Ribeauville is pretty quiet right now. Many of the locals have left town for vacation. Consequently, a lot of the restaurants and a few stores were closed. The weather was pretty gloomy during our visit, so we mainly hung around the apartment and ventured out for lunch a couple of times. Even though the town is fairly dead right now, it’s still very beautiful and quaint. There’s still plenty of wine for tasting and buying. And if you’re sick and tired of schnitzel and pork knuckles, you can have something decidedly French in Ribeauville. I know I did.
Ribeauville is tres cute.
The first restaurant we went to was Chez Martine, an adorable little bistro on the main drag through Ribeauville. It seems to be a place most popular for lunch. When we arrived at about 1:00pm on Saturday, the tiny dining room only had a few open tables. A very friendly waitress invited us to sit where we wanted. She didn’t speak much English, which I found very refreshing. And she was smiling and helpful. I was very charmed by her as she very carefully explained that they were about to close for their vacation, so they were out of some items on the menu.
I decided to have Quiche Lorraine, which is basically made with bacon or ham and cheese. It came with a salad and bread. Bill chose a salmon tart, but they didn’t have it. So he went with lightly breaded fish– I think it was flounder. It, too, came with a very nice salad. We shared a bottle of Alsatian wine and no one gave us the fish eye for drinking during the daytime.
No, I wasn’t drinking when I took this. The expression of Bill’s face just reminded me of Squidward’s.
A little better.
A very nice locally produced Riesling, which went great with our lunches.
My delicious Quiche Lorraine. This was so good. Just what I needed on a cold, gloomy January day in France. And such a nice change from the fare one usually finds in these parts. The salad had carrots, green beans, radishes, and fresh greens. It came with a light mustard vinaigrette as well as super fresh bread.
Bill was equally happy with his flounder. It came with the same salad my dish had.
Our waitress talked us into dessert. I had a cherry tart, which was delicious and just the right size.
Bill enjoyed a pear and chocolate tart. Again, it was the right size and very fresh. I was marveling that we only live a couple of hours away, but the food is so refreshingly different. We will have to come back for that alone.
A shot of the front. In warmer months, there are tables available for outside.
Our bill came to just over fifty euros. Bill made the waitress smile by giving her a generous tip. A friend of mine who lives in France says that tipping isn’t really a thing in France. More than a couple of euros isn’t necessarily expected. I could tell that our waitress appreciated it, though. And that meal was enough that we didn’t really need anything else for the rest of the day. We went back to the apartment and enjoyed some wine from the local grocery store while we watched the flurries come down. Ribeauville definitely did not get the snow that Stuttgart got.