A couple of times a week our mailbox is literally overflowing with advertisements from local businesses. Many (maybe most) of our neighbors post discreet little signs on their mailboxes saying Pas de Pubs meaning they don’t want all of these publicités but we figure these ads let us know what shops are near us and give us one more lesson in French. To be honest, we already look online at the weekly flyers from national chains anyway, but seeing what we think of as the mom-and-pops have to offer, who sometimes don’t have a website, is a real treat.

Last Sunday morning just such an ad arrived from a new restaurant called Pizza Box. We’re not big on take out/delivery food but I must say that there’s a wood-fired pizza place about 1 minute from our new front door that smells mighty tempting. That will have to wait for a future post because I wanted to talk about what we found unique about these new offerings.

On the front cover is the featured dish called the Cabana which, upon your choice of a thin or thick crust, will be covered by crème fraïche (we find it similar to sour cream), mozzarella, sliced roasted chicken, fresh pineapple, and a sauce of onions, parsley, lemon, and cilantro. This is accompanied by 2 cans of soda and a dozen accras. No, I didn’t know either what accras are but further in their menu it says that they are “deliciously hot-spiced cod” fritters from the Caribbean. Maybe like a fish hush-puppy?

OK, sounds pretty tasty but give me a pizza that really let’s me know we’re in France. That didn’t take long since the first thing I noticed when turning the page was Duck breast with Paris mushrooms, Steak with roquefort cheese, Goat’s cheese with honey, and a true favorite at our house: Tartiflette made with a cheese that will keep your refrigerator stinking for days but tastes oh-so-good!

Want more? How about a foie gras pizza? We definitely never had that when we lived in Atlanta, home of course, to a very famous cola drink. Yes, this restaurant serves that beverage as well but considering that we’re in the middle of the world’s largest wine-producing region, guess what’s cheaper? Here’s another surprise, or not: France consumes more pizza each year than Italy or any other European country other than the UK or Germany. No wonder the Carcassonne telephone directory lists 286 results for pizzerias!