Les meilleurs restaurantsde cuisine française

01/05/2025: Everything is homemade. Delicious

13/04/2025: In these times when wandering souls seek havens of peace in the heart of our wild lands, I discovered, in the green meanders of the Ardèche, a sanctuary of regional gastronomy which revives memories of an eternal France. Like a pilgrim rediscovering the sacred path, I accompanied my ancestor to this rustic inn called "Chez Flo", nestled in the heart of the picturesque village of Saint-Pierreville, where he once worked with his valiant hands. The melancholy of the place immediately takes hold of the traveler's mind. It is not in flashy opulence that this restaurant finds its character, but in the noble simplicity of old things. The massive seats, carved from the centuries-old wood of the surrounding forests, seem to have been shaped by time itself. They welcome the guest with the kindness of objects which have contemplated the passage of generations. As soon as we settled into this atmosphere where modernity has not altered the essence of traditions, we were welcomed by a servant whose natural grace evokes that of sylvan nymphs. Without any affectation, but with that politeness which testifies to the greatness of the French soul, she presented us with the riches of the menu. To quench the thirst that torments the traveler, we chose a red wine with deep reflections like the gorges of the Ardèche, while I abandoned myself to the delights of a chestnut kir, a nectar where the soul of the blackcurrant and the noble spirit of the emblematic fruit of these mountainous regions mingle. As for my companion, she enjoyed a strawberry diabolo, an innocent beverage which tinted her lips a youthful purple. Our feast began with an Ardèche salad, where the abomasum, these little treasures of flesh flavored with mountain herbs, rested like jewels on a bed of tender greenery. The porcini puff pastry, this cathedral of delicate dough housing undergrowth mushrooms, instantly transported us to the shady mysteries of the Cévennes forests. The duck breast, adorned with its purple color and lacquered with a reduced juice with accents of wild honey, reminded us that the simplicity of the dishes does not exclude the nobility of the flavors. Its flesh, pink like the dawn that bathes the Ardèche mountains, yielded under the blade with a tenderness that only belongs to meats prepared according to ancestral rites. To close this rustic symphony, the crème brûlée revealed under its caramelized shell the sweetness of a creamy cream, while the chocolate cake, dense and deep like the starry nights that envelop these mountains, offered its bitter richness in perfect counterpoint. The modest sum of one hundred and twenty pounds for our table of four guests demonstrates that true wealth is not measured by exorbitant prices, but by the authenticity of the flavors and the generosity of the portions. In these times when famous restaurants demand princely ransoms, Chez Flo keeps alive the hospitable tradition of our provinces. My grandfather, contemplating these places where part of his laborious youth was spent, seemed to rediscover, with each mouthful, the memories of a bygone age. His eyes, filled with a sweet melancholy, roamed the stone walls where the echoes of the conversations of yesteryear still seemed to resonate. Thus, in this century where authenticity is rare and where the table often becomes the scene of culinary artifices, the Chez Flo inn remains, like an island preserved from the assaults of vulgar modernity, the testimony that deep France, that of terroirs and centuries-old traditions, has not abdicated its gastronomic sovereignty.