This is an excerpt from my trip report. I had been dying to tell this story but I wanted to wait until I got this far in the TR.
"Our next choice was Le Chef du France. After stopping at a pin station in the UK to let the boys spend money, DW went to the front of Le Chef de France, and surprisingly got put on the list for lunch. I took son #2 over to Morocco to use the washroom and poked around for a while, buying a beer at the French counter, practicing my Francais. Anyway, when I came back they were inside. When I got inside I couldn’t see them. My intention was drawn to a camera crew and a young lady taking to people at a table. It turns out they were at our table! I went over sat down and talked to DW and she filled me in. It turns out that the crew was from a French travel show. They were in Orlando doing a show on the Restaurant, and how it fit into the World. It turns out that the fellows the Restaurant are named after are gastronomic celebrities in France. Among other things the crew wanted to film a family ordering, eating, etc. Lucky for the crew DW is functionally bilingual having lived in Quebec City for a couple of years. My sons in grade three are enrolled in an Early French Immersion program, and have been since Kindergarten. So they could order all their meals en Francais, SIL #1 is in the Canadian Armed Forces and is pretty good in French. The only schmuck they will have to translate was me. After we signed the required releases, they took down our address so that they could send us a DVD of the show, although they told it would be quite a while before it comes. They filmed us looking at the menu, ordering and eating, appetizers, entrees and deserts. They also chatted with us asking why we had chosen this restaurant, how was everything etc.
Early on the Maitre D’ came over, thanked us for inconveniencing ourselves going along with this, and brought us over a nice bottle of a Merlot called Pays d’oc, which was one of the cleanest French wines I have had. We usually have Chilean or Argentinean reds at home. This was very nice for what is essentially a table wine. The server would also come over and clean off the table between courses, and freshened things up for the TV. DW commented on how they were freshening up the table, but she said she looked like a mess and hadn’t had a chance to freshen up. Anyway, I told her she looked fine, and that I was not much better with my Tilley hat, Tilley shorts, beer and gangster sunglasses. Other families not knowing what was going on, sat down by us and were then taken aback by the camera crew and all of the French flying around. They also brought over Remy to the table and that was cute.
About the meal, DW had the flatbread a la flame Alascienne which was like a thin crust pizza with bacon onions and fresh cream, it was very good. SIL had a salad, and I had the nicest onion soup I have ever had. The cheese was lovely Gruyere, and the soup was a lot lighter in color and milder in flavor than any I have had before, Yum. SIL had the croque monsieur, which she liked. DW and I had the Plat de Cote de boeuf au cabernet avec pates. This was short ribs in red wine sauce over pasta. The meat was the tenderest I have ever had and the flavor. Yum. Now we ate at Le Cellier and four signature restaurants, but this was as good as anything. When they interviewed us on how was the meal, I didn’t have to lie. Desert was sorbet for DW and SIL, and for me ……….the vanilla Creme Brulee. By now whenever I would order this the boys would howl in laughter. This was actually the nicest one of the week. "
It's these different experiences that one remembers. The food was great too.
HB
"Our next choice was Le Chef du France. After stopping at a pin station in the UK to let the boys spend money, DW went to the front of Le Chef de France, and surprisingly got put on the list for lunch. I took son #2 over to Morocco to use the washroom and poked around for a while, buying a beer at the French counter, practicing my Francais. Anyway, when I came back they were inside. When I got inside I couldn’t see them. My intention was drawn to a camera crew and a young lady taking to people at a table. It turns out they were at our table! I went over sat down and talked to DW and she filled me in. It turns out that the crew was from a French travel show. They were in Orlando doing a show on the Restaurant, and how it fit into the World. It turns out that the fellows the Restaurant are named after are gastronomic celebrities in France. Among other things the crew wanted to film a family ordering, eating, etc. Lucky for the crew DW is functionally bilingual having lived in Quebec City for a couple of years. My sons in grade three are enrolled in an Early French Immersion program, and have been since Kindergarten. So they could order all their meals en Francais, SIL #1 is in the Canadian Armed Forces and is pretty good in French. The only schmuck they will have to translate was me. After we signed the required releases, they took down our address so that they could send us a DVD of the show, although they told it would be quite a while before it comes. They filmed us looking at the menu, ordering and eating, appetizers, entrees and deserts. They also chatted with us asking why we had chosen this restaurant, how was everything etc.
Early on the Maitre D’ came over, thanked us for inconveniencing ourselves going along with this, and brought us over a nice bottle of a Merlot called Pays d’oc, which was one of the cleanest French wines I have had. We usually have Chilean or Argentinean reds at home. This was very nice for what is essentially a table wine. The server would also come over and clean off the table between courses, and freshened things up for the TV. DW commented on how they were freshening up the table, but she said she looked like a mess and hadn’t had a chance to freshen up. Anyway, I told her she looked fine, and that I was not much better with my Tilley hat, Tilley shorts, beer and gangster sunglasses. Other families not knowing what was going on, sat down by us and were then taken aback by the camera crew and all of the French flying around. They also brought over Remy to the table and that was cute.
About the meal, DW had the flatbread a la flame Alascienne which was like a thin crust pizza with bacon onions and fresh cream, it was very good. SIL had a salad, and I had the nicest onion soup I have ever had. The cheese was lovely Gruyere, and the soup was a lot lighter in color and milder in flavor than any I have had before, Yum. SIL had the croque monsieur, which she liked. DW and I had the Plat de Cote de boeuf au cabernet avec pates. This was short ribs in red wine sauce over pasta. The meat was the tenderest I have ever had and the flavor. Yum. Now we ate at Le Cellier and four signature restaurants, but this was as good as anything. When they interviewed us on how was the meal, I didn’t have to lie. Desert was sorbet for DW and SIL, and for me ……….the vanilla Creme Brulee. By now whenever I would order this the boys would howl in laughter. This was actually the nicest one of the week. "
It's these different experiences that one remembers. The food was great too.
HB
