An evening of Japanese & Jazz

Yesterday while we were out for a walk, we came across this poster in our village. My heart skipped a beat - it's not often that we get a chance to watch a jazz concert around these parts. Of course I wanted to go check it out.

To start the evening, we decided to eat out & had a nice dinner at a small Japanese restaurant, Ochame @ St Etienne de Fontbellon. I had been sceptical about going there until I found out that they have a Japanese chef. Turned out this place is owned by a French man & his Japanese wife from Fukuoka, who's the chef.

The menu comprises mainly of sushi, sashimi & a selection of the usual Japanese dishes like yakitori, tonkatsu, soba, sukiyaki & even okonomiyaki. When we were there, only 2 other tables were occupied but they were busy with quite a few take out sushi orders.

The food was good, simple Japanese fare, nothing fancy & most definitely, nothing to knock your socks off. At least I was not disappointed. I would definitely go back again. X said he would have preferred something more interesting but then what can you expect from a little Japanese restaurant in the middle of Ardeche.

In a corner, they have a little shelf selling some Japanese products - sushi rice, green tea powder, soba & soy sauce. When we made enquiries, the owner offered the information that Keiko, the Japanese supermarket in Paris, has an online shop. Great, now I know where I can go to buy my shabu shabu sauce.

After that, we made our way to another St Etienne but this time, it's St Etienne de Boulogne. Apparently the mayor has given the function room to a group of jazz musicians for their practice sessions & they, as a token of their appreciation, put together this concert. The concert was already well underway when we arrived & was very well attended. We didn't stay for long cos it wasn't my kind of jazz & besides it was way past the Girl's bedtime.

I went home feeling all warm & fuzzy cos we did something different for a change.