Lyn Dowling
| For FLORIDA TODAY
Quel dommage! We didn’t mean to ignore la fête nationale July 14, but then, things French go on, always.
The Space Coast has its share of restaurants that are resolutely French.
Choices include:
Café Margaux, 220 Brevard Ave., Cocoa: Alex Litras’ Café Margaux once was a classic French restaurant, and even though it now serves American and continental fare, it retains a healthy Gallic influence. Brie, escargots, confit duck rilettes and prime filet mignon â la marchand de vin are on the menu, but what is most French about the place is one of the best wine lists in the region, with the likes of, you guessed it, Château Margaux, 1994, prominent. Call 321-639-8343. https://margaux.com.Chez Cani, 6375 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne (Suntree): Chef Nicolas Memes’ bistro is a fine place for breakfast or lunch, with omelets, quiches, croques, Merguez sausage and other sandwiches, crêpes, salads, soup, pastries, breads and entrees. Ratatouille is there, as are steak frites, beef Bourgogne and veal stew. Call 321-610-3601. chezcani.com.French Delights Bakery, 121 Harrison St., Cocoa: French Delights is a classic, colorful bakery that is perfect for Cocoa Village. It specializes in beautifully ornate cakes and pastries, with Fraisier, the famed French strawberry, mousseline and genoise gâteau, one of its specialties. Call 321-305-6141. facebook.com/p/French-Delights-Bakery-100089865051323Jacqueline’s Bakery, 906 E. New Haven Ave., Melbourne; and 6977 N. Wickham Road, Suntree: If it is a French-style baked good it likely is sold at Jacqueline’s, from macarons to Gâteau Opéra to fresh baguettes, thanks to owners Jackie Dittmore and Christophe Molitor, and the menu has been expanded with the addition of prizewinning baker Mehdi Courgey; more on him below. Call 321-312-6594. jacquelinebakery.com.Le French Restaurant, 1924 Hwy. A1A, Indian Harbour Beach: If you are serious about French cuisine and know it is more than a croissant, Le French is your place. Intimate and immaculate, classic fare such as homemade foie gras, pâté du chef, traditional onion soup, boeuf Bourguignon, coq au vin and poisson du jour (fish of the day) are served, as are profiteroles, among other delights. This is the place to order Crêpes Suzette as well. Call 321-622-8977. https://lefrenchrestaurant.com.
As long as we’re on subjects Gallic, a French professional of some note has joined the staff at Jacqueline’s.
The aforementioned Mehdi Courgey started his baking career at the age of 15, did his apprenticeship in France and moved to bake in Switzerland. After two years, he returned to France to head a bakery and train apprentices and later, having discovered a bakery threatened with closing, he and his wife bought the facility and remained there for seven years.
In May 2019, his creation was named Best Traditional French Baguette in a national cooking contest. He sold the business and held positions as a baker and pastry chef before coming to the United States earlier this year to bake at Jacqueline’s, primarily in Suntree.
Add a French professional to Le French too. She is Lola Stinco, who will prepare meals as well as serve them.
Welcome to the Space Coast to both.
And go ahead, whether it’s July 14 or Feb. 23: Célébrez la France à Brevard!
Dementia-friendly dining options touch hearts
My, how FLORIDA TODAY readers have responded to a July 6 story about dementia-friendly dining.
Long after the story ran, we continued to hear about it, largely in the form of related personal experiences: taking Mom to a restaurant; how Dad appreciated the chance to get out; how rewarding such things are for hospitality people.
A few people, however, tick all those boxes.
Mom Marlene Elkhouri and daughter Toni Elkhouri operate Cedar’s Café in Melbourne, started in 2004 by Marlene and the late Antoun Elkhouri, and still one of the most popular preparers of Middle Eastern cuisine in the area. Toni was a recent college graduate; her sister Honaida had recently married and moved to Texas; sister Rita worked on her Ph.D.; sister Micheline was in high school; and brother Richard was 10 years old at the time.
Running a restaurant is tough enough, but the family’s biggest challenge came about a year after Cedar’s opened, when Antoun was diagnosed with Pick’s Disease.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, Pick’s disease is “a specific type of frontotemporal dementia, a degenerative brain disease that usually affects people under 65.” It is brutal, unforgiving; there is no treatment or cure.
“Officially,” Toni said. “Everyone (else) knew things were going on years before, but we didn’t know.”
Still, Marlene is not one to throw up her hands. She learned how to care for Antoun and brought him to the restaurant, where he was treated as what he was: the owner as well as a diner; in Toni’s words, “a human being who happened to have dementia,” said her daughter. Her kids learned too, and the process isn’t always gentle.
In the beginning, having worked a full shift and taken care of her family, Marlene slept in the living room of their house “to make sure he wouldn’t get up to leave,” she said. “And there was too much violence, until the doctor put him on a depression medication.”
Because she needed to work, she took him to nearby Joe’s Club, the adult day care facility for adults who cannot be left alone, having told him he was going to school
She also brought him to the restaurant and would run from the kitchen to chase him out the door on days when he tried to leave. Finally, unable to remember his children or her, he was bedridden. Antoun Elkhouri died Sept. 12, 2015.
“Having to help take care of my dad with a memory disorder has taught me patience and to always look at the whole picture,” Toni said. “When a lot of families take out their loved ones to keep them safe, we have to adopt an approach of almost cocooning them, answering questions for them. Others may view it as us dominating them, or possible elder abuse, when in reality, we’re just keeping them safe. Having my dad (suffer from Pick’s) taught me to always look at the bigger picture and not assume that the person with them might be abusing them or, you know, cheating them. Wait, look and see: Nine times out of 10 times, the person is just protecting them.”
Her mother echoed her remarks and added, “I learned to be patient and understanding, that you can’t force (memory-impaired people) to do anything … you put the food out and leave it on the table.”
Thus has Cedar’s always been a safe place for dementia patients, but now, its people having passed its classes, its status is official: The Indiana-based KLD Alzheimer’s Foundation has designated it a restaurant with dementia-friendly dining, its sticker affixed to its door.
“Being a family member or caregiver with someone with dementia is one of the hardest but most fulfilling jobs, and it’s one of the reasons we’re proud to have our restaurant be a place that they can go out, rest and allow the person to actually go out to eat with dignity,” Toni said.
“When the family and the patient our loved one is losing so much in their life, it’s great for us to be able to give them back some assemblance of normalcy in a safe space.”
“If any Alzheimer’s patient comes to my restaurant. I know how to handle it,” Marlene added. “I would do anything for an Alzheimer’s patient.”
The KLD Foundation may be found at https://kldfoundation.org.
For more on dementia and dining options:
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