Types of French Eateries

Restaurants come in many forms with many styles of cuisine. The defining characteristic is that they have a printed menu from which customers can order. Restaurants in France are required by law to offer a prix-fixe (set) menu .

Bistrot are usually smaller and more informal than restaurants. Their menus may change daily and are usully displayed on a chalk board or recited verbally by the waiter. Many bistrot specialise in regional cuisine.

Brasserie ( French for brewery) first appeared in Paris in the 1870s when many refugees from Alsace arrived in Paris following the Franco-Prussian war. Brasseries specialise in beer and wines from the Alsace Region as well as Alsatian cuisine. Brasseries are open all day and offer the same menu.

Bouchons are a special type of restaurant found in Lyon. They serve traditional Lyonnaise cuisine, such as sausages, duck pâté or roast pork.  

Auberge or Relais are a type of country

restaurant popular with local farmers, truck drivers and working men. There is a set menu that changes daily and usually involves 5 courses. The food is generally regional cuisine du terroir and is usually excellent quality and value (12-15 Euro including table wine). These are often family businesses with several generations working in them. The documentary Lunch with Madame Murat by Mary Moody is a beautiful tale of one such country restaurant.

These types of restaurants are usually affiliated with the Les Routiers organisaton. Read this excellent article about Relais Routiers.  

Cafés are primarily locations for coffee and alcoholic drinks. Tables and chairs are usually set outside. Prices differ according to where you sit. Outside is more expensive. Café food is fairly limited typically offering steak and chips, salads, toasted sandwiches, mussels and chips etc. Cafés open early and usually close by 9pm.  

Salon de Thé (tearooms) offer a selection of cakes simple snacks, salads, sandwiches, teas, hot chocolate, and chocolat à l'ancienne (a popular chocolate drink). Salon de Thé do not sell alcoholic drinks and usually open just prior to noon for lunch and then close late afternoon.

Bars are based on the style typical of New York, long and narrow. Many were built at the beginning of the 20th century and serve various alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine, spirits, liquers and cocktails.  

French Cuisine

French cuisine is incredibly diverse and with only Chinese cuisine coming close in terms of variety. It has evolved over centuries and has drawn from a huge range of influences.

France is an extremely fertile country with excellent growing conditions producing a huge range of foodstuffs.

It shares borders with countries such as Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain who have an influence on regional cuisine.

French cuisine can be divided into four general categories:

Classical French cuisine which includes many of the signature French dishes which were at one time regional. Dishes are rich and filling with a bias towards cream-based sauces.  

Haute cuisine is a more sophisticated and elaborate version of classical French cuisine. Presentation and the use of the finest ingredients are major factors in haute cuisine.  

Cuisine Nouvelle was developed in the 1970s as an alternative to the classical school of cooking. Dishes are simpler and lighter and make more use of local and seasonal ingredients.

Cuisine du terroir (of the land) is all about regional specialities. It is more basic and hearty in nature and focusses strongly on local produce and food traditions.  

Kiwi Corner

NZ themed restaurant in Paris 

Regional Specialities

Alsace 

• Choucroute garnie, sauerkraut with sausages, salt pork and potatoes
• Baeckeoffe, a traditional stew combining marinated beef and lamb, cooked slowly with potatoes, vegetables, and spices and topped off with pastry
• Tarte flambée is not unlike a pizza - thin bread dough rolled into a circle or a rectangle and covered with crème fraîche, onions and bacon  
• Bredela, biscuits or small cakes in a wide variety of styles traditionally baked over the Christmas period
• Baba au rhum or Rum Baba is a small yeast cake saturated in liquor, usually rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream  

Aveyron (Auvergne)

• Tripoux, tripe 'parcels' in a savoury sauce
• Truffade, potatoes sautéed with garlic and young Tomme cheese
• Aligot, mashed potatoes blended with young Tomme cheese
• Pansette de Gerzat, a lamb tripe stewed in wine, shallots and blue cheese
• Salade Aveyronaise made with lettuce, tomato, roquefort cheese and walnuts  

Brittany 

• Cotriade is sort of fish stew similar to bouillabaisse made up of mackerel, whiting, conger eel, potatoes, onions and garlic
• Frigousse is a casserole made from a variety of poultry, bacon, chestnuts, apples, cider, brandy and a range of spices
• Kik ar Fars, a boiled pork dinner with a kind of dumpling
• Crêpes (sweet and savoury)
• Far Breton, a flan with prunes
• Kouign amann, a sweet round cake made of flaky pastry using lots of butter

Burgundy 

• Boeuf Bourguignon (beef stewed in red wine)
• Coq au vin, a chicken casserole cooked with white Burgundy wine, bacon, mushrooms and garlic  
• Escargots de Bourgogne, snails baked in their shells with parsley butter
• Gougère, is a savory choux pastry made with Gruyère cheese
• Pochouse (fish stewed in red wine)
• Andouilette de Mâcon, sausage with Dijon mustard sauce  

Gascony (Aquitaine)

• Foie gras or fattened goose or duck liver
• Confit de Canard - duck legs salted, cooked and preserved in their own fat then refried at a later date.
• Magret de Canard is breast of duck cooked in much the same way as a steak then finely sliced.
• Basque tapas such as piquillos, sweet red peppers stuffed with either eel or cod
• Jambon de Bayonne - cured dried hams similar to prosciutto, but sliced thickly like bacon  
• Salade landaise - a cold salad of lettuce, asparagus, pine nuts, bacon and duck pieces and sometimes foie gras.
• Pipérade, an omelette with tomatoes, chillies and Bayonne ham
• Poulet basquaise, Basque dish involving chicken browned in pork fat then casseroled in a tomato, chilli, onion and white wine sauce  

