Languedoc France Wine Tours Newsletter.

Well this is it for and other year, the Christmas tree on the Mound is gone, the Christmas market  stalls in Princess Street Gardens are packing up they goods and the people of Edinburgh are getting their town back until the festival and its yearly tsunami of tourists…..
 
I hope you all had a great time during the Christmas and new Year festivities and that your waistline and liver do nor require you to take such drastic options such as “Dry January  or indeed one of those trendy diets endorsed by some body perfect celebrities selling fake miracles short terms cures . Should you feel the need to “punish” yourself for a few weeks in order to make you fell better and join the January Vegan promotion, our chef peter have created a 3 course menu using only fresh ingredients that will satisfy your needs in term of taste, nutrition and…. price that I hope you will try and enjoy! Our normal Lunch menu as well as our seasonal A La Carte are of course available for lunch or dinner and toward the end of the month a a wee taste of haggis will also be on offer.
 
Looking back  on 2019 i must admit getting puzzled by some  some of the food trends and eating habits . To start with more and more people are drinking less especially at lunch time. That of  course is due to the criminalisation of the drink and drive message slowly getting through to people and the clever marketing of the soft drinks manufacturers who make you believe that a glass of their products being regular, diet or Zero sugar content is better for you than a glass of good (languedoc) wine….there is also a significant increase of vegetarian and vegan diet as well as all sorts of “allergies” creeping up all the time creating lots of confusion and weird requests, such as Aioli with no garlic , cassoulet with no pork , etc….the most frustrating is the par-time vegan or vegetarian who  eat fish or comes dessert suddenly order a creme brûlée or some cheese  having previously requested from the chef an alteration or adaptation from an original dish to match their diet….then there is the “foodie” who must send a photo of the dish he/she ordered as well as the others dishes served to his/her dining companions to his/her followers before sending it back to the kitchen to be re-heated and then ask the poor waiter/waitress for the provenance of the food, the list of ingredients and just about the whole recipe, then complain about the slow service….Mind you it also provide for a few laughs such as this lady who was commenting that our cassoulet was better than Rick Stein , and  after being asked  if she dined there candidly answered “No , but I saw it on TV’!!!  

I think that the problem is that it is getting more and more challenging for a stand alone , fresh food restaurant , to cater for everybody and that by trying to accommodate  all, loosing their identity and style. I hope that we are going to see more and more restaurant opening with a very specified style being Vegetarian, vegan,  or what ever, so that the public can then make their choice knowing that no cross contamination is likely to happen and that all food cultures , traditions and authenticity  respected and appreciated.
 
Every body is now back at work and it is the time of year when we are planning our calendar of events with some of our key suppliers . Burns suppers, 6 nations weekends, valentines Nights , wine evenings , Easter, as well as our ever changing seasonal menu will keep us busy at least until the Festival and careful planing is required in term of staffing , purchasing and advertising.

On top of that I have to make time for the wine trips in languedoc, as I already have a few requests starting in April . There is still spaces available so if you haven’t yet planned your holidays for 2020 may be a week of fine dining, wine tasting and tourism in the South of France could be what you are looking for or what the doctor just ordered ….Come on,   give me a wee call or send me and email and just in case click here for the dates or visit our website www.languedocwinetours.co.uk for more information.
 
In the meantime whether you are vegetarian, vegan, carnivore , pescarian, or what ever we are looking forward to welcoming you back at La Garrigue in 2020 . Remember to book your table for special events such as Valentine’s and Mothers day, Rugby week end or that special anniversary.
 
We wish you all a fantastic 2020 and “a bientot”
 
J-Michel , Morgan and the team