country except the Rilettes de Tours , little pates of
chicken liver, which in their way are real delicacies.
Bordeaux
I make no mention of the Plages d’Ocean which
lie between the Breton resorts and Bordeaux, for they
are visited by very few English or Americans, and I
pass on to the town of clarets and Cepes.
The restaurant of the Chapon Fin is one of the
best known in France, and it thoroughly deserves its
Chapon Fin, hi8h rePutation. Its dining-room is a
7 Rue Montes- great winter garden with ferns and
quieu rockeries and a great tree, the trunk of
which is in the restaurant, the boughs outside the
roof. MM. Dubois and Mendionde are the pro-
prietors. The cellar contains a splendid selection of
good clarets of all the great years and of all the great
names. The Chapon Fin has of course its own
especial sole, and there is a Potage Chapon Fin , a
vegetable soup which is excellent. Lampreys a la
Bordelaise and crayfish a la Bordelaise , and in the
autumn Cepes a la Bordelaise , three of the Bordeaux
dishes, are obtainable at their best at the Chapon Fin.
I need not warn gourmets how rich these dishes are.
The Chapon Fin is not cheap ; but its prices are not
extortionate.
I should put the restaurant a la carte of the Hotel
De Bayonne, de Bayonne, a great conservatory, very
Rue Martinac much on a level with the Chapon
Fin in the matter of cookery. They are both ex-
cellent dining-places, though it should be remembered
that the cuisine of the south is richer and more full-
Ca« de Bor- flavoured than that of Paris,
deaux, Place de The Cafe de Bordeaux has on its first
la Comedie floor a very pleasant room, the walls of
which are white and are decorated with many mirrors,
French Provincial Fowns
99
AFTER DINNER
Bordeaux prides itself on the operatic performances
at its Grand Theatre, and its audiences are very-
critical. It has two other theatres for lighter fare,
and the Casino des Lilas, on the Boulevard de
Cauderan, is the music hall of the city.
Arcachon
Arcachon, though it is one of the great centres
of oyster culture, is not a happy hunting ground for
epicures. The High Life Restaurant, Hig.h Life
attached to the Victoria Hotel, is in Boulevard de
summer much patronised, and its la Plage
cookery is good. At the Golden Anchor, in the
Place de la Marie, you can breakfast for 2.50 francs,
and dine for 3 francs, and the same prices obtain at
the Golden Star opposite the Casino.
The two Casinos, one on the Plage, the other in
the Forest, are under the same management. The
Cercle Nautique et des Sports is in the Casino, the
Cercle des Etrangers is in the Avenue Gambetta, and
the Cercle d’Arcachon at the Grand Cafe.
Biarritz
The average of cookery in the hotels at Biarritz
is very good, for the competition is very keen ; and as
money is spent by the handful in this town on the
bay where the Atlantic rolls in its breakers, any hotel
which did not provide two excellent table d'hote
meals would very soon be out of the running. In
the basement of the building in which is the Big
Casino, “ M. Boulant’s Casino,” as the natives still
call it, is a restaurant where a table d'hote lunch and
ioo The Gourmet's Guide to Europe
Page 56
Presented as published in 1903. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
country except the Rilettes de Tours , little pates of chicken liver, which in their way are real delicacies.
Bordeaux
I make no mention of the Plages d’Ocean which lie between the Breton resorts and Bordeaux, for they are visited by very few English or Americans, and I pass on to the town of clarets and Cepes.
The restaurant of the Chapon Fin is one of the best known in France, and it thoroughly deserves its Chapon Fin, high reputation. Its dining-room is a
7 Rue Montes- great winter garden with ferns and
quieu rockeries and a great tree, the trunk of
which is in the restaurant, the boughs outside the roof. MM. Dubois and Mendionde are the proprietors. The cellar contains a splendid selection of good clarets of all the great years and of all the great names. The Chapon Fin has of course its own especial sole, and there is a Potage Chapon Fin , a vegetable soup which is excellent. Lampreys a la Bordelaise and crayfish a la Bordelaise , and in the autumn Cepes a la Bordelaise , three of the Bordeaux dishes, are obtainable at their best at the Chapon Fin. I need not warn gourmets how rich these dishes are. The Chapon Fin is not cheap ; but its prices are not extortionate.
I should put the restaurant a la carte of the Hotel De Bayonne, de Bayonne, a great conservatory, very Rue Martinac much on a level with the Chapon Fin in the matter of cookery. They are both excellent dining-places, though it should be remembered that the cuisine of the south is richer and more full- Ca« de Bor- flavoured than that of Paris, deaux, Place de The Cafe de Bordeaux has on its first la Comedie floor a very pleasant room, the walls of which are white and are decorated with many mirrors,
French Provincial Towns
Bordeaux prides itself on the operatic performances at its Grand Theatre, and its audiences are verycritical. It has two other theatres for lighter fare, and the Casino des Lilas, on the Boulevard de Cauderan, is the music hall of the city.
Arcachon
Arcachon, though it is one of the great centres of oyster culture, is not a happy hunting ground for epicures. The High Life Restaurant, Hig.h Life attached to the Victoria Hotel, is in Boulevard de summer much patronised, and its la Plage cookery is good. At the Golden Anchor, in the Place de la Marie, you can breakfast for 2.50 francs, and dine for 3 francs, and the same prices obtain at the Golden Star opposite the Casino.
The two Casinos, one on the Plage, the other in the Forest, are under the same management. The Cercle Nautique et des Sports is in the Casino, the Cercle des Etrangers is in the Avenue Gambetta, and the Cercle d’Arcachon at the Grand Cafe.
Biarritz
The average of cookery in the hotels at Biarritz is very good, for the competition is very keen ; and as money is spent by the handful in this town on the bay where the Atlantic rolls in its breakers, any hotel which did not provide two excellent table d'hote meals would very soon be out of the running. In the basement of the building in which is the Big Casino, “ M. Boulant’s Casino,” as the natives still call it, is a restaurant where a table d'hote lunch and
ioo The Gourmet's Guide to Europe