If you like French food – and who doesn’t – then next Thursday you are in for a real treat, no matter where you are in the world. Famed chef Alain Ducasse and the French Foreign Ministry are inviting you to a “Good France” (Gout de France) meal that is being offered at more than 1,000 restaurants all over the world to celebrate the tradition of the country’s cuisine.
A committee led by Ducasse selected chefs from all around the world to participate based on the principles of the celebration :
Beyond a celebration of French cuisine, Goût de / Good France pays respect to today’s cuisine: humanist, energetic, diverse, and relevant. Contributing Goût de / Good France chefs all share the same values: sharing, enjoying, and respecting good food and the planet.
The concept is inspired by Auguste Escoffier’s Epicurean Dinners – having as many diners as possible eat the same menu on the same day all around the world. Each chef will prepare a cold starter, a hot starter, a fish or shellfish, meat or poultry, a French cheese and a chocolate dessert. However, they have the freedom to be creative within those requirements.
Ducasse’s restaurants around the world will all be participating, but if the 810 Qatari riyals ($220) for a menu based around milk-fed lamb at his Idam restaurant in Doha is too expensive for your tastes, there are plenty of other regional options. Doha’s Aramede Restaurant is offering a filet of beef with black truffle that seems like a deal at only 435 Qatar riyals ($435).
Search for restaurants near you at the Good France website . There are participating restaurants in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, along with Lebanon, Saudia Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
Our personal favorite is the menu at La Centrale in Beirut, which features salmon confit and a veal roast. Yummy.