All Aboard For The Exmoor Food Festival

It's nearly February which means only one thing - the beginning of the Exmoor Food Festival. We're delighted to be taking part for the third year and we're looking forward meeting lots of people on the festival trail. For those unfamiliar with the Exmoor Food Festival you can find out everything you need to know on the festival site here

LA PETITE BOUCHÉE MENU 2020

We've decided to go back to our roots and so our festival menu captures the essence of true France, with some classic brasserie style dishes you will all be familiar with as well as some we know you'll want to try.

All the dishes are made to order, from scratch, using the finest from Devon's larder. Prices for the festival start at £17.50 for 2 courses. Please let us know in advance if you have any allergies or intolerances, we can almost always adapt any of our dishes to suit you. Here's a whistle-stop tour of the menu and what you can expect, flavour wise this month.

You'll find the full menu and booking details a little further down this page.

Entrée

Our French onion soup is my Grandmothers recipe which I have developed over the years it’s rich, warming and packed with the flavours of sweet onions and bone broth. Have no fear, we’ll be making a vegetarian and vegan friendly version too which is equally as rich in flavour using our secret ingredient to recreate that legendary “beefy” flavour.

Our Chicken Liver Parfait is light, almost mousse like in texture but bold in with its cognac and thyme overtones, served with french toast and handmade pickles

Love them or hate them, Escargot will be making an appearance this month. Delivered fresh from Somerset Escargot these locally ( Wellington) farmed snails arrive ready to be steamed then turned into delicious Escargot Bourgogne dripping with garlic butter ready to be mopped up with a hunk of crispy baguette.

Our Ham Hock Terrine is gelatine free, we slow cook our ham hocks for 12 hours with herbs, cider and aromatics and allow to cool, pull and pack tightly into large terrines and chilled, You’ll be served up a generous slice with baguette and handmade pickles.

Our Vegetable Pâté is made using seasonal vegetables, fresh herbs and stock, we use the vegetables themselves to thicken the pâté which is served with toasted bread. This delightfully rich pâté is suitable for vegans, coeliacs and dairy intolerant guests.

Amuse

The amuse this month is refreshing Champagne Sorbet, made in-house with our house fizz with a hint of citrus, guaranteed to cleanse your palette . If alcohol is not your thing then simply let us know because we usually have an equally delicious fruit sorbet available too.

Plats

Two stalwarts of the menu this month are Steak Frites, 10oz hand -cut Bavette Steaks cooked from fresh, to order and served with our legendary French fries, homemade Béarnaise or Green Peppercorn sauce.

Moules Frites are also on the menu, we usually serve Moules Marinières because that is the preference of most of our guests but this month we’ll be offering a special Moules Frites option so if mussels are your thing keep your eyes peeled.

Our seasonal fish this month is Pollack, caught in the west country and sent directly up fresh from the boat. We’ll be serving it in a delicious shellfish broth with a seafood garnish, pickled samphire and powdered smoked dulce all from the Devon shoreline.

Our other meat option is a very traditional Côtelette de Porc, a local pork cutlet, served on the bone, breadcrumbed and shallow fried then served with smoked lardons and peas. This reminds me so much of eating in Les Routiers restaurants on holiday with my family. It’s a classic.

Our vegetarian and vegan options this month are a delicious Winter Coulibiac, brimming with seasonal vegetables, grains and pulses and wrapped in a lattice pastry case. We’ve also been very busy making lots of confit tomatoes recently for our amuse this month and for our Galettes for the Festival. Tomatoes slowly cooked in olive oil, fresh herbs and garlic. Each tomato is like a flavour bomb going off in the mouth. The pastry is vegan and gluten friendly.

Desserts

Our menu always contains a traditional French tart and this one is no exception, we’re looking forward to serving up a delicious Prune and Armagnac Tart during festival month together with a Tarte Flambée with Apples caramelised apples on top of a pizza style crispy base. As ever all of these will be served with one of our handmade ice creams.

Cheese

The cheeses this month to compliment will be Sharpham Crement, Curworthy Haytor, North Devon Gruyére style hard cheese and delicious Beenleigh Blue from Ticklemore Cheeses. Accompanied as ever by one of our handmade chutneys and fruit cheeses.