Over the years, I have been lucky enough to have eaten and drunk very well in France. Since my first visit in 1989, through the years of 1990-1991 when we lived in Paris, through frequent return visits after we were once again living in Seattle, until today, when we live full time in Orthez, some the the most memorable moments of my life have taken place seated at a table or standing at a bar somewhere in France. It occurred to me that some of these memories might be of interest to you who read this blog.

So I am inaugurating a new post category which I call “Petites Histoires”, which will relate some of my favorite memories of eating and drinking at restaurants and wine bars in France. These recollections should in no way be considered recommendations:  some of these places are long gone and much lamented.  If the establishment in question still exists, its likely that I havent been there for many years, so I am in no position to recommend or not.

By way of disclaimer, I would point out that these are memories, and experts tell us that a significant amount of what we remember is false. And I would note that a very intelligent and much adored man I was privileged to know was fond of saying that people prefer a good story to the absolute truth, a sentiment which I have taken to heart.  Buyer beware!

Coming soon, wine bar Le Tartine, Paris

A long time favorite at Le Pichet, our Pâte Albigeois is a country-styl pâte made with pork and pork liver, scented with garlic, onions, cognac and spices. We serve it with grain mustard, cornichons and honey walnuts…honey and walnuts are two of the trademark artisan products of the region of the city of Albi, in the southwest of France.

In the Pays Basque, adding Borda to the name of an eating establishment signifies a rustic country inn. In Euskera, borda means barn and the original Bordas were kitchens set up in underused barns, often with the cooking done over wood-fired braziers and guests served at long rows of tables, outdoors when weather permitted. Although no one is likely to confuse the the bright, modern dining room at Haraneko Borda with a barn, its kitchen does feature a wood fired grill and oven, the room is framed by ancient wood beams and on sunny days, tables are set up on the expansive deck looking over the green, rural valley of Itxassou.

The restaurant at Haraneko is actually part of an expansive organic farm called Ferme Heranea where owner Christian Aguerre raises the ancient race of Basque black hogs known as “cochon noir de kintoa”, rumored to produce the best pork in France, was well as fruits and vegetables including the sour cherries for which the valley of Itxassou has become known. Starting a restaurant on the property was a logical next step in the farm’s evolution, creating a a dining experience that the chef calls “zero kilometer local”, meaning that the majority of the ingredients come directly from the restaurants own farm. Ham and pork from kintoa hogs, corn for taloa (Basque corn pancakes), chickens, eggs, piment d’Espelette, fruits and vegetables all from the farm. Even the wine served, although not all produced within 1 kilometer, all comes from the Pays Basque.

The cooking at Haraneko matches the setting, being both rustic and accomplished, sophisticated but simple, the kind of food I love to discover and to eat.

When we visited for lunch during the week in early May 2019, reservations were easy to get and the menu prices very fair. However, that could change, as Borda Haraneko has been discovered, recently being named Best Farm-Auberge in France by Le Fooding.

Haraneko Borda
Address: 3 Gerastoko Bidea, 64250 Itxassou, France
Tel: 05 59 15 09 68
Reservations: Recommended. Not busy outside the season but hours can be irregular

Combine a wine shop, a cafe, a natural wine bar, a hangout for locals that’s open from 10am to midnight and a restaurant where everything is made from scratch using ingredients gathered within 100 miles and what do you get? La Legende in Sauveterre de Bearn.

On the face of it, Sauveterre de Béarn (population about 1500, although higher in the summer when tourists arrive; the name of the restaurant is a reference to Sauveterre’s medieval fortified bridge, known as Le Pont de la Legende ) seems like an unlikely choice for two former Parisians (alumni of pioneering cave a manger Le Verre Volé). Rumor has it that, having decided to quit Paris, they made a tour of France and fell in love with Sauveterre. Factor in their desire to provision the restaurant exclusively on local products, and the choice begins to make more sense; the Bearn is increasingly known as the home artisan organic farmers, bakers, winemakers and more.

