Fried Loire fish? Makache, there isn’t any! The river is at low time and the fish this evening are disappointing. But that’s not the case for the crottin de Chavignol cheese, served baked, in a salad, in an omelet, on a tartine or in a sauce… May we remind you that this place belongs to the Dubois Boulay family, who have been producing the legendary little goat cheese for five generations now! So there’s no reason to feel depressed, especially with a glass of Sauvignon and Pinot noir from Sancerre, or for the Dubois heir to get upset, as he navigates between the fireplace and the bar of this village inn, on the verge of overheating. We did like everyone else and ordered the roasted goat cheese on toast, a Berry lentil salad with beautiful ham from Sancerre, lightly smoked over vine shoots; medium-rare veal chop with some impressive homemade fries; before a good red berry panna cotta – or, when in Rome, a Chavignon cheese that was part fresh and dry, and the perfect excuse for diving into some more Sancerre rosé… // G.D.
FEELING THIRSTY? A good thirty-some Sancerre wines and their cousins from the Cher department: a full-bodied red from Delaporte (€4.20 a glass), a white from Vincent Pinard (€35 a bottle) or a Menetou-Salon from Gilbert (€25). There’s also a fun blackboard menu of bottles from elsewhere: Bout de Zan, an Ardèche from Le Mas de Libian (€25), Côte-de-Py, a Morgon from Burgaud (€28).
PRICE: Set menus €18, menus €13.50 (weekday lunch), €23.50 and €29.50, à la carte €25-47.
