Having opened at the beginning of September opposite the French Cultural Centre in Beijing, La Taverne is filling the gap left by Le Café de la Poste.  Let's meet the director, Christophe Rovan.

French to the very end, La Taverne just couldn't do any better.  A trio of French restaurateurs, who are also the brains behind many restaurants in the Capital including Le Café de la Poste, finally opened La Taverne at the beginning of September after a long effort.  The previous owners of La Taverne were Chinese, and the restaurant, Far Away, offered Irish food and then Breton crêpes.

In March 2006, Armand Lafare, one of the Le Café de la Poste trio, and one of the two chefs in the group, took the reigns, and thought about offering something more Mediterranean instead.  This would have worked well during the day, but not at night.  The Chinese owners sent out an SOS.  The trio responded with the idea of "the ambience of a rustic inn, a unique menu, and simple good French cooking". 

Thankfully, the idea paid off.  In front of the restaurant, the secluded terrace is ideal for dining or for a drink.  The tables are covered with red and white chequered tablecloths, wicker baskets hang from wooden beams, old posters hang on the walls, large wine racks lean against the walls, and the dishes of the day are displayed, written in chalk on a blackboard; the restaurant is rustic and welcoming. 

Christophe Rovan, originally an editor from Cantal (central France), talks lovingly about his food. "I've always been a food lover, a gourmand.  I love eating and talking about eating", he laughs.

The warm goat cheese, the garlic butter snails, the fried foie gras, the duck fillet in a green pepper sauce, the bourguignon fondue, the chocolate mousse and the profiteroles are all appetizing. Everything is prepared individually with products brought fresh each morning from the market for everything from the 28 RMB salad of the day, right through to the 275 RMB deep fried camembert.

Other deals included 28 RMB for a trio of sorbets, and 42 RMB for an apple tart with Calvados, and not forgetting the daily set menus (60 RMB and 90 RMB), the dish of the day (45 RMB), and the children's menu (50 RMB).

« Fear of bad food »

The menu, designed by French chefs Armand Lafare and Yann Gauthier, is faultless.  This said, other than a culinary journey through such unlikely countries such as Afghanistan or Iran for Armand Lafare, there was nothing to suggest that the two chefs would share the same kitchens in Beijing.  What's more, the two chefs' styles couldn't be more different: one is a vegetarian, the other, an avowed carnivore. 

Fortunately, these differences work well together.  In 2006, Le Café de la Poste, located on the same road as the Lama Temple and one of the capitals most popular French restaurants, became ‘the first eclectic restaurant in Beijing', thanks to a combination of Arnaud Lafare's vegetarian dishes, together with Yann Gauthier's generous trappings of beef.

A one time Parisien editor, Christophe Rovan, moved to Beijing in 2006 to join the duo.  Together, the Café de la Poste team embarked on a culinary adventure.  The eponymous café was followed by the Nanluoguxiang (a Beijing street full of bars) tapas bar 'Salud', and then ‘La Cave', a delicatessen in the neighboring district to La Café de la Poste, right next to La Taverne.