John Vanderaart and columns are a good match. Many read his weekly column on pcactive.nl and this time Jean talks about his experiences in Auberge de Panneciere. Here you can read his previous column if you missed it or would like to read it again.
In the French village – Chaumard – where I often stay, the municipality has intervened in terms of catering by setting up a restaurant and grocery store itself. The exodus in the countryside had had such an impact that eventually they had to (!) decide to do something about it. (Perhaps a BBB idea for us in the Netherlands?) With a dip in the municipal treasury and some successful begging from the department, the region and the government, sufficient budget was raised to transform an old garage into an ultra-modern and super sleek inn. People made such a fuss of it that Facebook was already presenting exuberantly from the beginning of March. And May 1st was the grand opening. Anyway, when we arrived here on May 16, only the existing public toilets were open. The inn itself was a hive of coming and going with nervous construction workers. In what was to be the kitchen, I saw a confused electrician who couldn’t get the cooling started. Outside on the terrace under construction, a carpenter misfired with the hammer. That is to say, on his thumb. Screaming like the suckling pig that – as Facebook has witnessed – should be turning on the spit at exactly this moment. And so on… But on Facebook it all went to a crescendo. In short: “Deeply faked news!” In the meantime, the gourmets, who were once again curious through Facebook, flocked in: “For Jan with the short surname!” But luckily, on May 21st we were able to get a table during the kitchen walkthrough. And that was not disappointing… Afterwards the chef gave me a creative but confusing story about “…Facebook with retroactive effect…”
A 3-course menu for 15 euros. With coffee!