At La Legende, they take full advantage for the local bounty. The daily menu is very limited (they actually ask if you have dietary restrictions when you call to reserve; given that the daily menu has no choices, your answers will shape the meal of all that days guests!) but at 22 euros for 3 very well prepared, totally seasonal course, it is a fantastic value. The cooking is sophisticated but simply and elegantly presented, the flavors are fresh and inventive while still respecting tradition. There is no wine list, but the cave is deep with organic and natural choices, and the sommelier is also your server, so expert advice about pairing with today’e menu is at hand.

The tiny kitchen is located smack in the middle of the dining rooms, so the chef is apt to chime in when you have questions about the day’s preparations. La Legende is the sort of friendly, unpretentious but startling good restaurant that I love.

La Legende
Address: 5 Rue de l’Abbé Duplech, 64390 Sauveterre-de-Béarn, France
Tel: 09 86 68 99 47
Reservations: Recommended. Menu is very limited, so you will be asked about dietary restrictions when you call

See more photos here:

A pigeon purchased from a butcher in les Halles de Pau was the inspiration for this spring meal. This bird caught my eye because of its robust size (the butcher described it as assez pour deux, basically meaning it is a monster!) and because of its absolute freshness. Note that, when a bird still has its head on and has not had the innards removed, it is easy to determine freshness with just a sniff. A fresh bird has a earthy, animal smell, not at all unpleasant.

Anyway, the farmer stands outside les Halles also yielded beautiful, purple cheeked, young turnips and early season green asparagus; at that point, the dish pretty much creates itself! I decided to cook the pigeon in an old fashion way that involves first roasting it whole in a hot oven until it is nicely golden outside but still rare inside, then separating the breast and legs, and using the carcass to make a rich red wine sauce. The legs are then simmered in this sauce until tender, while the breasts are finished in a saute pan.

Here are some photos of the process:

Thats about it. It’s actually a lot less complicated than is sounds; It think I only spent about 45 minutes work, if you don’t count the time for simmering the legs. And that time can profitably be used for a little pre-meal glass of wine.

I served the duck pieces on a slice of toasted baguette so that there is something with which to soak up all the sauce. For the asparagus, I like to just steam it very quickly in a covered saute pan with a few tablespoons of water, salt, pepper and a big chunk of butter.

Les Passionés bills itself as a cave a manger, which functionally, means a wine shop where you can also get something to each beyond the charcuterie and cheese you find in a bar a vin. The description written on the restaurant’s facade, “Cafe du marché Vins d’artisans” gives a better idea of the restaurants ambitions, but both fall short of capturing the genius of what they do here.

I would describe it as follows: lovingly sourced products of the region, prepared with care, respect for tradition and inspiration, presented with simplicity and sophistication, paired with wines that are organic, biodymanic or natural, all at prices that are bordering on philanthropic. It is restaurants like this that convince me that French cuisine today is both vibrant and forward-looking, sophisticated and inventive in approach but vitally concerned with how people eat today, and focused on safeguarding dining as the center of everyday French life.

Located along the banks of Toulouse’s Canal de Briennes, Les Passionés manages to pack about 40 seats between its bottle-lined walls. The tables are so tightly spaced that guests coming and going risk jostling other diners but the room hums with well-fed contentment. the sidewalk out front adds another 20 seats or so on sunny days, and the view of the tree-lined canal makes up for the traffic noise from the busy Allée de Briennes.

Les Passionés
Address: 31 Allée de Briennes, 31000 Toulouse France
Tel: 05 61 13 99 06
Reservations: Recommended

In April 2019, I had the opportunity to visit the Fromagerie Ecologique Agour Irati located high up foothills of the Basque Pyrenees. A quick word about Agour (I also noticed it spelled Agur, which I believe is in Euskera, the Basque language? You Euskera speakers, correct me if I am wrong). If you are a fan of French cheeses, and especially of Basque sheep milk cheeses, you have likely heard of Agour. They are the largest family run independent cheese maker in the French Basque countries and have been exporting to the U.S. for over 20 years. We have featured their lovely cheeses on the cheeses boards at Le Pichet and Cafe Presse for as long as they have been open.

