French Lesson: Au restaurant – part 3

22 January 2012 by Camille Chevalier-Karfis    687  
French Lesson: Au restaurant – part 3
Camille Chevalier-Karfis
By Camille Chevalier-Karfis
Au restaurant—part 3 Here are some tips and a few common expressions to help you communicate when going to a restaurant in France. This is part three of the Au restaurant lessons, here are the links to part one and two, and stay tuned for la dernière partie (last part)! French people tend to eat their meat on the undercooked side, so make sure you memorize the cooking your like. The waiter will ask: quelle cuisson? (how would you like it cooked?) and you can answer: •  bleu (seared, raw and cold inside),•  saignant (pink inside and very juicy),•  à point (pink inside but more cooked),•  bien cuit (cooked thoroughly but still likely to have a little pink inside).• And cru means raw, like steak tartare. If you are allergic to something, say je suis allergique à… If you are a vegetarian, say je suis végétarien but beware that many people in France will assume it means you don’t eat red meat, but will eat chicken or fish. If you are vegan, say je suis végétalien. Please understand this is a little known concept in France. In both these cases—vegetarian or vegan—please state what dishes you do eat rather than list what you don’t, it will make things simpler for the waiter to suggest dishes. And if you want to make sure you’re not ordering offal (organ meats), say pas d’abats.   Photo credit:  DigitalArt / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Camille Chevalier-Karfis lives in Brittany and she’s been teaching today’s French language to adults around the world for over 19 years with her company, French Today. Please click on her name to learn more about her by reading her complete profile.   Subscribe for FREE weekly newsletters. BonjourParis has been a leading France travel and French lifestyle site since 1995.   Top 100 France-themed books & more: Readers’ Favorites.
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By Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Although born and raised in Paris, Camille lived in Boston for 16 years and has been teaching today's French language for 20 years to adults around the world in person, by phone and through Skype. Repatriating to Brittany, France, in 2008 to be closer to family and to practice a balanced lifestyle, Camille created French Today, offering original audio novels and audio courses based on the adult student needs and interests, and written and recorded using the modern French language. She is the author of a full French audio method called “À Moi Paris” comprised of 4 audiobooks for the French beginner and French intermediate learner. She is also the author of more than 15 other audiobooks and audio lessons on grammar, modern pronunciation and vocabulary. In October 2014, Camille was also chosen to be the About.com French Expert, the largest French web site in the world.