Don't even get me started on French beef. I'm in the US at the moment & am enjoying the beef! (& fresh corn on the cob)
Maybe this explains why I've become disappointed in the food in French restaurants & cafes since I moved to France a couple of years ago. Good food used to be nearly universal in France.....now it seems to be the exception, which is why we rarely eat out nowadays. The restaurants seem to be digging their own graves.....food quality goes downhill, people stop going out, their revenues go down, restaurants can't afford quality ingredients & talented kitchen staff, & the cycle continues.
awfull the French butchers cut them wrong or they don't care
and John...how good are those steaks? Ive given up with steaks bought locally...there is an amazing farmer who is on SFN from the States I believe...he is somewhere near Toulouse and produces what I have heard are fabulous melt in the mouth steaks. He explained why French beef is so tough...unlike the US, UK and other countries....the French steak was often previously a dairy cow....eaten when she is past producing milk..so tough, unlike the much younger stock raised for beef elsewhere.
I live in the Dordogne and it's true it's only Duck, Faux filet or Entre-côte
I think its much more complicated than that Anne. Employing staff in France is prohibitive. With taxes and outgoings for the employer almost doubling the salary for the employee. Getting rid of staff too is nigh on impossible. The unions have tied and trussed France to the point where unless it is a family restaurant...and its a big family (staff to wait tables, cook, washup, etc) then you can be pretty sure its either top end and you will need to take out a mortgage or the food is frozen.
The French also rely on the classics....they are indeed stuck in a time warp...every other country is refining its cuisine, taking the best of different countries and coming up with amazingly exciting food. I live in the Dordogne...and we are offered...duck, duck, duck...pate de foie gras...that may be goose or duck....and for good measure a bit more duck! one restaurant we visited, family run with lovely food offered a tasting menu for around 35 euros...with approx 6 or 7 courses...and all but the cheeseboard and pudding included duck!
Living here for 20 years I couldn't more agree with you all Beeing a Dutch chef and had my own restaurant in France I cannot find a decent restaurant here We travel a lot and the "cuisine" in the surrounding countries are much better
Couldn't agree more Carol. Gone are the days when Britain was the laughing stock of Europe when it came to good reasonably priced restaurants. These days we've really upped our game and the diversity of cuisine in UK is amazing - and we know how to cook fresh veg! France is at the stage Britain was at thirty years ago, unless you are prepared to pay a lot of money. Gone are the routiers restaurants where you could get good home cooked and prepared food for a very reasonable price. Last year we were with six French friends in Edinburgh for the 6 nations rugby. Over the four days we were there we had arranged four very different restaurants for our friends to try. Suffice to say that they are still talking about it and were so taken with the standard of food, not to mention the excellent choice of wine, they loved the ambiance and the friendliness and they've asked me to plan another trip next year.
I visit/go Italy just to eat, so I do also agree with your assessment ! Buon Appetito .
Totally agree!
yep...everytime someone on SFN talks about the fantastic food in France I am surprised and wondering what I am missing! I love the restaurants we try out in London regularly (we have a son in Shepherds Bush)..and there are some excellent Bistro type places, some stonkingly good vegetarian and vegan restaurants...every nationality restaurant you could ever want, even my little town in Berkshire has some first class places within 15 minutes from where our flat is....then I compare with France....if you eat in Paris...you will spend a lot of money...and local places...there are a handful, but not to the standard I would expect...sad. I eat better in Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Ireland...(Def. Ireland...fab food) Scotland....Dubai...Australia...in fact France is working its way down the list for sure.
Sadly, many years have gone since I looked forward to coming to France to generally eat well. I now look forward to the occasional forays into Italy where food is still creative and excellent value. There was a time when 'standards' dominated in Italy, now diversity and experimentation reach out to very ordinary local restaurants and now France is far more the place offering set standards with preprepared ingredients and let us not go into frites...
If employment laws were not so strict in France....there would not be this problem. The French are sadly going to lose their reputation for good food as they are not able to turn this around without a major conversion in their thought process.