Only a few years ago, the bar that was originally called the Jean Bart became Brody's, a popular bar and restaurant serving delicious pizzas, lasagne, burgers, salads and desserts. It was also a great place to meet friends and have a coffee mid morning or apéros in the evening. Many is the time we came for coffee or an apéro and decided to stay for lunch or dinner!
Brody's is due to change hands under new owners and this is their last weekend of serving their food. From the very first opening night it was clear that this restaurant was exactly what the village needed, great food at affordable prices. In the summer it would be buzzing with visitors, delighted to be able to feed the family and enjoy the ambience and hospitality of a thriving restaurant. In winter it was always open to offer warmth and tasty food in the cosy indoor dining room. Many times it has hosted musical events, indoors and outdoors, to an enthusiastic crowd.
We will miss Doug's cooking, Charlotte's cheery welcome and Debbie's efficient serving. We wish them all the best and look forward to the place re-opening under new owners and presumably a new name. It sounds like the menu will carry on in similar vein and the restaurant will continue to be popular with locals and visitors all year round.
We were glad to be able to dine there with friends for their swansong weekend.
Every community needs a place like that. I hope the new owners, continue the tradition.
ReplyDeleteWe hope so too.
DeleteSounds like a brilliant place that will continue to thrive. The hospitality industry seems to be very different in England and continuing to decline.
ReplyDeleteThis time last year there were four places to eat in the village. Now there is just one.
DeleteI’ll be writing about that soon…..
Hoping the new owners prove as popular and their business thrives.
DeleteWe have heard that in typically French fashion they are closing the restaurant for a while to upgrade the kitchen. The new Maire has persuaded them to keep the bar section open because the owner of the other bar (no food, just a bar) is also closing for two weeks to go on holiday and the village would have no bar during that time.
DeleteI think if I was taking over I would have put up with the kitchen as it is to make the most of the increased summer trade and then close in the winter when it is quieter.
In our village we have two hotel/restaurants. One has been going for years and has an excellent reputation, with great food and a fantastic cheese trolley and dessert trolley. The other - next door to us - is very nice, but can't compete with the first (although they try to) in either price or quality. They'd be better to go for a menu more like in your village restaurant, rather than trying to be what the other is. Sadly there's also still a slight hangover from the previous owners who were universally disliked in the village for being untrustworthy.
ReplyDeleteWhen “Brody’s” first opened people were sceptical about having a pizzeria in the village but it has been immensely popular. Excellent food (not just pizzas) at a price that everyone can afford has been a real asset to the village and especially for holidaymakers with families who would be reluctant to pay the price for the evening menu in the usual French restaurants.
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