Bar la Forge is Dead; Long Live Bar L'Alsa-Breizh

One of the constants in our holidaying at Trébrivan, which we've indulged in since almost as far back as the turn of the century, has been a frequent attendance at Bar la Forge.Bar la Forge is directly opposite our little Bout de Sac; provided you have normally functioning arms you could chuck a tennis ball from our front door and hit the bar building at least on the first bounce. Probably without the fluffy projectile bouncing at all.

Initially during our time, the bar belonged to and was run by Mme le Gall. Not long after, it was taken over by Steve and Sue (escapees from Newton Abbot); S & S became good friends during their tenure and we were very pleased to spend some time last week drinking filth and talking nonsense.

Here's Steve and Sue in their bar tending heyday:Within the last few weeks, S & S have offloaded the bar and moved to a wee cottage at the bottom end of Trébrivan's gentle undulations.

Which leaves room to enter, stage right, Jean-Luc as the new stout yeoman of the bar.Ok - not very stout, I'll grant you. But quite yeoman-like I think you'll find.

Jean-Luc has given the old place a lick of paint and a new name: L'Alsa-Breizh, which reflects his Alsatian origins and his adopted home in Brittany (Breizh being the Breton name for the region).The best news of all is that Bar L'Alsa-Breizh now does food. Huzzah!

During the week, Jean-Luc is offering three course plat du jour lunches (which he only started doing in the last week) for a ludicrously small outlay of 8.50euros a head. We've not tried his plat du jour offerings yet; we will as soon as we get back across the water. Dozybean, YarMatt, The Lord of Chaos, Cannonball Pam and Lester are staying in Trébrivan from tomorrow - perhaps they'll give a report on their return.

The real treat, though, is Jean-Luc's homeland speciality which he cooks to order on Saturday and Sunday evening from 7 o'clock - Tarte Flambée. You need to book ahead - Bar L'Alsa-Breizh is throbbing with people on a weekend evening, all chomping on the yummy fare. Indeed, here are the former innkeepers extraordinaire Steve and Sue accompanied by their daughter Megan, enjoying the delights of Alsatian wood-oven cooked cheesy things on Saturday last:The tarte is served on a piece of plywood (saves the washing up) and it's perfect eat-with-your-fingers fare. It's a fun and informal way to eat in Bar L'Alsa-Breizh's friendly atmosphere. Mrs The Millbrooker and I found that sharing two savoury tartes (served one after the other) and one traditional Tarte Flambée sucrée aux Pommes (flambée a l'armagnac) to be a highly filling meal and very very tasty indeed.

Here's Jean-Luc doing his stuff with the Armagnac immediately prior to setting our pudding alight. By the time we got to munch upon it, it was a very boozy tarte flambée - the man is a very generous host.Et voila - the brandy soaked dessert is engulfed in flame, mmmmmm.

We wish Jean-Luc the very best in his venture. Great food, great atmosphere, plenty of choices of beer - what more could you ask?

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Bar L'Alsa-Breizh, 3 Place Ste Anne, 22340 Trébrivan.

Tel: +33 296 36 60 56

Note to fellow Brits, Jean-Luc doesn't speak English - if you ring to book for Tartes Flambées you'll need to try your French; have no fear, J-L is an accommodating chap with a ready smile and will do his damnedest to help.