Les Fils à Maman: At Home With French Cooking

French cuisine is often associated with fine dining and luxury — however, Les Fils à Maman brings a fresh twist to this concept by incorporating recipes that specifically came from actual mothers. With this goal in mind, four former childhood friends opened Les Fils à Maman restaurants all over France, in additions to cities like Brussels and Hong Kong, with different recipes in each location that reflect the local mothers of that town.

I managed to visit the Les Fils à Maman located in Tours. Tours is situated along the Loire Valley in Central France, and is home to many historical towns and Renaissance-era chateaus. For appetizers, we chose the salmon tartare mixed with Rice Krispies. The Rice Krispies were a nice little addition because it reminded me of a mother's attempt to get their children to eat healthy food.

For the entrées, we chose the duck cottage pie with sweet potato purée and the cordon bleu chicken breast wrapped in bacon and a side of Gorgonzola cheese mixed with a potato purée. The ratio between the duck and the sweet potato had the perfect balance and the duck was cooked to perfection. Every spoonful from the cottage pie was tender and juicy. The cordon bleu was also expertly cooked as every bite of the chicken left a buttery aroma and had the perfect crunch. It is clear that the quality of the ingredients were carefully selected and cooked with love (love tastes delicious, by the way).

Click here for a collection of our best chicken cordon bleu recipes.

This was definitely one of the most memorable culinary experiences we've had in France and would highly recommend looking out for it on your next trip. Every first Tuesday of the month, the owners invite mothers to cook and curate a menu from their own personal recipe books. After all, there is nothing better than a home-cooked meal by mom.