Languedoc

• Brandade de morue, puréed salt cod
• Cargolade, a Catalan style of escargot
• Trinxat, Catalan cabbage and potatoes
• Bourride, Monkfish stewed with vegetables and wine, garnished with aïoli
• Encornets farcis, Cuttlefish (similar to squid) stuffed with sausagemeat and herbs and baked    

Loire Valley/Central France 

• Rillettes, a spreadable paste made from braised pork and rendered fat, similar to pâté
• Andouillettes, sausage made with chitterlings (pig's intestines)  

Lorraine  

• Quiche Lorraine is an open pie made with eggs, cream and bacon
• Potée Lorraine, a hearty stew of pork, vegetables and white beans
• Pâté Lorrain, minced pork and veal flavoured with white wine and baked in puff pastry  

Normandy 

• Tripes à la mode de Caen, tripe cooked in cider and calvados (strong apple based liquor)
• Matelote, fish stewed in cider
• Moules à la crème Normande, mussels cooked with white wine, Normandy cider, garlic and cream
• Tarte Normande, apple tart
• Terrinée, a baked rice dessert
• Sweet crêpes  

Northwest France - Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy  

• Andouillette of Cambrai, cold meat product to be grilled, made from calf’s caul and particular to the town of Cambrai
• Potjevlesch, four-meat terrine
• Waterzoï , fresh water fish stew
• Escavêche, a  cold terrine of fresh water fish in wine and vinegar
• Flamiche, a tart made from eggs and leeks
• Carbonade flamande - (Flemish dish) beef cooked in beer and onions
• Coq à la bière (chicken stew) - chicken cooked in beer with vegetables
• Hochepot, a Flemish meat dish in which pieces of beef, lamb, veal and pork are stewed together, with various vegetables
• Lapin au Pruneaux, rabbit with prunes  

Provence/Côte d'Azur

• Bouillabaisse, a stew of mixed Mediterranean fish, tomatoes, and herbs
• Ratatouille, a vegetable stew with olive oil, aubergine, courgette, bell pepper, tomato, onion and garlic
• Pieds paquets, lambs feet and tripe 'parcels' in a savoury sauce
• Soupe au pistou, a bean soup served with a pistou (pesto) of finely chopped basil, garlic and Parmesan
• Salade Niçoise, a cold salad of tuna, black olives, boiled egg, green beans mixed with mayonnaise  

Rhône-Alpes - Lyon

• Raclette (the cheese is melted and served with potatoes, ham and often dried beef)
• Fondue savoyarde (fondue made with cheese and white wine into which cubes of bread are dipped)
• Gratin dauphinois
• Tartiflette (a Savoyard gratin with potatoes, Reblochon cheese, cream and pork)
• Andouillette (a kind of Sausage with Tripe)
• Quenelle (flour, butter, eggs and milk mixed and poached)

Toulousain  (Midi-Pyrenees)

• Cassoulet, a dish made with beans, sausages and preserved (confit) duck or goose
• Garbure, a stew-like soup of cabbage, turnips, carrots, beans, potatoes, beef and sometimes duck  

The Michelin Restaurant Rating System

The Michelin Red Guide was originally started in 1900 by the Michelin Tyre Company and a travel guide for French motorists, it has become the pinnacle of restaurant guides around the world.

The Michelin Guide lists only restaurants of outstanding quality using a rating of one to three stars.

One star: a very good restaurant in its category

Two stars: excellent cooking, worth a detour

Three stars: exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

Note that 3 star restaurants are very rare. There are only 26 in France and 81 world wide and are extremely expensive.

Restaurants are inspected anonymously every one to two years.

Alcohol in French Cuisine

Wine has a huge influence in French Cuisine. It flavours many dishes such as beef Bourguignon, coq au vin and bouillabaisse. Cider and calvados figure prominently in Breton and Normandy cuisines whilst beer is an important ingredient in Alsatian and Flemish dishes.

French Cheese

France has a massive dairy industry and produces more than 300 varieties of cheese. It features heavily in most regional cuisines. The well known French cheeses are Brie, Cambembert, Cantal, Emmental and Roquefort. There are cheeses made from cows millk as well as goat and sheep milk.

Wikipedia on French Cheese

The French diet and lifestyle

France is not experiencing the same obesity crisis as many other western nations. They have a lower sugar and fat intake than Australia and New Zealand and much of their daily fat is what is known as 'good fat' from dairy products.

They eat more fish and have several small courses rather than one large course. This allows the food to digest better.

Eating mindfully is a key lifestyle issue for the French. They would not dream of eating on the run, at their desk or watching TV. Eating is a pleasurable experience to spend with family and friends and can last for hours.

Fast foods, whilst present in France are generally held in contempt as are deep fried and pre-prepared food.

Despite drinking (red wine in particular) and smoking more than most other western nations, the French are on the whole, much healthier.

This has come to be known as the French Paradoxwhereby the relatively low incidence of coronary disease in France was attributed to low consumption of saturated fats and in properties contained in red wine .