Evening Meals

[Rita]

Hi,

This may sound like a daft question but was just wondering if ALL B&B/CDH do evening meals or do some just do the breakfast?

Rita

[Miki]

LAST EDITED ON 18-Jul-04 AT 10:34 AM (BST)

<<<This may sound like a daft question but was just wondering if ALL B&B/CDH do evening meals or do some just do the breakfast?
Rita>>>

No, in fact very few French places do evening meals, (Table D'Htes = B&B that do evening meals) in comparison to the chambres d'htes, which just "do" breakfasts.

Miki

[Paulgun]

Hi Rita, we do evening meals but request 24 hours notice, as we live in the country we like to use fresh products, we offer either French or English meals, it can be hard work but well worth it. Try to use local products if you can.
regards
Pauline

[Monsieurmousseux]

Sad fact is, there's not much money to be made in return for the effort you put in. That said, we do it, as a lot of people like it!

[Will]

We could not do it legally, i.e. have separate professional-style kitchen facilities and the necessary extra licences, and compete for quality or value with local restaurants, many of which open in the evenings and offer good meals for 10-12€ upwards.

[Quillan]

Being very keen when we started we applied for a Grand Restaurant Licence and did evening meals. I’m a great one for costing things (legacy from my previous life) and like to think I’m reasonably good at it. People often make the mistake of costing the basic ingredients and not the services (gas and electricity) required and time taken which is often the largest cost.

 

We soon discovered that cost properly that there really was not much money in it, sometimes none at all. Having said that there is at times a large enjoyment factor and sometimes after an excellent meal with superb company it feels a bit of a cheek to charge them.

 

Our attitude is that we will do a meal for late arrivals providing they pre-book. Like others here we prefer to use fresh veg etc and where applicable from the garden which is semi organic (I use chemicals sometimes when I really have to hence the semi bit).

 

We have about 4 or 5 restaurants in Quillan which is 5 mins away plus an Auberge about 1 minutes walk away, ideal for those what want to drink and not drive. These restaurants cater for most types of food from Pizza upwards to local/regional cuisine and are very good value and cheaper than we have to charge.

 

I do take the stand that’s it’s a good idea to ‘spread the money’ around a bit, we get guests and there is no reason why other local business’s can’t earn a few bob as well. This attitude does us well and they often recommend us to people looking for rooms, it’s sort of a help each other attitude.

 

There is one small problem, the winter or out of season. Many of the restaurants close (3 closed for the winter on the 1^st Sept would you believe) and guests find it difficult to find places to eat so this year we are going to try half board on our winter breaks, ‘her in doors’ is currently working on some menus and we will see how it goes although I feel it will still be little money for a lot of work.

[Coco]

I certainly agree with the statement that there is not a lot of money to be made out of it.  However, the way I look at it is that I am offering added value to certain people's stays.  We have had several French visitors who were only interested in CdH who ALSO offered TdH and we have had many Brit visitors who are on a first visit to France and a little nervous of eating in a not such touristy area where the locals don't really speak much English and the menus are certainly not printed in English.  There are also those who are coming straight off the ferry, en-route south and don't want to have to spend time looking round for a restaurant.  The reasons people want to eat in go on and on and on.

Some neighbours we have started doing TdH but have given up because they say that they can't make ANY money out of 12€ for a 4 course dinner and daren't charge any more because some restaurants only charge that.  Well I started off thinking like that and was a little concerned about charging more than the restaurants.  However, what people tend to forget is that the menu may be 12€ and if that's all you want, then best go out for a meal.  BUT... if you want an aperatif, some wine, water and coffee you add quite a bit to that 12€ basic price.  I charge 20€ per head and make VERY little profit out of it, apart from us just about getting a meal out of it too.  Some people tell me that this makes it worthwhile, which it does occasionally, but then we wouldn't eat a 4 course meal every night if we were on our own.  Apart from the fact that after a run of 10 nights in a row eating with guests  during August I sat down on the 11th night, ate the starter and thought I would throw up if I ate another mouthful of ANYTHING!  Like Chris though, we often find that it is a very pleasant way of passing an evening, to the extent of feeling guilty about charging!!!

The other problem we sometimes encounter is people who say they just want one or two courses.  To those people I say that I will still have to charge 12-15€ because, again, as Chris says, it's the main course that costs the money with gas and electricity and time involved.  they then take the choice of getting less value for money or going out to eat.  So far it's probably been about a 50/50 take-up.

