Madame La Bouffe and I biked to Maple St., where we've often passed by a lovely little French restaurant called Cote Sud (meaning "south coast" in French, for all you Yanks who don't speak the language). We decided to try it out. We both had healthy appetites from our biking, and were anticipating a great meal. We walked up the steps at five o'clock, but were rather disappointed because we had come half an hour before they opened. Much was our surprise when the smiling waiter told us to come right in! We were seated at a nice little table by the window, and were served ice water and wine.
Since we were the only ones in the restaurant, we were treated like queens! The sweet waitress gave us a private wine tasting, and we were served hot, crusty, sweet baguette and butter to take the edge off our appetites. We had a while to wait, because the kitchen didn't open until five thirty, but the waitress placed our orders, so we could have them as soon as the kitchen was in business. They played the most soothing French music, and this spot had the most relaxing and peaceful environment imaginable. There were pictures of wine and grapes everywhere, and everything was just so charmingly rustic and wonderfully authentic that I actually thought I was in a French bistro!
For the main course, I had a delicious shrimp and zucchini linguini. The shrimp and zucchini were sautéed in the finest extra virgin olive oil, and the linguini was super flavorful and tasted nicely peppery. Everything was perfectly cooked. Madame La Bouffe got the steamed mussels literally bathing in a mariniere sauce, which was like eating ambrosia, let me tell you. We got pommes frites to go with it, and, while just a tad greasy, were amazing when dunked in the sauce.
Then we had the cheese, wine, and fruit course, a classic French custom. They eat the cheese and wine right after dinner and just before dessert. The plate was a little tame compared to the spectacular aged cheeses I'd eaten in France, but still very tasty. We had Swiss cheese, triple cream Brie, goat cheese, and blue cheese. They were served with green grapes, which added a nice burst of color. We both really liked the goat cheese, which was shaped into two cute little balls. The Brie was creamy and rich, the blue flavorful and yummy, and the Swiss was...well...Swiss. The red wine was spectacular, according to Madame La Bouffe.
Finally, while Madame La Bouffe lingered over the remains of the loved goat cheese, I polished off a mouthwatering creme brûlée. The sweet, creamy, cold custard and crunchy bittersweet sugar top were really to die for! So Cote Sud is a fabulous place to eat your dinner, and I bet you'll be as happy as I (which is saying something)! Happy eating to all you folks!
