Restaurant Le Pot d'Étain, nr. Avallon, Burgundy, France.

The small, country village of l'Isle-Sur-Serein, on the north side of the freeway from Avallon, in Burgundy, is home to a charming little restaurant and simple country hotel le Pot d'Étain, owned and run by Catherine and Alain Péchery with great good taste and a country flair. This is not a hidden jewel awaiting to be found, but it is a well run kitchen, with two small dining rooms decorated in a lovely traditional way creating a pleasant ambiance in which to enjoy the very enjoyable cuisine of chef Didier Robert.

© 2000 photos Peter D'Aprix

His food is light and well conceived. His chocolate mini-cake with liquid interior is one of the best I have tasted anywhere.

A native of Alsace, M. Robert has embraced the regional cuisine of several areas of France. Obviously he has brought with him recipes from Alsace. He has adopted many dishes from Burgundy. But he has also blended into his cooking tastes and influences from Provence and the Jura. So you may find dishes with heavy, rich sauces listed next to dishes cooked with no cream and little butter. Instead, the flavors of olive oil and herbs of Provence find their way to this inn in Burgundy. A welcome relief indeed for the traveler for whom butter and cream can become tiresome after short exposure!

The service is pleasantly country and real with the owner's charming teen age daughter taking her turn in learning the family business after her highschool homework is done. They are aiming at a sophisticated audience who wants to have a local restaurant for an evening or lunch out without having to pay the high prices and endure the richness of the high end establishments but who want, at the same time, to eat food that the chef has taken seriously. They find it here at le Pot d'Étain.

The Inn has a cozy, small inner courtyard that at one time was the stabling for the coaches and horses but today provides a private garden where guests can read, relax and eat breakfast outside on warm days. We did not test out the rooms so we cannot advise on their level of comfort, but they appeared to be simple country accommodations, some in quite pleasant taste.