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Le Tournedos et H. Le Tassigny (rond point de Lattre-de-Tassigny, Lézignan-Corbières) – Set in an otherwise quiet residential area of town, this isn’t the easiest restaurant to find. Not that I think it’s particularly big with the tourists in any case; everyone stares when we walk in, there’s certainly no English being spoken at any other tables, and the English we speak to each other draws a surprised glance from every waitperson that approaches our table.

The name of the game here is meat, and a lot of it. In fact, I can’t imagine wanting to eat here except if in search of the namesake tournedos, which feature on the menu in many, many incarnations. I start with a salade de gésièrs, itself a massive and extremely filling (but excellent) undertaking, and while waiting for my next course I realize I’m really not all that hungry. Oops.

So when presented with a slab of beef about the size of my head…to make matters worse, I’ve ordered it Rossini-style, with a thick plank of foie gras and a Madeira-based sauce)…I’m filled with dismay. Where are we, Alsace? Who can eat this much food at a sitting? The accompaniments are no festival of lightness, either: what we’d call “home fries” in the States, sweetened pearl onions, and asparagus wrapped in bacon.

Nonetheless, I tuck in. No lack of hunger has ever gotten between me and beef before, and I’m not sure it ever will. The food’s quite good…simple (despite the historical pretense of the recipe), filling, old-style food, cooked properly and with pride. And appealingly-priced, as well. Wonder of wonders, I manage to finish all the animal products and the asparagus, leaving most of the rest for a hypothetical diner who weighs twice as much as me and doesn’t care. But I walk out a little wobbly, my center of gravity quite a bit lower and more forward than it was before dinner.

The wine list is locally-focused and full of producers I’ve never heard of. (10/06)