Ever thought about owning and running a tea room? Or something like one? In a beautiful French village? Now’s your chance.
Judith Thomason, who established and now runs the successful tea room Le Thé Vert here in Daglan, has let it be known that she’s putting the place up for sale, and moving with her family back to the U.K. She plans to be here for the season (her café is open for business from May 1 to October 1), but hopes she’ll have a deal by then.
In case you’ve forgotten, here’s what Le Thé Vert looks like — or at least, how it looked last August, when it was decorated as a service station, to be in keeping with the automobile theme of Daglan’s annual festival parade:
Dressed up for parade day in August 2015.
There are a lot of pluses for Le Thé Vert. Its location, just as you enter our village by crossing the bridge over the Céou River, is fine, and seems particularly attractive to the hordes of cyclists who make their way to the Greater Daglan Area each summer. The café includes a front terrace, a back terrace, and an inside room with serving area. Through the summer, Judith and family live upstairs; when the café is closed, her family has the run of the whole house. So the building is both a home and a business.
As for the fare, Judith has been offering a variety of light meals, as well as drinks like teas (surprised?), coffees, sodas, plus beer and wine as long as they are served with meals. Here’s a particularly nice looking lunch — a cheese fondue with charcuterie and trimmings — that my wife Jan and I enjoyed way back in 2010:
Aside from her regular business, Judith has done a great job of adding special events, like curry nights and fish-and-chip nights.
It would be a real loss to the village if Le Thé Vert just disappeared. So — what you are waiting for?
Naturally, we are waiting for the GDD (“Gourmands de Daglan”, AKA The Chudys) to partner with Fabrice the Chef and turn Le The Vert into the newest, most mouth-watering 2 star dining experience in the Dordogne.
Thanks, Sam and Jill. Tempting, to be sure, but probably way too much work for us. We’d eat there, of course, but not actually work there. Cheers!
25 years ago it might have been an option. Rather like what we used to call voluntary work that was done and enjoyed, now it’s our turn to have a rest and leave it to the next generation.
I completely agree, Lesley!