Awoke to another beautiful day.

About 15 minute trip over to friars bay to meet our friends from Italy who are staying up the hill behind friars bay beach Cafe

The surf was mild although about 15 feet of small stones immediately entering the water
We floated on our rafts and got caught up as we have seen them since last year and discussed our trip to visit them in Italy next year

Friars bay beach Cafe was closed so we packed up and spent some more time together while enjoying lunch at the Gutside
It is always very good and nice to not be eating French food
Also nice to see Richard and Lourdes
I always order a simply prepared whole red snapper while others had garlic shrimp, bbq ribs and chicken
All plates were well cleaned

For dinner.
We were very happy to be able to visit La Cottage since they thier vacation sometimes if during our visit
It may be our 2nd favorite restaurant on the island
We were welcomed by owners Tania and Stephane
I will say it took a few years to know Stephane as he is very business like but once he new I enjoy wine, we had something in common
Our primary server was Jullien whoose twin brother used to work at La Villa but moved back to France
I mention this as after so many years you expect to see certain familiar faces at certain restaurant

While Florence is no longer a partner in La Villa, our biggest surprise was to find John Carlos is no longer working at La Villa
We will meet up with him later this week at Orange Fever to get the scoop

La Cottage is a very comfortable restaurant pretty much in the center of Grand Case boulevard.
The air conditioning kept up cool all night as sometimes an open air restaurant can get a bit humid this time of year

La Cottage has a unique menu with an imagitive chef using some nice food combinations Beautifully presented plates
While I was tempted by several things off the menu and specials board but
I stayed with my usual lobster tasting

My first course was a lions head bowl of deep flavored bisque topped with a dome of puffed pastry, along side was a petite glass of what I would describe as a lobster mousse.
I could leave after this and be happy

My middle course was an open faced style lobster ravioli with a foam on top

A refreshing sorbet was offered with a fair amount of vodka to cleanse the palate although I thought my palate was already clean

A petite roasted lobster of maybe 4 ounces was my main course
It was tasty but just overcooked a bit but not so much that it was dry
I'll touch more about this in my next review

There are some great choices for dessert and we saw a "French toast" dessert go by that looked delicious but you must have the caramel souffle puffed high above the ramekins sides served with a side of salted caramel ice cream

My wife did eat as well, starting with an excellent scallop carpaccio served with a tar tar all artistically presented
Curious how great this dish was knowing the fresh scallops needed to be flown in

Off the enticing list of specials my wife selected Chilean sea bas topped with chopped shrimp
I enjoyed most of this dish while my wife enjoyed my lobster main course as her choice was just a bit too rich for her

Complimentary rum shots completed the meal

This is no list of wine by the glass as Stephane the sommelier will assist in choosing a wine for you
He may even open a special bottle for you something if you like is not already open

I stuck with the standard French sauvignon blanc, chardonnay for my meal

Always a excellent meal and so glad they were open this year

Last to mention is we always drive through the village before dinner and was surprised to see only Roasty's ( new in front left directly across from Le Piment) to be the only restaurant open in the village on a Tuesday evening.
Wow!
Yellow sub was open as well across the street

So far this week open restaurants in the village seem to be Roasty's, Maison Mere in the rear as well as Sao in the front right.
Many more closings this year as in previous years