John Gibson: A chance to celebrate on Bastille Day

Published on Wednesday 24 June 2009 09:18

COMING up fast . . . Bastille Day. Means plenty if you're French. Even if you're not into frogs' legs and fries, July 14 is going to be big down at Daniels Bistro, by Leith's waterfront.

Owner Daniel Wencker is telling me: "Bastille Day to the French is what Independence Day is to Americans, especially from a gastronomic aspect, so we plan to celebrate in some style here.

"Besides the four-course dinner plus coffee and a kir aperitif, diners will be asked – at a stage when a person's ability to sing is at its peak – to join in a robust chorus of our national anthem.

"You know, La Marseillaise, unlike your relatively civilised God Save the Queen, is decidedly warlike. Bloodthirsty, even.

"Citizens, it starts, take up your arms, form up battalions and drown your enemies in torrents of blood. Quite brutal, quite bloody. But the French Revolution was at the front of their minds.

"The Marseillaise was the anthem that roused the revolutionaries to take up arms and kill as many enemies as possible. Every enemy except the Scots, of course."

Spoken like a typical internationalist restaurateur. Daniel rates himself a "true Edinburgher", having settled here in 1974, and he's musing about putting himself out to Grasse in retirement in a couple of years. He has a pad there in south-west France where he'll spend much more time holidaying.

Had he forgotten something? Mais oui! The price.The 80-capacity bistro will charge 28.50 for the dinner, excluding appropriate music by a real, live accordionist, beret and all, and background vocals by Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier, in every French citizen's book, the living dead among their singers.

We shouldn't be surprised if burkha-bashing Nicolas Sarkozy drops by. Place your reservations now.

Afterwords . .

. . . coming from Elvis Costello or, as some of us prefer to know him, Mr Diane Krall: "I said some stupid things and can't blame anyone but myself. I hope I have made amends now and anyone who has followed my career will know I am not racist and cannot doubt my respect and admiration for black singers."