On Rue Tatin by Susan Herrmann Loomis

Author:Susan Herrmann Loomis
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780767911443
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2002-06-17T21:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

Chez Clet

IT NEVER FAILS that as I get ready to cook in the evening I discover I’m missing an essential ingredient. It shouldn’t really matter—improvisation is the mother of fabulous dishes. But I’m usually testing recipes and adhering to a schedule, and I need what I need right away. Luckily I can solve the problem by walking out the courtyard, turning the corner, and walking in the door of Chez Clet.

Chez Clet is the neighborhood épicerie, or grocery store, one of the two in the center of town. It opens early and stays open until 8 P.M., perfect for emergencies. The glass-fronted façade opens up, and crates of fruits and vegetables are stacked on the sidewalk and sometimes in the street when there is a particular abundance, providing a tempting and aromatic panorama of fruits and vegetables.

Monsieur Clet, the owner, often finds a bumper crop of something at the wholesale market when he goes there on Tuesday mornings and it will then become part of the seasonal displays. It might be rosy-hued, furry-skinned apricots in the summer, intended for jam. In winter it might be pot au feu vegetables—fat bunches of leeks, purple-tinged turnips, crates of yellow onions, occasionally even rutabagas, a rarity here.

Protocol is strict at Chez Clet in the old style. It is understood that the customer looks but doesn’t touch, and the salespeople are carefully trained to provide the customer with the best there is. To that end, service is relatively slow as each item is carefully examined before being put in a small brown paper sack, weighed, then set carefully in a wooden crate or whatever receptacle is preferred by the customer. I don’t mind waiting. I enjoy watching whomever is helping me carefully inspect each peach, push back lettuce leaves to be sure the center of the head is white and fresh, squeeze a cucumber to be sure it is firm. It is a pleasure to know that when I get home and open my bag I’ll find only the best.

François Clet, the owner of Chez Clet, is a moody, energetic young man who rushes about the store, a pencil in his ear and a furrow on his brow. His assistant, Alain, a short man with puffy, curly hair, is the store’s jokester, often saying things to himself that are funny and which often earn him a laugh from the customers. The glint of a gold side tooth adds an extra sparkle to his smile and he has an infectious laugh.

Another manager, Isabelle, is an attractive woman with a tough style. She answers curtly and goes about her work with the look of a drill sergeant—which in a sense she is. For the rest of the staff at Chez Clet is made up of stagiaires, or apprentices, who work there for a period of time—generally from one to three years—as part of their education at a local technical school, and it falls mostly to Isabelle to ride herd on them. And no one, but no one, messes with Isabelle.

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