The grass is always greener …

Even when I was a child, my parents took me with them when they went to a restaurant. Mind you, this only happened on special occasions. And being an only child, even on regular days I was quite particular when it came to food. In other words, I was rather spoiled! I hated vegetables, and my mother cleverly solved the problem by giving me spinach puree at least twice a week. What was good for Popeye, couldn’t be bad for her little girl! And she was right! I was fond of steak and sausages, but heaven forbid pork chops turning up upon the table. I liked fish though, which is quite unusual for a child.

However, when we went to a restaurant, I always stuck to Dover sole filets and steak. And even after my marriage in 1980 my choice of food was rather limited, although I had come to appreciate more veggies and meats. But it was only when I met my current friend in 1985 that I started to discover all the lovely food Belgian cuisine has to offer. Although there are still some things I don’t like, such as kidneys (unless they come in a steak and kidney pie), pig’s liver and brains, I’ve tasted almost everything. And I wouldn’t voluntary order lamb or mutton, but I’ll try/eat it when I have no other choice.

All this to explain that over the last twenty five years my friend and I have made it our hobby to cook and to visit as many different restaurants as possible whenever we have the occasion in order to taste as many flavours as possible. We’ve roamed all over the southern part of Belgium and a large part of France, North of and in the Loire Valley. We’ve had some excellent experiences and some major disappointments. Very often the small off-the-road ‘Auberge’ with a young chef, serves better food than the Michelin star restaurant further down the road … and certainly at a far more interesting price.

Now that my friend has recently retired, we stick closer to home … And this is how last Friday we came to visit a restaurant at only a 100 metres from where I live. The restaurant has been there for almost three years now, but we’ve never taken the trouble to stop and look at the menu although we’ve driven past it at least twice a week!

A large open kitchen with a lovely assortment of copper pots and pans.

On the outside it looks like a regular house, but once inside you’re transported in a whole different world. The decoration is prominently black and burgundy, with a large open kitchen where the ‘chef’ is creating his culinary delights using a multitude of copper pots and pans. There are only six tables and the atmosphere is very cosy, almost home-like. The regular menu offers a choice of three starters and three main courses and desserts. However, there is a list of suggestions in function of the daily arrivals.

To top it all, the landlady turned out to be a former neighbour of mine. Although I’m two year older than she is, we used to go to the same primary school and I remember walking to school with her every day when we were little. That was forty years ago and I hadn’t seen her since! And although we hadn’t really been friends at the time, it was nice catching up on old times…

Oh, I nearly forgot. The food was fantastic. My friend had a lovely piece of cod which was perfectly cooked and I had veal’s sweetbread (told you I have become very adventurous as far s food is concerned) with a lovely Béarnaise sauce. Both dishes came with exquisitely pureed potatoes with fresh peas and green garden beans.

Needless to say that we will return to ‘Ludwig’ (that the chef’s and the restaurant’s name). I don’t regret driving 200 kilometres in the past to have a splendid meal, but this recent experience is clearly a case of ‘the grass is always greener …’

Have you ever lived a similar experience … driving many miles for a good meal when there was an excellent restaurant just around the corner?

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