The Coffee Concierge was in Arles, in a cafe which was formerly the residence (briefly) of Vincent van Gogh. It had a vaulted ceiling and a sunny courtyard (which was undergoing some renovation) - it was a pleasurable experience sitting first in the courtyard and then in the cafe building itself. The renovation work started up after the workmen had their lunch and it was a little too noisy to chat.
After lunch (a forgettable pasta dish) the Coffee Concierge decided that a little cafe was necessary to help the forgetting process. I ordered a cafe noisette, and was delighted to get a little shot glass of expresso with a dollop of cream on top. "Noisette" means "hazelnut" in French, apparently this is called Cafe Noisette because the addition of the cream turns the dark coffee to the colour of hazelnuts.
The cafe noisette was indeed the good stuff - rich, strong, coffee, with the cream just adding that extra smoothness to the taste. So if you encounter the words "cafe noisette" in that French menu, give it a go.
Service-wise, the restaurant was perfectly adequate but nothing memorable. I can't remember how much the cafe noisette cost either, which probably means it was pretty reasonable.
Service: 3.5 beans
Flavour: 4.5 beans
2 comments:
I'm guessing you've left Arles but there was a brilliant cafe/bistro around the Arles Coliseum which had brilliant Truit Amandines.Can't remember the name though but if I see it, I should recognize it.
I found coffee in Provence to be generally very good. And some of the food fantastic. I really enjoyed their soup de poisson (as opposed to the more jelak boullabaise).
The good thing about these European holidays is that though you eat very rich food, I find generally because I walk so much, it kinda cancels each other out (or so I hope lah). :-)
Yes have left Arles long ago! Foodwise, Provence was good. Had dinner at Christian Etienne, a 1-star Michelin restaurant. Really felt very well-treated there.
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