Les Compagnons de la Grappe, Regional restaurant in Old Lille, France.
Les Compagnons de la Grappe is a restaurant in the heart of Old Lille that serves regional cuisine from northern France and Flanders. It sits inside an old townhouse on a narrow alley and has both an indoor dining room and an outdoor terrace.
The building that houses the restaurant is part of the old merchant architecture of Lille, which reflects the Flemish character the city carried for several centuries. The cooking traditions on the menu trace back to the period when Lille was part of the Spanish Netherlands, before it became French in 1667.
The menu centers on dishes that are deeply tied to northern French and Flemish cooking, such as Welsh rarebit and potjevleesch, a cold meat terrine typical of the region. Eating here gives a clear sense of how local food traditions have stayed alive in everyday life.
The restaurant is easy to reach on foot from the main squares of Old Lille, though the alley it sits on can be easy to miss the first time. Arriving outside of peak meal times, especially at lunch on weekdays, makes for a more comfortable visit.
The name of the restaurant, which translates roughly as 'the companions of the grape', is a nod to an old French guild tradition where traveling craftsmen shared food and drink together. The street it sits on was once part of a neighborhood known for wine merchants and food traders in the old city.
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