Where to start to be fair? Last night, 6 of us arrived at Cafe des Arts at a little before 9pm. This is a late hour for restaurants in the Loire region as they tend to close early, and we would have understood if they had rejected our custom. However, they told us that a table would be available in about 5 minutes and seemed very helpful. 10 minutes later and still with no table, I made an inquiry and was told, apologetically, that one would be available in a further 3 minutes. A few minutes afterwards a table was prepared and we were seated.

So far so good and we had no complaints.

Shortly after being seated a friendly waiter came to our table with a wine list and asked us if we were ready to order which, actually, we were, as we had already studied the menu whilst waiting. Perhaps, in a rather French case of misunderstanding, one of my friends asked him if we could consider the wine list first and the waiter disappeared never to return. I suspect that, since we had arrived late, the restaurant was keen to get our orders quickly, and such a delay was not welcome. Whilst this may be so, we sat at the table with increasing impatience as the minutes ticked by and with no sign of a waiter.

At about 9.25, one of my friends managed to attract a member of staff who came over and we attempted to make our order. He told us that the set menus were no longer available as it was now past 9.30 and only the a-la-cartes menu was open to us which would have been a much more expensive proposition. It was pointed out that we had been waiting to be served for twenty minutes and it was not yet 9.30, but to no effect.

On asking to speak to the manager the member of staff said, and I translate roughly but not innacurately:

"You are looking at the manager and the owner, I decide when it is 9.30 and you can take it or leave it."

After a very short discussion between ourselves after the owner had stalked off, we decided, in the face of this towering rudeness, to leave it and vacated the table. Of course, having had to wait for a table and then having had to wait a considerable time to be served, more than 40 minutes had elapsed and the chances of finding another restaurant that could serve us was small as, indeed, we found.

Whilst I acknowledge that the restaurant did go to the trouble of finding us a table, which it didn't have to do, and my friend's insistence on studying the wine list first before ordering was not politic under the circumstances, the rudeness of the owner can in no way be justified and really left us with no option but to leave (perhaps that was the idea!). He would have also known that we would not get a table elsewhere at that time of night which adds a maliciousness to his conduct that, in my view, shows the owner in a very poor light. I will not be going there again and I would suggest this restaurant is to be avoided unless you want to risk being confronted by such uncivil behaviour.

Such a shame as they started so well!

As a postscript, we all returned to our home (with the exception of our friends' elderly mother who was both exhausted and upset by the turn of events), and my partner was able to put together an excellent meal at short notice, resulting in a convivial end to a difficult evening. She's a great chef!

Our menu:

Vitel Tornne (in this case, pork dressed with tuna and vegetables, accompanied by freshly baked bread).

Salad with Saint Agur cheese and dressing.

Ice cream with sponge fingers soaked in coffee and whisky.

Lots of wine and/or martini!

A better and cheaper alternative to what Cafe des Arts had to offer.