Immediately west off of highway 35E hidden inside the dark triangle of Tias, Red Lobster and Jack in the Box is a quaint little eatery known as “Cest la Vie”, which, when loosely translated means such is life, no worries, a carefree attitude. This fledgling restaurant only 2 months old focuses on Middle Eastern sandwiches, salads and desserts even though the front glass advertises “European Cuisine”. Right away we were all mentally jumbled with the French name, European cuisine declaration on the front window, Middle Eastern sandwiches and salads on the wall menus and large embroidered U.S. and Texas flags on the wall – could our brains survive?

The open glass displays of entrees and desserts were visually inviting and the staff was very warm and patient with our barrage of questions. The menu was printed in detail on fliers on the tables however we choose to read the selections off the wall. The selections were all listed interestingly in the eurofrenchmiddleast code, which caused us to ask repeatedly – “What is in that sandwich? What about that one?” This establishment scored big points with Kevin because of the advertisement on the counter displaying the special oven/cooker for the “log o lamb”. It was soon established that the proprietor would sell Kevin said “log o lamb” after he did some calculations (in the chef’s words – “it was complicated”).

Gloria boldly stepped forward and made her selection (humas plate) while the rest of us continued our quizzical exchange with the staff. One of the staff did have UNT roots and was proud to have worked in Kerr Hall during the late 1980s. After hearing the description of the Kafta sandwich, Kevin, Henry and myself selected it. A visiting guest reviewer from the Gyro starved country of Ohio highlighted this particular lunch adventure. Jeremy, Kevin’s 16 year old nephew, joined our collection of culinary critics and astutely provided an appraisal of his dish and the restaurant experience. Jeremy had eaten his first gyro at another well-known Greek restaurant in Denton and was quick to make comparisons. Jeremy did like his gyro sandwich however the tomatoes were a bit too much – since Jeremy is not a tomato fan and this gyro had a hint of Italian dressing in the sandwich along with the traditional yogurt sauce one finds on a gyro. This over mixture of cultures inside one sandwich almost pushed Jeremy over the edge {he needed to be restrained}. Not only did Jeremy provide precision feedback on the restaurant, he was also there to clear up some of the “Roden” peculiarities:

After Jeremy cleared up most of the oddities of Roden, the table topics included talk on Diana Sawyer’s interview with Mel Gibson on Monday television. Diana’s expression always seemed pained like she had to go to the bathroom really bad or was suffering from intestinal cramping. We all marveled on how oblivious Diane Sawyer was that this was a story from the Bible – {Diane Sawyer question “ The Bible? Mel – is this a new book that has been released? I’m not sure our viewers know this bible stuff you speak of}. There was also some discussion of the latest democratic political highlights and how poor Bush handles interviews.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying their meals served in the interesting baskets. Kevin’s sandwich took a bit longer because his pita was baked fresh. At first this alarmed Kevin and he was unsure he received what Henry and I did but we soon calmed his fears. Accompanying the sandwiches were chips and a euromiddleast pickle. It first appeared to be a genetic mutation between a small cucumber and okra but we discovered that it was no ordinary pickle. It did have the traditional vinegar taste but then our palates discovered a tangy spirited flavor. Henry seemed to comment the strongest on the pickle and was quickly offered Jeremy’s and Kevin’s. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their entrees while I was facing the (exorbitantly priced) dessert display. Deciding to splurge, I asked the proprietor the cost of the over sized brownies. He quickly educated me that those were not ordinary brownies – baked with the special cream icing on top. So for $4 I was given an oversized “special” brownie and grabbed 5 forks. Everyone seemed to be sampling the dessert and out of nowhere Gloria gasps, “don't let the French fool you this is trash." and throws it to the floor. Shocking us momentarily and then realizing how much it cost, I quickly requested an audible 5-second count in order to rescue the dessert from the floor. Kevin helped clean the floor while I dusted the helpless brownie off. Sadly no one else would help me finish eating the brownie.

Cest la vie is a nice place to visit with polite inviting atmosphere. The selection is good however I think the pricing was a bit much for the offerings. Henry seemed to think of this establishment as a good date place and Kevin wishes to return just to learn more about the science of gyro. I would say check it out – support all new independent restaurants!