Café Gourmand

Those who know me well, will be aware that I have rather a sweet tooth, and that I have a penchant for a nice dessert at the end of a meal. Be it anything with chocolate, and especially white chocolate, a tangy lemon meringue, a light fruit crumble, a good Crème Brûlée, and anything with raspberries, and I will be very happy! Put some of those dishes together and heavenly is a word that springs to mind!

That combination of desserts started to happen a few years ago in the bistros and restaurants of Paris under the title of Café Gourmand. A small cup of espresso with a selection of bite-sized desserts found its way on to the menus of the French capital. Gradually it spread throughout the country, and in most restaurants that I have been to down here in the south of France, you will find it along with the Tarte aux pommes, Café liégeois, Poire belle Hélène, Les Crumbles, Tarte au Citron Meringuée, and the ice creams and sorbets. One of my missions in life is to try the Café Gourmand in as many restaurants as I am able! So far, I think I’m doing quite well, but I still have a long way to go!

From the early days of a chocolate or two, a macaron, and maybe a cookie, the Café Gourmand has developed and today you may well find a mini Fondant au chocolat, a thin slice of fruit tart, a small crumble, a mango mousse in a small glass, perhaps even a mini chocolate eclair. Often there will be a scoop of ice cream or sorbet, and a squirt of that very French Chantilly cream. All elegantly served, with a swirl of fruit coulis, maybe some flaked nuts, a sprinkling of icing sugar, and in one case a Haribo chewy sweet!

The great thing about the Café Gourmand is that you don’t have to make a choice from the various options on the menu, you’re going to be treated to four or five different desserts, and you have no idea what is going to be included because the restaurants never tell you what you can expect, but you will receive a plate, sometimes specially designed for this special dessert, sometimes a slate, but with different flavours and textures, a mixture of colours, shapes and sizes, and the cup of coffee is included. For me it’s the perfect way to end lunch or dinner.

Every time it is different. Even if you go to the same restaurant within a short space of time, you will not find the same things put in front of you. Some are obviously better than others, but I cannot say that I have ever been disappointed.