Le Bistro d’Alex - a real find in an unlikely location

Le Bistro d’Alex sounds like a smart Parisien neighbourhood restaurant. In fact it’s anything but. It’s a clever and ambitious initiative by the cave co-operative at Florensac down on the Languedoc coast.

Co-operatives are the traditional way of selling wine in the area. Owned by the local growers they would vinify the grapes and sell wine in bulk. Derided for their poor quality wine they’ve been getting their act together over recent years bottling their wines instead of selling them in plastic ‘cubis’ and even producing the odd prestige cuvée. But the Florensac co-op has gone one stage further and opened a restaurant next door to a very large showy tasting room and shop, a complex they’ve dubbed Vinipolis.

We turned up on spec and were nearly turned away until I reassured them that we would wait for a table. The place was heaving. A local winemaker who was hosting the tasting room for the morning offered to take us through a few bottles. (This was standard treatment - he had no idea I was a wine writer).

The wines we tasted - 5 whites - were simple and clean. Decent everyday quaffing but there’s a time and place for that. The sauvignon in particular, a ridiculous 3.99€ (£2.97/$5.78) a bottle was a real bargain.

The food though was something else. We each had six fabulously fresh oysters from the nearby Etang de Thau (a very good match with the Sauvignon) then I had a deliciously savoury hunk of veal that had been roasted on the rotisserie served with a creamy wild mushroom risotto. With it I drank a perfectly decent glass of Merlot that cost - wait for it - just 2€ (£1.49/$2.90) for a 175ml glass. My husband had an exemplary tuna a la plancha with fried aubergine chips. Our menus cost just 15€ (£11.18/$21.74) a head.

Although the space itself is quite utilitarian it’s been stylishly decorated and the tables are set with good quality glasses and cutlery.

The eponymous ‘Alex’ - chef Alexandre Fabre - used to work for a one-starred restaurant called Léonce (now closed) in Florensac, which accounts for the quality of the cooking and presentation. If you’re in the area it’s a real find. But make sure you book ahead.

Le Bistrot d’Alex, 5 avenue des Vendanges, 34510 Florensac
Tel: 04 67 77 03 05

(NB At the time of writing there were no signs to the restaurant in the town. If your sat nav lets you down follow the signs to the Cave Co-operative)

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