KEY POINTS:
They say you never forget your first time. For me it was in Cavaillon, a dusty trucking intersection that yearns to be known as the "Melon Capital of France" (laugh, but think: melons ripened in Provencal sun), crepes at a streetside cafe. And the next week in Paris, where a woman who wouldn't see 80 again played maitre d', waitress, sommelier, chef, and scaled the summit of French cuisine: the perfect roast chicken.
Chanterelle mushrooms, meaty as chicken and smothered in garlic, in a castle forecourt in Uzes. Steak and truffle-studded mash under an orange tree in Piolenc. Andouilettes, le vrai ratatouille, and tiny red rock-fish on Marseilles docks.
Yet, for a culture that defined eating out, it is hard to find a genuine French restaurant in Auckland. A colleague suggests there may be 17 - scant return against Thai, Indian, Italian, Chinese.
Perhaps it's the myth of rich sauces, a host - or hostess - of courses, those cheeses. Why? French food does not make you fat - if you eat in the French way, small portions, through the day, cooking with the best ingredients, lingering and conversing. Allons. Enfin, le plat du jour est arrivee.
Julien Le Quere's little wine-bar, Winehot (say it aloud), is at the end of Kingsland where you can park. Inside is as black as an Edith Piaf cocktail-frock, silvered mirrors, chandeliers from a past Louis, thanks to celeb-designer Peter Reid. Music from St-Germain and neighbouring arondissements.
Come for the wine, as Dick, Stuart and moi have, an enlightening and enlivening selection of French, Kiwi and elsewhere. Tell the affable and knowledgeable patron what you like, leave the rest to him.
Stay for the food, as Tom, Sue and I did, good bistro stuff. Not a lengthy menu - well, you can eat only one meal a night - distinguished by the quality of ingredients, like rosemary'd olives, five perfectly timed French cheeses and three Spanish meats (sweet serrano and two strengths of chorizo on our assiette du terroir, which is a flash way of saying antipasto).
Like that lady in Paris, but several decades younger, Madame Jane Le Quere is in the kitchen, cooking comfort classics like my fall-off-the-bone lamb shank, baby carrots and beans, creamy mash. Tell me that doesn't hit the spot with a July storm lashing the windows.
Tom's choice is even heartier: the night's one-off, wild pig pie, hunks of juicy pork in gravy, topped with ... creamy mash. Of a more delicate constitution than the boys, Sue is much impressed with succulent deep-sea cod on golden butterbeans.
As the evening unwinds, the hosts become just that - joining customers, locals who crowd the tiny shop every night, for a glass and chat. The fromage gets an encore.
Been several times, never had a bad evening. Or as one should say on Bastille Day, je ne regrette rien.
Winehot
Address: 605 New North Rd, Kingsland
Phone: (09) 815 9463
Web: www.winehot.co.nz
Open: Tues-Sun from 5pm
Cuisine: Bistro
From the menu: Blue cheese potato croquetas $10; frenchburger: eye fillet, olive tapenade, fried potatoes $19; chocolate cream renversere $9
Vegetarian: Ce n'est pas un probleme
Wine: It's the raison d'etre
