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| Restaurants in France | |
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These are my notes from our trip to Provence, Ardèche, Burgundy,
and Paris in September, 2002. Our favorite restaurants are marked with a star (*) |
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*L'Esplanade
3 course menu 13 euros / 4 course menu 17-23 euros
pl. Église - Barjac, Ardèche / Phone: 04 66 24 58 42 |
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We wondered into L'Esplanade with no reservation after a long day of canoeing with every bit of our muscles hurting and felt at home right away. I had the best 13 euros meal of my life. I did not have choices of dishes, but the choices the chef made were great. I started with the appetizer of Tzatziki - cucumbers with yogurt and mint. My main dish was a delicious Daube Provençal (a beef stew with red wine and olives). For dessert I was supposed to have a crème caramel, but since Jason did not feel like having a cheese course, they allowed me to choose a dessert. I asked for the waiter's recommendation and he suggested a tart with small mirabelle plums. Unfortunately it was served cold and was not the best tart I've had in France, but the raspberry sauce that was served with it was very yummy. Jason took the 4 course menu for 23 euros (but chivalrously gave up his cheese course in exchange for my dessert of choice). He started with pate of foie gras with deliciously spicy apple raisin ginger chutney. For the main dish he had a slowly roasted lamb shank. The lamb was a bit on the dry side and needed a good sauce to back it up. For dessert he had chocolate quenelle with peach sauce. It was a cool combination of flavors. Although I believe that dark berries like raspberries and cherries go best with chocolate, peach presented a refreshing alternative. This is a place that I would definitely want to return to if we are in Ardèche again. |
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*Les Tontons
3 course menu 17 and 25 euros/ tasting menu 40 euros
22 r. Fg Madeleine - Beaune, Burgundy / Phone: 03 80 24 19 64 |
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No wonder the locals love this cute little restaurant. We had a fantastic dinner here. The bread deserves special mention. It was crusty with a chewy open crumb and was great for dipping in the soups we got for the first course. I got a very flavorful wild mushroom soup (mushroom lover's dream) and Jason got a cream soup with snails and vegetables. My main course was a chicken leg with cream sauce and wild rice pilaf; Jason's was a superb coq au vin with the best garlic mashed potatoes we've ever tasted. For dessert I had a perfectly golden and hot whole roasted apple with caramel ice cream and caramel sauce. What a dish! If you are ever in Beaune, don't miss les Tontons. |
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*Auberge du Vieux Pressoir
3 course menu 25 euros (with foie gras 28)
21340 Evelle (a tiny village near Beaune in Burgundy) / Phone: 03 80 21 82 16 |
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The wonderful hostess of our bed and breakfast recommended Auberge du Vieux Pressoir. Like all of her recommendations this was a great one. It was a small and cozy country restaurant in the middle of Cote-de-Beaune vineyards. The classic burgundy cuisine was delicious. The highlight of the meal was chefs variations on foie gras terrine: one with cassis (black currents), one with vanilla, and one with pear. We were truly in foie gras heaven. Our other appetizer was a very generous portion of escargot with herb butter. Dipping the bread into melted butter was my favorite part of this dish. Sautéed perch was another very pleasant surprise. The fish was very moist and tender and was served with a brown butter sauce, vegetable medley and crisp roasted potato. Fillet of beef main dish was not bad, but not as good as this part of beef could be. The desserts were uneventful. Chocolate mousse with crème anglaise was good but not particularly interesting. The tart Tatin had nice big pieces of apples, but lacked caramelization. It was a very good meal. Just the foie gras alone makes a trip to Auberge du Vieux Pressoir worthwhile. |
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*Le Verger
3 course menu 20 and 24 euros
21 rte de Seurre - Beaune, Burgundy / Phone: 03 80 24 28 05 |
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Dining at Verger was such a pleasure. The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team. She is the chef and he handles the front of the house. Everything they do shines with creativity. The dinning area is a large round glass room with many personal touches hand made by the owners (lamps, napkin rings). The décor is very eclectic and so is the cuisine. The classics and modernity coexist side by side in beautiful balance. There were 2 dishes that were an epitome of Verger's philosophy. The first one was the best and definitely most creative escargot dish I've ever had. The tender snails were stuffed into a tomato that sat in the middle of the most delicate creamy vegetable soup. No heavy butter, just clear and harmonious flavors that did not stop to surprise me until the last spoon. White chocolate and orange crème brûlée was another dish that is impossible to describe with words. I wonder if the chef used blood oranges because the color of crème brûlée was orange pink. The flavors of this dessert were so delicate yet pronounced that it was a truly beautiful dish. There were many other tasty dishes. We always avoided blood sausage on the menus since it did not look too appetizing. We tried it at Verger with apples and onions and loved it. Boeuf Bourguignon was a delicious classic and poached salmon was perfectly cooked. The ice-cream stuffed pear with pistachios was unfortunately cold. I prefer that type of fruit dessert warm. In spite of the size of the room, the restaurant only seats about 25 people so you get a lot of space and privacy as well as friendly attention from the staff. It is impossible to leave Verger without a smile, so don't miss it when you are in Beaune. |
