Au fil du temps

Restaurant Au Fil du Temps
by Jérôme and Angelina Campanelli

Dinner for two - 12 September 2019

A three hour meal. Three hours which we will never get back. And how grateful we feel that we spent each of those hours - every minute and second of them - at this delightful place.

We know the area well and usually eat out once or twice while visiting. But never here before.

We were somewhat prepared for the style of the evening after reading information on the restaurant’s Facebook and blogspot pages. Neither of those are kept all that much up to date. Which hardly matters if time is spent instead on the sort of attentions which we and all other guests received at the restaurant.

Delivering those attentions at front of house is wife, mother and full-time Wonder Woman, Angelina. She is exemplary - a perfect mixture of professionalism and friendliness. She looked after the entire house single-handed throughout the evening. At first her children added to the atmosphere, playing quietly in the square. They vanished, quietly and apparently unbidden, to their beds and left us to be distracted by their parents’ talents.

The restaurant interior. Not needed - not used - on our visit.

The restaurant terrace setting adds its own magic, especially when the mild September Vauclusienne climate and the church clock chime in.

As for chef, Jérôme, he delivers an adventurous menu using lovely fresh ingredients and some clever techniques but never loses sight of the importance of flavour.

You are in the fine care of a chef who says:

“On a un beau vivier de clientèle ce qui me permet de faire la cuisine que j’aime, celle en laquelle je crois.”

(“We have a good pool of customers which allows me to cook the food I love, the food I believe in.”)

Chef’s approach and refusal to compromise is exactly what is needed to create a great menu. And when customers are offered food from such honesty it does nothing except add to their enjoyment.

I found and referenced this interesting and thoughtful review. It really tells you most of what’s needed to know about the restaurant and its people but I still feel compelled to write something in my own words. At the very least to show our appreciation of what Jérôme and Angelina have created.

One more element was a huge success – the wine:
Vallis Petra - Ô Pré de Juliette, Vacqueyras Blanc par Alain Ignace
Viognier, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Marsanne

My confidence is growing here and I had picked it from the list as an interesting local white (I’m including nearby Vacqueyras as local - sorry Ventoux!). Angelina has seriously reliable credentials if you need help with wines. She simply added a smile and enthusiastic nod to my choice and confirmed that it would complement all the fish and meat courses.
It was such a successful food wine. We were lucky enough to track it down later in the week and now have bottles to enjoy at home.

Jérôme cooks with confidence and precision using really fresh ingredients. The interest created throughout the meal is terrific. There is a sure touch and no confusion. Chef knows where to stop. Not every flavour found full expression and the cuisson of our pork dish was not particularly great but there was an insistent whirlwind of such culinary understanding and overall success that triumphs in every dish kicked any small disappointments straight into touch.

The food we enjoyed is recorded below. Read it if you want but bear in mind Jérôme’s philosophy which means that all is likely to change as soon as a season or the quality or availability of an ingredient changes. Don’t rely on seeing the same menu as we did but do count on the same excellence. The evening menu is totally under chef’s confident control. Do let him know of any allergies and food dislikes in advance but after that allow him to do what he does best.

The menu was €49 per person without wine. The whole experience had been a real treat. Best not to say that we’d have happily paid more, eh!

We settled the bill and left wistfully. The time was exactly 23:00. The local pharmacy displayed the matching digits of a still-warm 23 degree temperature. Even though street lights hid the stars they were obviously aligned that night. But our thanks must go to Jérôme and Angelina for shining much brighter than anything or anyone else to make our evening so perfect.

‘Au Fil du Temps’ in daylight. Click on the picture and link to a Google Maps ‘street view’ and wander around the rest of Pernes-les-Fontaines. It’s a lovely town to walk through - even electronically!

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• Note - I am in contact with Jérôme to confirm exact details of the dishes I have tried to remember here.
  Please be prepared for an update.

The Cellar Door, Totnes

Lunch, Sunday 10 June 2018

The 2018 summer had already switched up its thermostat when we ate here in the middle of a busy trip to Devon and Cornwall. That heat continues as I write this but there is an element of coolness in my reaction to The Cellar Door.

This is not fine dining but the menu suggests that chef Daniel Teage knows much about ingredients and flavours which work well together. So the menu creates serious interest.

Reviews on Facebook and TripAdvisor are mostly very positive for this restaurant. It is quite possible that we were unlucky on the day but it gets difficult to gloss over or excuse a succession of mistakes in service and in cooking. All of which I have discussed in phone calls with Restaurant General Manager, Emma Langmaid, and with Chef/Manager/Owner, Daniel Teage. Both listened to my points very attentively.

Time to chew the fat here with you as well. I must stress that chewy fat was not an issue on the day and will not be mentioned again.

But...

Hot plates for salad leaves are not a success. Both our mains arrived with a warm, dark green slime forming.

Chalk stream trout is a delicate ingredient. Too much curing had sent mine into the unwanted realms of chewiness. Too much sweet orange also suggested a daft fishy dessert. Chilli made a desperate attempt to limit the damage.

My bream was a simple classic served with pepperonata. The fish skin was almost crispy (still edible) but the fish had lost much moisture. I’m guessing that the pan was not hot enough, whereas the oven was too hot or used too long. The sauce had none of the richness which can be achieved. The lack of attention to detail here was poor, given that the dish’s success rests on just two elements.

Mrs Cheoff made her order of confit chicken leg but was eventually told that it was no longer available. She chose the breaded escalope chicken breast instead.

When her fish taco starter arrived with breaded goujons of fish we were exasperated at the lack of explanation from our server that failed to warn of breadcrumb overload.

The goujon coating was nearing burnt toast qualities and encased a dry fish bite.

The Sharpham Estate wine we had chosen from its interesting description was apparently not yet bottled.

We discarded the idea of dessert and settled up. We were asked about our meal (I think by Emma) but there was no consideration made for the disappointment we expressed except for a short verbal apology.

The reason for our underwhelming experience might be explained by the last-minute call from a KP which meant that Daniel was on washing up duties rather than in the kitchen. Which suggests that adequate back-up skills were not present in the kitchen. Service was fragmented and confusing due to lack of communication. The ‘missing’ wine was explained as one which the vineyard had already printed on the list. A correction to indicate availability could have easily been made.

I am pleased that most diners appear to enjoy The Cellar Door much more than we did. It seems obvious that the team were not on top form for our visit but we would not risk another booking.

This ‘cafe’ is a separate venture on the Sharpham Wine & Cheese estate. It has been bought in by them. It is apparent that the vineyard's quality control which produces consistently good wines and cheeses cannot be transferred to The Cellar Door where an even delivery is not guaranteed.

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Thought I'd best end on a lighter note... here's a dog.