Colmar is a pretty little town just South of Strasbourg and also in the region of Alsace. Fortunately for us this is where our culinary holiday life finally settled down and came back to normality, without any further wild exploits such as we had experienced so far in this trip.
So we were happily reunited with our normal gourmand travel routine of good and interesting restaurants, with the occasional outstanding one for good measure.
Our one main meal in Colmar was perhaps not outstanding, but it was certainly very decent, of a good and very satisfying level and therefore most enjoyable. This was about as traditional a French restaurant as it gets. Your slightly elderly gentleman maitre d’ floating around instructing his two young novices, a distinct oldie woldie feel to the place and above all a good selection of some of the best and most renowned French classic dishes, all presented and religiously served the way they were meant to be. Not much novelty here perhaps, but then again cuisine is definitely not only about novelty, it is simply about eating well.
This seemingly fool proof formula of playing it safe paid out perfectly, as we had what may be considered by any standard a very good meal.
For starters we had a lovely grilled goat’s cheese salad with a variety of crispy greens, croutons and lardons, drizzled in a delicious tangy vinaigrette. Also beautifully wholesome traditional French fish soup, thick and unctuous and served with the obligatory garlic croutons, rouille and grated Emmental. In traditional French manner, when we had finished our soup one of the servers came to our table with the pot and served us more.
As for the mains we had coq au vin which was lovely and perfectly cooked and two fish dishes, a cod and a monkfish. The fish were also naturally served in northern French tradition and therefore came in rather thick, tasty sauces. This goes very well with both river and Atlantic fish. Both sauces had essential ingredients such as cream, mustard and chives and proved to be tasty yet delicate and a very appropriate way of eating such types of fish on a cold wintery evening.
As for wine we went for a local pinot noir which, reminiscent of Burgundy reds, was slightly spicy and velvety and nicely textured.
From a service point of view all was perfectly orchestrated and possibly what today’s diners have come to expect. A warm and welcoming maitre d’ who made sure we were comfortable, made us feel welcome, explained the menu, made his recommendations, replied to our questions in a human non-robotic manner and took our order. He then returned discreetly after each course to check up on us and finally charmingly bid us farewell on our way out. He was friendly but cautious and polite and never overbearing.
He in turn was seconded by two silent servers who quietly, carefully and methodically went through all the required motions to perfection and minute detail, throughout the meal.
From my point of view both functions are important when dining out. The warm welcoming factor, as well as the to-the-point efficiency of competent service. At this establishment they had worked out this balance to a tee.