Oh and of course, I almost forgot the most important reason of all for doing it....  I ENJOY IT!

[Dick Smith]

As CdH users we always booked an evening meal, as often we would be arriving after a long drive and really just wanted to flop and be fed, so as Coco says, it is much appreciated. We used to book in advance and only booked places where evening meals were available.

[Monsieurmousseux]

I agree with pretty well everything said above.

We certainly offer to provide a meal on our clients' arrival, as almost always they have had a full day travelling down to us. It seems to be in the spirit of CdH/TdH to do so, too. Last week, I even found myself doing a "light" (hah!) salad for a couple, at the cost of 15 euro between them - covering drinks on arrival, the salad (pretty comprehensive one, too), a dessert, wine and coffee/tea. Not much made there, but as Coco says, that's not the whole reason for offering such a service.

I take on board Dick's point about his booking preferences, too.

At the same time, whilst we like to offer our own hospitality, I like to think that we act in the spirit of our region, renowned for its wonderful food (and where isn't in France?!) So we are also just as happy to discuss local restaurants (providing we have eaten there ourselves) and recommend those that seem to fit the bill for any guest who wants to know.

The point about sharing the spoils with our local eateries is also very valid. We all combine to promote an area of interest, to provide a variety of places to stay, eat, visit and be entertained. We are not so much in competition for the money available as trying to bring more of it to our area, for everyone's benefit.

Or is this just too altruistic?

[Purdey]

I too should like to make a comment from the other side. We drive down to the south west about 4 times a year staying a night in cdh en route and have been doing so for the past 4 years.  Like Dick we only ever book at places which offer tdh. Apart from being too tired to want to bother going out to a restaurant, we have had some  very enjoyable stays with great company both of the hosts and other guests and  we have learnt a great deal from them. At first, we booked at French cdh, wanting to practice our French etc but lately have stayed at English ones. Getting older,  after a long drive it's nice not to have to make the effort to try to drag up all the elusive words and phrases. However we have really appreciated them all and consider the night in cdh as part of our 'holiday'

[Quillan]

[quote]I agree with pretty well everything said above. We certainly offer to provide a meal on our clients' arrival, as almost always they have had a full day travelling down to us. It seems to be in the sp...[/quote]

'Spreading the money about' is I think very important also the ability to cook regional food which to be quite honest a French restaurant will beat you hands down at.

 

We live in an area of exceptional high un-employment and the mayor is very keen to attract visitors so we like to think, like you, that giving everyone a ‘bite of the apple’ is the correct way to do things.

 

Charging wise we charge 25€ per head which includes and aperitif, wine with the meal, Blanquette, a brandy and coffee. Food wise we offer a starter, main course, cheese and desert. What we can’t make (Booze and cheese) we buy locally, again to help others and to give clients a taste of local produce. I have to say that going this route is not always cheap. All our wine is bottled and we don’t pay less than 5€ a bottle, none of this cheap stuff in a carafe.

[Dick Smith]

It isn't the quality of the meal that is important. We have had superb home-cooked meals and good stuff that came from supermarkets - it's the welcome and the relaxation that count. Once after a long, hot drive we ended up at Madame Garnier's CdH at Potigny. We were whisked out into the garden to sit under a chestnut tree, with a few minutes of welcoming chat and a bottle of Chablis, then left alone, then dinner (4 courses, all local), then an interesting conversation (she was co-ordinating a protest movement against French nuclear tests in the Pacific). For the next night she aimed us at a superb local restaurant. It was memorable.

She was also the person who told me that an ironing board is called a 'Janette' - anyone else use that term?

[Cerise]

We do do meals (20 euros for 4 courses and wine) but try persuade the guests to go out as like Coco there are nights when I really can't face eating it myself - and our local tourist office insist that if you do Table d'Hotes then you must eat with guests.

However, our local restaurant are already on 'winter' hours so it is not always easy for them to get food elsewhere.  Added to which French guests particularly will often only book if they can have meals.  We always offer meals on first night but do offer the alternative of booking a restaurant for them.

Interestingly the French guests are the ones who do not always want 'local' food and quite often ask if I will make English meals or even Indian (my husband is indian) which has been a surprise.

Maggi

[Coco]

Lucky you Cerise.  After a summer of "French style" cooking we had an empty week last week and we had three curries and a chilli ..... heaven!!!