INTRODUCTION - France 2014 - page 51

order, bread is free, but almost never comes with butter; to get more bread, just hold up
your bread basket and ask, “ Encore, s'il vous plaît? ”
Salads: They're usually large—one is perfect for lunch or a light dinner. Here are
some classics:
Salade niçoise (sah-lahd nee-swahz), a specialty from Nice, usually includes green
salad topped with green beans, boiled potatoes, tomatoes, anchovies, olives, hard-boiled
eggs, and lots of tuna. It's filling and easy on the budget.
Salade au chèvre chaud is a mixed green salad topped with warm goat cheese on
small pieces of toast.
Salade composée is “composed” of any number of ingredients, such as lardons (ba-
con), Comté (a Swiss-style cheese), Roquefort (blue cheese), œuf (egg), noix (walnuts),
and jambon (ham, generally thinly sliced).
Salade paysanne generally comes with potatoes (pommes de terre), walnuts (noix),
tomatoes, ham, and egg.
Salade aux gésiers includes chicken gizzards (and often slices of duck).
Dinner
Chooserestaurantsfilledwithlocals.Considermysuggestionsandyourhotelier'sopinion,
but trust your instincts. If a restaurant or café doesn't post its prices outside, move along.
Refer to my restaurant recommendations to get a sense of what a reasonable meal should
cost.
TuneintotherelaxedpaceofFrenchdining.TheFrenchdon'tdodinnerandamovie
on date nights; they just do dinner. The table is yours for the night.
Restaurants usually open for dinner at 19:00 (cafés open earlier), and are typically
most crowded at about 20:30 (the early bird gets the table). Last seating is about 21:00 or
22:00 in cities (even later in Paris and on the Riviera), and earlier in small villages during
the off-season.
If a restaurant serves lunch, it generally begins at 12:00 and goes until 14:00, with
last orders taken at about 13:30. If you're hungry when restaurants are closed (late after-
noon), go to a brasserie or café; for more information, see “Café Culture,” earlier.
At a café or a brasserie , if the table is not set, it's fine to seat yourself and just have
a drink. However, if it's set with a placemat and cutlery, you should ask to be seated and
plan to order a meal. If you're unsure, ask the server before sitting down.
This is the sequence of a typical restaurant experience: To get the waiter's attention,
simply ask, S'il vous plaît? The waiter will give you a menu (carte) and then ask what
you'd like to drink (Vous voulez quelque choses à boire?) , if you're ready to order (Vous