Issue No. 21

Locals lunch: Le Petit Commerce,
traditional, friendly, great menu and full of
French people enjoying a great value meal
that tastes like heaven. 22 Rue Parlement
Saint-Pierre
Locals love: Braderie Bordelaise “a taste of
Bordeaux” is how the locals described it.
There’s always a queue to get in and that
says it all. It’s worth the wait though – if
you’re a steak frites fan, you will never
taste better than here.
Locals new love: Seven at Cité du Vin. The
7th floor restaurant at the wine museum is
divine in every way. Fabulous menu,
brilliant wine list and absolutely stunning
view over the city. It’s open for lunch,
dinner, afternoon tea and any time for a
glass of wine!
Bake my day: Canéles are delicious little
rum and vanilla cakes, a speciality of
Bordeaux where they’ve been making them
for at least 300 years.
There are two famous places to go for one
of these sweet treats: Ballardin and La
Toque-Cuivrée (theirs are slightly crispier).
Personally I prefer the new cake in town –
Dunes Blanches. A speciality of Patisserie
Pascal in Cap Ferret, the seaside town
that’s just an hour from Bordeaux. The
sweet Dunes Blanches were so good that
people started to go to Cap Ferret just to
buy them, so Pascal opened a shop in the
city. They do a different flavour each week
but ‘natural’, the originals, are best - soft,
crunchy and wonderfully sweet, filled with
cream and dusted with icing sugar – I
would go back to Bordeaux for those alone.
If you want to make like a local and
impress them, ask for a chocolatine not
pain au chocolat for your breakfast treat!