La Cerise sur le Gateau Restaurant Review

An organic, largely vegetarian restaurant in France is a novelty, let's face it. A popular one rarer still. And one that's entirely run by a one-man band (minus the drums)? That takes the preverbal bio-biscuit.

Nestled within the pretty medieval backstreets of Aix en Provence, the Cerise sur le Gateau' (and not the souris au chateaux, that was when it was still medieval), is a cosy, delicately-decorated and intimate restaurant, with a locally-sourced, organic menu. No printed menus here, the daily-changing blackboard offers roughly four meat dishes, four vegetarian dishes, and four puds. Mix and match as you wish, to create starters or mains. I plumped for pintade (a quick Google-check told us it was guinea-fowl), served with some sweet seasonal peaches and accompanied with the most deliciously earthy roasted new potatoes I'd ever tasted and salad. My partner chose a delicious aubergine stack, with a dollop of creamy goat's cheese and similar salad. I loved the way the owner/waiter/chef sung out from the open-plan kitchen, asking us to remind him who was having which dish, so he could add zinc-rich pumpkin seeds to my partner's salad (good for avoiding prostate problems) and antioxidant, anti-ageing goji and mulberries to my salad. Personalised dishes indeed!
Pud came in the form of a Corsican Fiadone cheesecake, in truth a coarse cheesecake with a very berry sauce but by the looks of the clean plate at the end, it seemed to do the trick. Both courses were washed down with a glass of local wine - Provençal rose for me, warming red for lui.

Aside from the perfectly presented, nutritious and delicious cuisine, the star of the show was the owner come chef come waiter come pot-wash. Whilst his style of service was more direct than back-bendingly friendly, the speed at which he juggled his many hats, and created his cooked-from-scratch dishes was impressive. His air of confidence regarding his ability not to disappoint, and to keep all balls in the air, clearly comes from nights of positive feedback - several times loyal locals popped by to say hello and discuss a table booking for later that week. With no more than three small tables inside and four outside, it's the perfect recipe indeed.