If, like me, you're the sort of person who believes that wine and near-continuous intake of bread,…read moremeat and cheese are the only things we really need in life, then let me just take a second to congratulate you on making it to this Yelp page.
After a turbulent start to our first trip to Aix-en-Provence in which our cab driver exited the vehicle mid-trip to brawl with a band of local youths (with our back-seat protests and gentle reminder to turn off the meter sadly unheeded), Le Vieux Tonneau was in the right place at the right time for we weary travelers in grave need of a bucket of wine.
The charcuterie and cheese platter that was set in front of us after a short wait may very well be the closest thing to a religious experience I will ever have. It took me a long time to learn how not to openly weep when in close proximity to brie, but this one really tested my emotional fortitude. Don't be surprised if you find yourself, as I did, forgiving the bartender/meat-slicer his trespasses--ahem, man-bun--in tacit recognition of the beautiful spread he will put together for you.
The wine was red and that's all I have to say about that.
Also, hat tip to the waiter who must have seen the two of us trying to ration off our last slice of bread like we were on the freaking Mayflower and promptly came to our rescue with an extra basketful. Merci, sir. Merci.
Pro tips:
When others call LVT a "hidden" gem, believe them. Google Maps is dead to me after the wild goose chase into all the nooks and crannies of Aix it sent us on in search of this place. Best to just pinpoint Rue des Chaudronniers on a map and dust off the old-fashioned (#rip) walk-until-you-find-it method.
And one final word to the wise, be prepared to break out your New York elbows in order to secure a table on a Friday or Saturday night. I won't say for certain that the couple that arrived after us and who we nearly bowled over on the way to an open table was bordering on elderly, but they weren't NOT old. They definitely had some fight in them, though.
