One of our favorite parts about our trip to France were the long, leisurely lunches we were fortunate to enjoy in Provence. One afternoon while we were snacking on charcuterie, cheese, and of course, a glass of rose, we made a pact to enjoy more of these relaxed lunches once we returned home. It was only fitting that our first leisurely lunch post-France take place at our favorite French bistro, Petite Jacqueline.

Eating lunch on the patio at Petite Jacquline in the summer is a must, and since they also happen to allow dogs to accompany their owners outside, bringing Orvis along for a lunch overlooking Portland’s Longfellow Square was a no-brainer. In fact, when we arrived there was already a cute doodle enjoying the afternoon at Petite Jacqueline with his or her owner.

Michael ordered the bistro burger and it didn’t take long for him to declare it one of his local favorites. In anticipation of our shared cheese plate, I decided to go with a lighter salad of mixed greens so I didn’t feel quite as horrible about the amount of cheese I was about to consume. It was a surprisingly large salad and the perfect complement to the heavenly cheese plate that we ordered!

Petite Jacqueline does a lot of things very well, but possibly one of our favorites is their selection of cheeses. Michael and I are by no means cheese aficionados, but when we select a few from the options at Petite, it’s as if we’ve magically transformed into seasoned fromage veterans – making the perfect choices every time. In reality, it’s just that Petite Jacqueline simply serves a fool-proof well curated list, and one could just blind-folded toss darts at it and hit a home run with every selection. Still, if you’re a little unsure, we’ve fallen in love with their Shelburne Farms cheddar, the comte, pearl, kunick, and the always-tasty brie.

Of course, no leisurely summer lunch for us would be complete without a glass of rosé. As we sipped our drinks, watching life go by in our favorite Portland neighborhood and laughing at our silly dog, we couldn’t help but think that this was even better than our lunches in Provence. We had the best of both worlds here with us – our favorite parts about life in Portland (Orvis being a large part of that) with bits and pieces of what made France so special (rosé & cheese).