Would I expect to eat like a king or, since this is France, president at an establishment calling itself the Smash Club? To be honest, probably not.
In defence of this Smash Club, it exists primarily for tennis players even if the poolside restaurant draws a clientele that looks, for the most part, as if it hasn't seen much action on the courts for a good few years.
In its rural setting a mile or so back from the resort of Cavalière, west of Saint-Tropez, the Smash Club is a gem. It comes at a price and we don't (can't) faire des choses en grand - push the boat out that often. But with birthdays falling within five days of each other, we usually make that an excuse.
Italy, and more sumptuous food, beckons during a short break in Alassio and Cinque Terre from tomorrow but the dinner at Cavalière will be hard to top. It was by far the finest restaurant meal we've had in a couple of years.
No other customers had arrived when we turned up at 7.30pm, having put off our reservation for two days after thunder intervened at the weekend. By the time we were on dessert, there must have been 80-90 gathered at tables by, like us, or just back from the pool.
I have no food critic pretensions so will describe the meal briefly.
Everyone chooses from a menu priced at 44 euros a head. In honour of our birthdays, the apéritif maison - a pleasant mix of Champagne, grapefruit juice and very likely more - were on the house.
They were followed by an amuse-bouche that could only be described as divine if the Smash Club did not go much further with its croustidos de truffes à la fleur de sel with a cappuccino de pétoncles cèpes et truffes. Truffles feature a lot on the menu and this was a splendid introduction.
From there, we both chose the tuna and the rack of lamb with, in between, a second starter of marinated prawns with a gorgeous risotto enhanced by parsley and lemon. The lamb was cooked perfectly and pink; I would serve it with sauté potatoes, not polenta, but then I would.
The goat cheese was satisfactory and the combination of raspberries fresh and in sorbet refreshing.
The wine was a merlot from the Anglade vineyard two kilometres from where I am writing. It was full-bodied and at 43 euros overpriced, but it strikes me that restaurant wine is almost always overpriced and we had not paid for the apéros and a liqueur was offered, also on the house, before we left.
We'd normally eat out twice and have change out of our 141 euros (including tip) but the quality of the food, ambience of the restaurant and unfussy attentiveness of the staff left us without the least feeling of having been fleeced.
For all the hype about its famed cuisine, France is plagued by too many restaurants where it is entirely possible to pay rather a lot to eat badly. The Smash Club gets it right on virtually all fronts.
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