunch by one such old friend, and the excellent meal I was given left a mark on my memory. A table was laid for us in the salon, a little room where a stuffed seagull hangs from the ceiling, where a piano occupies a corner, and the windows of which look out on to the sunny little square, in the middle of which stands the old grey church of St. Remy. Madame was in the kitchen, but Mademoiselle, her daughter, in rosesprigged muslin, was there to wait on us. A pretty smiling girl is Mademoiselle. The great question of the wine to be drunk with breakfast had to be settled. Madame had sent us a message that she recommended the old Chambertin. Mademoiselle thought we should prefer the Barsac. We solved the difficulty by drinking a bottle of Chambertin first and then a bottle of Barsac, and we came to the conclusion that Mademoiselle was a good judge. An omelette aux credettes was followed by the Sole Dieppoise , with a delicious sauce in which tiny mushrooms and moules and shrimps were bathed. A grilled chicken came after with lemon squeezed over it, and then Madame in black silk and lace walked into the salon to hear what we thought of the sole. For the sole we had nothing but compliments, but Madame was a little grieved to hear that we thought the old Chambertin had seen its best days and that we liked the old Barsac French Provincial 7 owns 73 better. “ Oh, you gentlemen ! It is always like that. You like the Barsac best because it is a pretty girl that recommends it,” said Madame, shaking a finger at her daughter, who laughed back at her. A cream cheese of the country, so light that it melted in the mouth, completed the repast.

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Sole Dieppoise

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