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*Benaton
3 course menu (plus amuse-bouche and pastry plate) 32 euros
25 r. Fg Bretonnière - Beaune, Burgundy / Phone: 03 80 22 00 26 |
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Wow, so many great dishes! One of the highlights was an appetizer of tuna tartar and tuna fritters with raspberry reduction and a salad. The raw tuna was luscious and melted in the mouth; the fried tuna was dipped in very light batter and was very juicy inside. What a great juxtaposition of hot and cold. The other stunning dish was a chocolate cake stuffed with cassis that poured out when you cut into the cake. It was served hot with ice-cream. Since we are both cassis lovers, we thought it was just heavenly. All other dishes were delicious too. The amuse-bouche of butternut squash soup with shrimp was silky and flavorful. My main dish was duck breast and leg with vegetables, roasted potatoes and delicious wild mushrooms. The breast was wonderfully juicy; the leg was a bit tough. Jason had excellent roasted sea bream (flaky white fish) with olive tapenade, wild mushrooms and a squash stuffed with ratatouille. The cheese course consisted of a salad with soft Pommard cheese. It was mild but very flavorful and delicious. The service was very friendly and hospitable. The only dark cloud over this excellent meal was that the other patrons would not stop smoking. Benaton has a small dining room with fairly low ceilings and the room felt too smoky very quickly. In spite of this discomfort, the food is worth coming back for. |
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L'Amphitryon
3 course menu 30 euros / 5 course menu 45 euros
2 r. P. Doumer - Aix-en-Provence / Phone: 04 42 26 54 10 |
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L'Amphitryon is a lovely restaurant with very friendly service right in the center of Aix. Unfortunately, we could not sit in the courtyard due to the weather, but the dining room was quite cozy. The meal started with smooth and deeply flavorful olive tapenade on toast and olives in herbs of Provence. This was our first meal after we got of the plane and we were glad to have something to munch on while translating the menu items into English. Jason started with an amuse-bouche of creamy cold vegetable soup. It was a very refreshing creation with delicate flavors of celery and carrots with herb oil drizzled on top. My appetizer was a stunning light textured cold eggplant soufflé with flavored oils and roasted vegetables. Jason got a foie gras terrine layered with olives. Foie gras is always good, but we had more delectable interpretations in other restaurants. For the main dishes we ordered lamb rack with honey and rabbit with apricots. Both came with green beans, tomatoes, and wonderful potato dauphinois (thinly sliced potatoes baked in cream) wrapped in zucchini. The lamb rack was done to medium rare, very tender and juicy. The rabbit had the texture of turkey - not my favorite bird. I ended my meal with bananas in crème brûlée and Jason got a chocolate cake with chocolate sauce that was too bitter for my taste. Both desserts were unremarkable. Looking back at this meal, I find that all the vegetable dishes really shined, but others were not quite up to par. We still had a very pleasant dinner, but a bit pricey for what the restaurant offered. If you want to try this chef's cooking at more moderate prices, make a reservation at Bistro Latin (little brother of L'Amphitryon). |
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Jacquou Le Croquant
3 course menu 18.50 euros
2, rue de l'Aumône Vieille - Aix-en-Provence / Phone: 04 42 27 37 19 |
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"Duck, duck, goose" came to mind when we saw the menu of this south western restaurant (no, not Arizona, Bordeaux - the south west of France :) Appetizers were not too interesting. Mine was a salad topped with very thin slices of foie gras terrine and Jason's was a salad topped with rillettes of pork, chicken and rabbit. Foie gras was good of course, but not very creative. The salad dressing was not great, and the rillettes was dry. From here on the meal got better. I had duck breast with delicious creamy wild mushroom sauce and Jason had fillet of goose with fig sauce. Duck was done to medium rare and was very tender. The goose was a bit on the tough side, but the fig sauce was good. For sides we had potato dauphinois, noodles and barley. They went particularly well with the creamy mushroom sauce. This meal could use a vegetable or two, but it was still very tasty if a bit heavy. For dessert I had a tarte Tatin and Jason had a chocolate mouse cake with Crème Anglaise. Both were good. This was not a refined meal or one that I would call creative, but hearty and satisfying. So, if you are ever in Aix and have a craving for duck, Jacquou Le Croquant is a good place to check out. |
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Auberge La Fenière 3 course menu 42 euros / 5 course menu 65 euros / 8 course tasting menu 100 euros Sud, rte de Cadenet par D 943 - Lourmarin, Provence / Phone: 04 90 68 11 79 |
