From region to region

Brasseries make the most of local produce. There is a kind of regional pride, which ensures that you will always be served the best of whatever is grown or produced in the region. So eating in a brasserie in the South of France is a very different experience to eating in one in, say, Brittany. They all promote their own regional classics, often alongside well-known dishes from other areas. In Franche-Comté (my region), it could be Morteau sausage with sautéed potatoes and melted Vacherin Mont d’Or cheese. Up the road in Alsace, it could be choucroute (sauerkraut) or baeckeoffe (a kind of hotpot of potatoes, onion and pork). In Brest in Brittany, it could be seabass baked in a sea-salt crust, and in Paris it might be coq au vin. And if you are in one of France’s great brasseries, you will probably find all these specialities on one menu. Whatever region you find yourself in, brasseries will always offer a great variety of food. So whether you want to have a quick meeting over a coffee and a croissant or to while away the hours with a friend over steak frites and a glass of red wine, you’re in the right place.