Food & drink · Tours

Rillettes and Tarte Tatin at Les Saveurs du Terroir

For a single meal that distils the flavour of the Touraine into two hours, Les Saveurs du Terroir on Rue Colbert delivers with quiet confidence. The short, handwritten menu changes weekly and leans entirely on local producers — the rillettes here are made in-house and the tarte tatin arrives at the table still warm from a cast-iron pan.

What to order

Start with the rillettes de Tours — the Tours version is coarser and more textured than its Le Mans cousin, with visible shreds of pork rather than a smooth paste. Spread thickly on grilled Poilâne-style bread, it is one of the great simple pleasures of French regional cooking.

For a main, the pintade (guinea fowl) with Vouvray wine sauce appears on the menu in various forms throughout the year and is a benchmark dish of the Touraine. Finish with tarte tatin; the restaurant's version uses Reinette apples from a nearby orchard and is served with a scoop of crème fraîche rather than ice cream — correct and delicious.

Rue Colbert and the restaurant quarter

Rue Colbert is the gastronomic spine of Tours, a long, narrow street running east from the cathedral that is lined with restaurants, wine bars and fromageries. Les Saveurs du Terroir sits roughly in the middle and is small enough — around 30 covers — that booking ahead is essential on Friday and Saturday evenings.

The street itself is worth a slow walk even if you are not eating. Several excellent cave à vins (wine shops) specialise in Chinon, Bourgueil and Vouvray, and the staff are invariably happy to talk you through the appellation differences and suggest bottles to take home.

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