Brasserie Insolite, Lourmarin

As I told you in my previous post, we went to Lourmarin and while we were there, we ate déjeuner - lunch at Brasserie Insolite. I normally try to figure out what are supposedly the good restaurants in a town before we go, but since our visit to Lourmarin was a spur of the moment decision, I didn't get a chance to do that.

Although it was mid-September and vacations mostly over and people back to work, Lourmarin was bustling with lots of people. There were shoppers completing purchases at the Friday market while sellers were starting to box up the fruits and vegetables and assorted merchandise they hadn't sold, shopkeepers were closing for their two hour lunch break and office workers were headed home, baguettes in hand for lunch.

It was a beautiful day, the sky was brilliant blue and we wanted to sit outside and soak up the sunshine and atmosphere. We could see that diners were already seated at most of the café tables that line Place de la Fontaine and the streets near the center of Lourmarin.

We walked around reading the various menu's, some were on blackboards and others printed and posted outside restaurants. After checking menus and availability of tables, we decided to try Brasserie Insolite. They had a selection of salads and pizzas which was what we were looking for given we weren't familiar with any restaurants in the area.

Brasserie Insolite has a few tables along the street, a dining room for inclement weather and a large terrace behind the restaurant. We were offered the last table on the terrace along with a warning that there were no more umbrellas and it was very sunny. Sounded perfect to us.

It seemed like everyone had descended on the restaurant at the same time as it took a while for the server to get over to our table to take our order. In this picture wife Shirley is patiently waiting for our server to arrive.

We ordered a pichet - carafe of rosé wine from the Luberon region to accompany our lunch. For starters we chose a Salade Italienne - a nicely dressed salad of arugula, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese; and

Camembert Fondue - a plate of greens and a whole baked Camembert with little toasts on which to spread the cheese.

We had observed several pizzas carried out to other tables and seen they were very good size. So we decided to share a Pizza 4 Fromages - four cheese pizza. I guess we weren't worried about cheese overload.

To finish, we shared a Café Liégeois, a wonderful combination of vanilla and coffee ice cream, cold espresso topped with Chantilly cream. It was perfect for a hot day.

We will be returning to the Lourmarin area many times I am sure. Brasserie Insolite was wonderful for a simple lunch. I have heard there are several very good restaurants in the area. I would appreciate any restaurant suggestions you might have for Lourmarin and the surrounding area.

Bonne appetit.