Their principle fromagerie is in the town of Helette, near Espelette, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. There they make the traditional Basque sheep milk tomme know as Ossau Iraty and age it for up to 2 years. However, in recent years, the family began to fear the loss of the traditional methods of Basque cheese making as large international dairy companies moved into the region and sought buy out small producers. These corporations built giant cheese making facilities, purchased as much local milk as possible and standardized the methods of sheep raising on the farms from which they purchased. This meant that sheep began to spend little or no time in the rich mountain pastures of the Basque valleys and instead produced milk while living in barns and eating standardized feed.

While Agour continued to ask their farmers to work in the traditional way, they especially feared for the loss of the transhumance, the traditional practice of taking the sheep high into the mountains each summer where they can spend the day munching the lush carpet of grasses, herbs and flowers that grow there. The milk of sheep who feed in the mountain pastures is much richer, fattier and more flavorful than that of barn-fed sheep raised on fodder. And of course, this superior milk yields superior cheese.

It was a desire to save this tradition that led Agour to open their second (and much smaller) fromagerie high in the hills of Irati. As the fromagerie is much closer to the mountain pastures and to the little mountain cabins where the migrating shepherds daily milk their flock, Agour is now able to pass from from cabin to cabin in the hills, collecting the milk from many flocks each day…each night actually, as the best time to collect the milk is before dawn to insure absolute freshness. The milk is then taken to the fromagerie and made into cheese the same day.

So why Fromagerie Écologique? Concerned for the ecology of the valley (fresh air = better milk), Agour decided to build a fromagerie that was not only cutting edge in terms of hygiene (to comply with very strict French hygiene laws for raw milk cheeses) but that also included cutting edge energy technology that would make the facility carbon neutral. To this end, the fromagerie power is produced by modern low carbon wood fired generators that burn wood chips from trees and brush culled from the nearby forest of Irati in order to limit the possibility of forest fires. The small amount of carbon produced is offset each year through an aggressive tree planting program inaugurated by Agour.

Here are some photos from our visit.

There’s a new fromagerie in Orthez (officially in Argagnon but that is only about 4 minutes from Orthez). This is big news because 1) well things can move pretty slow in Orthez and it is therefore not that often that we arrive to find something totally new and unexpected has opened up and 2) goat cheese is not really the cheese of choice in SW France. With all due respect to Rocamadour and Cabécous from the Midi-Pyrenees, this is the Atlantic end and in the Béarn and Basque countries, the its all about sheep milk tomes, with Ossau Iraty being the reigning king.

The farm Les Chevres de Brassenx is a modest operation, with only about 60 animals and sales only at 3 local farmer’s markets and direct at the farm 3 days a week. When we stopped by, cheese making had just restarted after the winter period when the goat’s stop producing milk, which means limited supply and mostly young cheeses available. But for all that, the cheeses are beautifully made and redolent of fresh, raw milk…no surprise given that the owners (career changers like myself) learned their new craft working in the Poitou-Charente, the most prolific region in France for goat’s milk cheeses.

The other benefit of a spring visit is that the farm is literally awash in baby goats! Not to mention a border collie very insistent on playing fetch, 2 barn cats who seem a bit starved for attention and Monsieur the cheese maker who was more that happy to stop what he was doing to explain the functioning of the farm and cheese making laboratoire (and to introduce the animals).

The only thing we missed was meeting the troupeau, the herd of milking females, a mix of Alpine and Saanen goats. They apparently spend the majority of these spring days munching the flower and herb filled grasses of the farm’s pastures. Looking out across the prairie toward the Pyrenees, who can blame them?

Ah, it still gives us a warm feeling 6 months later! This photo of the World Champion 2018 French National Team, which now has a home on the wall near the back room at Café Presse, is the center fold-out from a copy of French newspaper L’Equipe.