Above, a pistachio and berry chocolate tarte and a strawberry tarte from La Vie en Rose
I thought that love was just a word | They sang about in songs I heard | It took your kisses to reveal | That I was wrong, and love is real. | Hold me close and hold me fast | The magic spell you cast | This is la vie en rose.
English translation of Edith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose”
Ah, finally rediscovering the boulevardier-type pleasure of entering a restaurant on a daily basis and ordering from a menu versus all that pent-up time of cooking at home during the past year or so. This blog will be taking you to numerous dining establishments in Guanajuato over the next week to help ignite your wanderlust. Two French ones come first because we are hoping to head to France in about ten days and don’t want you to tire of reading about French food.
A glass case full of luscious-looking pastries on the first floor of La Vie en Rose is a sign of flavorful things ahead. They are available to-go, but heading upstairs to the high-ceilinged dining room for a balanced meal first is worthwhile. Hitting the spot for us were the caramelized pecans warming goat cheese atop a fresh salad. Ratatouille provided the vegetables we craved, balanced by a rich bechamel sauce adding a French accent to a dish of lasagna. And, alas, a downpour struck, forcing us to remain and sample a pair of pastries. Both rose up to French standards.
Caramelized pecans warm goat cheese atop a salad at Le Vie en Rose. 
Ratatouille and lasagna at La Vie en Rose 
Taking shelter from a storm in La Vie en Rose 
La Vie en Rose takes its name from an Edith Piaf song.
As for my qualifications in their evaluation: I spent an entire semester trying to pinpoint the best strawberry tarte available in patisseries on Paris’ Left Bank. I gave myself an incomplete because I needed to pursue my quest at least one more semester; however, the endeavor does stand as early evidence of my lifelong career goal of assuming the role of a boulevardier.
While La Vie en Rose has been in Guanajuato several years, La Table de Andree was new to us. Chef Thierry Ambrosini, who hails from Sant Avold in northeastern France, welcomed us with warm date amuse-bouches.
La Table de Andree amuse bouche 
La Table de Andree filete arrachera with bleu cheese 
La Table de Andree risotto de verduras 
La Table de Andree camarones a la persillada 
La Table de Andree tacos de pato confitado
Tacos de pato confitado represented a successful fusion for a flavorful starter. The shrimp a la persillada were luscious, but the smell of a friend’s curried shrimp would have sent me that direction if we had returned. The risotto de verduras proved a nice healthy version of a dish often overly rich.
So, enjoy the regional cuisine of Guanajuato when there, but maybe allow yourself to delve into the diversions offered by these French ex-pats. Bon appetit.
Postcards from Barton Springs 
Please tell me a bit more about the amuse bouche and risotto de verduras!
Loved taking this gastronomic trip with you, and fun to the picture of the Mister with his glass of wine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lili – That was at the beginning of our trip and we met up with some San Antonio friends who we had not had a chance to sit down and visit with since pre-COVID days… so we were distracted. But I believe the skewered dates were filled with a bit of bleu cheese and wrapped in an ultra-thin slice of prosciutto before heating. The risotto contained nice crisp vegetables and pumpkin seeds, but was not creamed or cheesed-up like most preparations – kind of a refreshing change.
LikeLike