【英语趣味课堂】法国的餐厅-French Restaurant

Danny: So, we've been talking a lot about food. Do you have a favorite restaurant?

 

Alex:Yeah, I do. I haven't been there for years, but it's still my favorite. It's called The Little Snail¹

 

Danny: The Little Snail.

 

Alex: And it's a French restaurant, and it's in this small coastal² fishing village down the coast. It's kind of funny because it's a great restaurant and you kind of expect it to be in a big city. It has really good French food, but it's in the middle of nowhere.

 

Danny: So, what's the decoration like then? What does it look like?

 

Alex: It's cute. It's very cute. I haven't been in many restaurants in France but it's kind of what I imagine a French restaurant would look like, you know like , there's just a few things hanging on the walls and very simple decor, and it's just kind of cozy³ like a country town.

 

Danny: Cozy! Sounds nice. But how's the service?

 

Alex: Oh, it's okay. You won't starve. They don't have lots of staff, so it can get quite busy and you're gonna have to wait awhile, but you know, when the food arrives, it is so good that you do not care.

 

Danny: Really? What's the food like then?

 

Alex: Ah, well, I just love French food. It's my favorite cuisine⁴ and I usually can't afford to eat it however, but if do you like traditional French food, it is great.

 

Danny: Traditional French food? What's that like?

 

Alex: Well, usually I get some kind of meat dish, maybe a quail⁵ or kind of another bird or something, and there's usually a really delicious sauce that might be made from wine or cream and herbs and that sort of thing.

 

Danny: Sounds really nice.

 

Alex: It is really good. It's delicious.

 

Danny: So you said you can't really afford to eat French food. What are the prices like ?

 

Alex:Well, the Little Snail is good compared to a French restaurant that you get in a big city.

 

Danny: Really?

 

Alex: Two people could eat there and have a really fantastic French meal for maybe about eight dollars, which is as I said, really good French restaurant.

 

Danny: Really?

 

Alex: That's for two.

 

Danny: For two?

 

Alex: Yeah.

 

Danny: So is there anything special with the place?

 

Alex: Actually we used to go there when I was working.We would go on these business trips and my boss would take me and my other coworker there on the Friday night as a kind of thanks-for-working-hard reward. And we always used to have, I think it's called ------ I've forgotten. My French is terrible, but it's this amazing dessert, which is kind of made with pastry⁶, and has a sweet kind of custard creme inside.

 

Danny: Everyone loves custard. Sound delicious

 

Alex: It's really good. I can't wait to get back there.

重点词汇：

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

the middle of nowhere

 

 

The restaurant is in the middle of nowhere.

 

The middle of nowhere is a common expression to show that something is very isolated⁷ or far from everything else. When you say something is in the middle of nowhere you imply⁸ that it is hard to find or not easy to get to. Notice the following:

 

He bought a house out in the middle of nowhere.

She works⁹ on a farm in the middle of nowhere.

what I imagine

 

 

Here the phrase 'what I imagine' just means what one thinks. We often use this term to express what was expected and an actual outcome¹⁰. Notice the following:

 

This book is not what I imagined it would be like.

The movie star was not what I imagined. He was shorter in person.

cozy

 

 

The decor is simple, kind of cozy.

 

Cozy is short for comfortable, so when a place is cozy that means it is very pleasant and nice. We often use the term cozy for places, atmosphere, or furniture. We use the term comfy for clothing. Notice the following:

 

I love a cozy room, some comfy pajamas¹¹ and a good book.

We like to sit on that sofa. It is so cozy.

You won't starve

 

A: Is the service good?

B: You won't starve.

 

Here the speaker is using sarcasm¹². By saying 'you won't starve' the speaker is joking that eventually you will get served food but maybe that the service is not that great. 

can't wait

 

I can't wait to actually get back there.

 

When people say they can't wait, they just mean they are very excited for something to happen. Sometimes people 'can't wait' for a good thing to happen , like a party, or for a bad thing to end, like a bad movie.

 

I can't wait for this flight to end.

I can't wait to see my girlfriend this weekend.

 

1 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

2 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

3 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

4 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

5 quail   

n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖

参考例句：

• Cowards always quail before the enemy.在敌人面前，胆小鬼们总是畏缩不前的。
• Quail eggs are very high in cholesterol.鹌鹑蛋胆固醇含量高。

6 pastry   

n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 imply   

vt.暗示；意味着

参考例句：

• Cheerfulness doesn't always imply happiness.快活并不总是意味着幸福。
• What did she imply in her words?她的话意味着什么？

9 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

10 outcome   

n.结果，出口，演变

参考例句：

• The outcome of the experiment is in the lap of the gods.实验结果尚难预料。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

11 pajamas   

n.睡衣裤

参考例句：

• At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时，我脱去衣服，换上睡衣。
• He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。

12 sarcasm   

n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）

参考例句：

• His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
• She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。