Visiting Uncle Jules

After six months off blogging what better way to come back than to describe the event of the year in Cormatin? The village has been buzzing with excitement ever since it was announced that Café de la Poste was to reopen as a bar, restaurant, brocante, salon de thé. Strange combination as far as I am concerned, but hey each to their own.

Chez Oncle Jules has been promising to open its doors since about late March and it slowly revealed bits and pieces of its interior and menus, long before the promised opening. Tables have been outside and the workers, finishing off the décor, have been having their cups of coffee along with the owners, giving the impression that they were open for business. Instead of whited out windows, as soon as the interior looked a bit respectable the windows have been open for all to sneak a look. Even when the weather wasn’t too good, the doors were open so that you could have a peer inside on the way to collecting your morning baguette.

The proposition of brunch on Sundays with the menu has been posted on the windows and finally the opening date of 30th May was announced. This has been a spectacularly brilliant piece of marketing. Friends who live in other villages around have heard how great the place is and how good the food is – all this, long before the place had opened!

We have made the mistake of going to restaurants on their opening days (Lazzarella and the re-opening of La Cloitre) neither of which had been a spectacular success, indeed we had no intention of ever going back to either restaurant until we were persuaded to by a friend who knew the waitress in Lazzarrella and it wasn’t bad at all the second time around, although I am not sure if anyone will convince us to try La Cloitre again, but that is another story. So we decided to wait for Oncle Jules to find his feet before we stepped inside.

The place looks absolutely charming and we have been won over by their marketing strategy and so this week, we gave it a go. We were not disappointed. The food was intended to be local producers, local style, simple and at a reasonable price and it fitted all those criteria. Cees had the plat de jour (braised ham in a Madeira sauce) and I plumped for the Salade de Campagne. Both dishes were excellent. The price was very reasonable as well as the wine.

So the hype was all worth it – while sitting waiting for our meal, we met some friends from the village who had tried out the first Sunday brunch and they did admit that the staff had been a bit overwhelmed by the number of customers so I am glad we waited a few days and got them when they are settling into their routine. The staff members are super friendly and totally relaxed, they have time to talk to customers without intruding. I expect the efficiency, which was not always present, will improve as they get into their stride and even if it doesn't, they do it all with a smile.

We will definitely be recommending this restaurant to our clients, it is a cut above the alternatives in the village and if they keep up the standard they have set, they will win hands down over local competition.