Café gourmand

n. – coffee that comes with a small sampling of desserts
Ca n’a rien a voire
Expression – it has nothing to do with it
Café gourmand is one of the best things ever. You can find it in most nice restaurants and for the price of a regular dessert, you can have your coffee accompanied by an assortment of smaller sized portions of whatever the chef chooses for you. It could be a mini-chocolate mousse and a mini crème brulée or a mini panna cota and a mini tiramisu or some small cookies with marron glace (crystallized chestnuts). Delicious!

Not long ago, we were out with friends at a nice restaurant and we all decided to go with the prix fixe. After ordering, the waitress came back to tell us they were out of one of our choices for the main course, which they had substituted for something else. No problem. Then after ordering the wine, we were told they were out of that bottle so we chose something else, no problem again.

When it was time for dessert, I asked if it might be possible to substitute the café gourmand for one of the prix fixe choices to which I was told “ca n’a rien a voire!” or “it’s not at all the same thing!” Not wanting to put up a fuss, I demurred.

Minutes later, the waitress returned again to tell us that one of the dessert choices was going to be substituted as well. We all looked at her incredulously at this point - surely after gamely accepting all the substitutions, the chef could be willing to work with us on the café gourmand? Message received and understood and the café gourmand was mine!