You have to be truly incompetent to eat badly in Paris

Paris has enough great restaurants to maintain its claim to be the world capital of gastronomy. That said, Parisian residents insist that these days, it is possible to eat badly in their city. Yet I still think that this would require especial incompetence.

In Brussels, a strong second in the pecking order, it would be even harder. There is a splendid establishment called Comme Chez Soi. Almost 100 years old, it has established a worldwide reputation without losing contact with its roots. The last time I was there, I observed a couple of ladies-who-lunch, Brussels fashion. There was no question of a watercress salad on a bed of lettuce leaves, washed down with Perrier water. Occasional glances over my companion’s shoulder suggested that they started with foie gras, and the main courses looked substantial. So did the females. They were drinking what I suspect was a serious Burgundy, in balloon glasses.

If pressed, I would have identified them as a couple of sisters, both comfortably off, both comfortably widowed, no longer having to worry about drunken husbands mussing up their hairdressers’ efforts.