Champagne Country Restaurants

Smoked ham, pigs' feet, gingerbread, and Champagne-based mustard are specialties of the Reims area, along with sautéed chicken, kidneys, stuffed trout, pike, and snails.

One particularly hearty dish is potée champenoise, consisting of smoked ham, bacon, sausage, and cabbage. Rabbit (often cooked with prunes) is common, while boar and venison are specialties in fall and winter, when vegetable soups are high on the menu.

In Picardy, the popular ficelle picarde is a pancake stuffed with cheese, mushrooms, and ham.

Apart from Champagne, try drinking the region's hydromel (mead, made from honey) and Ratafia, a sweet aperitif made from grape juice and brandy.