The restaurant l’Entrecôte, an emotional memory

Raymonde Calbo Laffitte / Felanitx – I remember with great emotion when, in June 1970, I successfully finished my studies in the city of Toulouse. I was twenty-one years old. My father, who with great sacrifice had allowed me to study for five years in this capital of Occitania, wanted to celebrate it with a meal at the famous restaurant “l’Entrecôte”. At that time it was quite a luxury for a working-class family like ours, coming from a small village in such a disadvantaged region as Ariège.

This restaurant opened its doors in Toulouse on April 2, 1962, in the hands of a family of local winegrowers. Even today, both this establishment and the others bearing the same name in different cities (Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyon and even Barcelona) are run by descendants of that same family.

The founder of the Toulouse restaurant proposed a formula that was completely revolutionary for its time: a fixed daily menu that remains unchanged to this day and enjoys the same success as back then. It consists of a salad with vinaigrette and walnuts, French fries and a delicious grilled beef steak (faux-filet) finely sliced and served with a spectacular, almost legendary sauce whose recipe is the family’s best-kept secret. It must be said that in Toulouse l’Entrecôte soon became a true institution.

Many chefs have tried over the years to discover, without success, the ingredients used to prepare the sauce. They suggest chicken liver, shallots, a sprig of thyme, liquid cream, Dijon mustard, butter, a little water, salt and pepper, all finely blended and strained.

The desserts are also made by the restaurant’s pastry chefs, especially their extraordinary profiteroles. Everything served is prepared with fresh regional products, and guests can also enjoy the house wines, both red and rosé.

For sixty-four years the restaurant, with this same menu, open seven days a week all year round, has welcomed eight hundred people every day and around nine hundred on weekends. It is a place where one has to queue to eat because reservations are not accepted. The attention and service are quick, everything very professional in a welcoming and relaxing atmosphere.

Every time I have travelled to Toulouse to visit my sister, I have always gone there because, besides enjoying this exquisite menu, it always awakens fond memories of a happy time in my youth as a student in this capital known as “La Ville Rose”.