chez jojo - saint saturnin sur loire

Tucked into the banks of the Loire is a magical little place called Chez Jojo. It started life in 1959 grilling fish and serving wine, was taken over by a girl called Jocelyn who christened it Jojo which has stuck although hands have changed again. This is according to the waiter anyway. So off we trundled in our limousine, ala clapped out Renault 5 with dents and permanent air conditioning thanks to broken windows, we do like to travel in style. Into the evening sunshine, passing through tiny stone villages. I love the fact Chez Jojo has signs everywhere, so once you're in the vicinity of Saint Saturnin sur Loire it's a breeze. Sweeping up to the restaurant down a rickety old dirt track, I don't think anyone could fail to be enchanted. The premise is simple, an array of plastic and wooden picnic tables, chequered cloths and traditional french fare underneath a canopy of trees and coloured lights overlooking the Loire. It is so beautiful people keep leaping up to take pictures with fancy cameras trying to record the beauty of the moment and the fading sunset. Staff are friendly and exuberent and happy to translate the menu. And if you're lucky a little fat man might wander from table to table playing requests on his accordian (only on weekends) and singing with gusto whenever the spirit overwhelms which seems to be quite eratic. "Reminds me of something out of Chocolat" muses my friend. So we ate with abandon. Best to come here with an empty stomach. Twenty two euros for a three course set menu. I started with a white fish terrine, cheese tartare and simple salad followed by duck drenched in pepper sauce and the best chips, crunchy and creamy. Berry clafoutis for dessert topped with homemade ice cream sigh it was one of the dinners where you're so full you might explode but you want it all to start over from the beginning anyway. We ate every drop. And apart from being humiliated by said accordianist who swayed beside my ear and treated me to a full rendition of 'la vie en rose' whilst coaxing me to join in and causing seeming hilarity to the rest of the diners, I loved every second! Closed from September 9th for winter... I know where I'm heading next summer.