Café Dijon – a taste of France
Café Dijon is an attempt at bringing a small corner of France to Plein Street. Proprietors Mariette and Johan du Plessis spent three months travelling around France, visiting the classics like Brasserie Flo and countless other brasseries and bistros to gather ideas they could synthesise and transplant. And it is a very, very Frenchlooking and -feeling space. There is the banquette down one side, with the brass-railed bar on the other; there are the Toulouse Lautrec posters; there is café music in the background; and there are bistro classics on the menu.
Perhaps one French idea they could have adapted for the (generally) larger-girthed South African customer is the tiny bistro table – too narrow to eat at in real comfort. And initially I was pleased that our waiter didn’t bound over and introduce himself in that ingratiating way – “Hi, I’m Jakobus, and I’ll be looking after you tonight” – that I find so objectionable. But as the evening progressed, it became clear that he was working hard at complete disdain for the customer – unfortunately something that needs the of a Parisian to carry off successfully.
It’s a simple and very traditional bistro menu – salad niçoise, steak tartare, bouillabaisse, duck confit with orange, steak béarnaise and frites, coq au vin and so on. Johan du Plessis says he wants to get locals used to the classics of French country cooking before he starts getting more ambitious with his menu.
It was a very good meal with especially high marks for
the steak – one of the tastiest cuts of meat I’ve eaten in
a long time – and the frites, which were properly thin
and crisp. Pity about the winelist: small and not very
interesting. Surely likely customers want more choice
and more excitement?
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