Annecy,
This financial crisis – nothing could be worse for restaurants. They’re always the first to suffer the effects. As a result, to speak frankly, things change a bit for someone in my line of work. That’s not to say we bury the hatchet and put away our claws, but there’s nothing worse than kicking someone when they’re down. So a kind of goodwill gets established at times like these. And it’s not unpleasant that things are bit sugar-coated. The timing was perfect, in fact, this past Saturday night, as I was all alone at Annecy with a fantastic novel (Teru Miyamoto’s Les Gens de la Rue des Reves). Which is to say I was the happiest man in the world. Whirling about in my plate was a carousel of flavors (azuki beans, Hokkaido squash, roasted squash seeds, baby lettuce, quinoas, a bed of spinach, tofu puree with herbs…). Healthy and balanced food, wholesome and salutary. Sometimes, it’s not the most appetizing, like the spaghetti with beats. But that’s alright because the wise and virtuous clientele has at all times the feeling that they’re being indulged.
Sometimes it doesn’t matter if a restaurant is excellent and produces perfect flavors, we just need to know that it’s headed in the right direction, even if sometimes it dawdles along the way, gets off the right path, makes a mistake or two. What’s important for us is to hear it humming.
Nature & Saveur, Laurence Salomon, open for lunch Tuesday to Saturday, and Saturday night for dinner with a single-choice menu. Place des Cordeleirs, 74000 Annecy. Tel : 04.50.45.82.29 Reasonably priced wine list. Around 49 euros for the Saturday menu. Web Map
Photo F.Simon
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