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Auberge La Fenière is a very beautiful and romantic restaurant in Provence countryside. Michelin gave them one star and the review in Gourmet magazine sounded great. Since we were in the area, we thought this place would be an opportunity for a superb dinner. However, the overall culinary experience here was disappointing due to inconsistent quality. The dishes were inspired by cuisines of different Mediterranean countries and many were very creative. The pumpkin soup with cêpes (wild mushrooms) was an unusual but extremely successful pairing of flavors. It was so rich and silky and had such depth of flavor that even Jason who is not a pumpkin person pronounced it to be amazing. The dessert of strawberries roasted with black peppercorns and topped with basil sherbet sounded quite strange on the menu, but it was probably the best dessert I have ever had. The strawberries retained their shape and texture and the peppercorns gave the sweet juices just the right amount of spice. The freshness of the basil sherbet was a great match for the sweet and spicy strawberries. There was also one perfect classic dish - the cêpe risotto. I had a 5 course meal and Jason had an 8 course tasting menu and out of those 13 dishes, sadly only the above 3 were outstanding. The rest of the meal ranged from nice to very unsuccessful dishes. In the eggplant, tomato and sardines rolls, the ingredients lacked their usually bright flavors. Tartar of tomatoes was nice chopped up tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, but too primitive. The cod with mashed potatoes was just that - seared piece of cod with basic mashed potatoes. I was hoping that it would be the kind of simple dish that transcends itself in the hand of a talented chef (the way the pumpkin soup did), but it did not present much to discover. The baby pork ribs had only one bite of meat in them - the rest was fat. Even the bread was mediocre. It was clearly made in house, but was not nearly as good as the bread we got in local bakeries. How we could get such incredibly good and incredibly bad dishes out of the same kitchen? We were also surprised that after spending so much money on food and wine, we were charged for a carafe of water, tea and coffee. We felt that $250 was too much to pay for this dinner. However, you can eat here for much less if you choose the cheaper 3-course menu. |
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La Chimère Café
3 course menu 20 euros
15, rue Brueys -- Aix-en-Provence / Phone: 04 42 38 30 00 |
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This was a cute little place recommended to us by the locals. They had one dish that was definitely worth the visit - incredible foie gras terrine with onion jam and perfect butter toast that was crisp, but not dry. The other appetizer of the pumpkin soup with shrimp lacked the depth of flavor and silky texture. The veal kidneys were served with a very nice mustard sauce and mashed potatoes, but were a bit on the touch side. Our other main dish was whole sea bream (small Mediterranean white fish) baked with lemon and thyme. It was served with nice creamy herb rice, but still needed a sauce or something to make it more interesting. For desserts we got tarte Tatin and flourless chocolate cake with crème Anglaise. I was on a mission to find the best tart Tatin and Jason was on a mission to find the best chocolate cake, mousse, or mousse cake. La Chimère Café did not help us in our cause since their tart Tatin had a very thin and mushy layer of apples. The chocolate cake was pretty good, but not the best we've had. We did not make reservations in advance and had to sit in the downstairs room with no windows and very funky and glitzy décor (gold mirrors, cherub statues, bright blue white and red walls). If you make a reservation couple of day in advance, you'll get the upstairs rooms that are much more conservative and pleasant. |
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Crêpmania Savory crepes: 5.50-9.15 euros Sweet crepes: around 6 euros 58 Rue Lafayette, Paris 09th district / Phone: 01 42 47 11 67 |
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In Crêpmania you sit in producer's chair and eat yummy crêpes. The casual dining room is decorated with pictures of movie stars and producers from different countries and even the crêpes are named after movies. I had a Pop Eye crepe with spinach, cream, ham, and sunny side up egg. Jason had a Crocodile Dondee crêpe with ham, pineapple, and cheese. The batter was crisp and the fillings were delicious. Some of the best savory crepes I've had in France. The dessert crêpes were disappointing. The fillings were not inside the crêpes but on top. A very generous portion of ice-cream sitting on top of the crêpes, made them cold and unappetizing. |
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Dauphin
3 course menu 34 euros
167 r. St-Honoré - Paris 1st district / Phone: 01 42 60 40 11 |
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Dauphin is the bistro where Jason and I went 4 years ago after he proposed to me. This little bistro was not exactly haute cuisine establishment, but it was very dear to our hearts. On this trip to Paris, we wanted to find it and relive that wonderful evening. It is still in the same place and still called Dauphin, but it was much nicer looking and much more expensive than we remembered. Even the walls that partitioned dining rooms were in different places. To make sure that we are in the right bistro, we asked the waitress. She told us that the place was sold 3 years ago and the new owner redecorated and changed the menu. The food was much more upscale than I remembered, but I was longing for that simple herring and potato appetizer and Paris-Brest dessert. We started with the appetizers of mushroom soup with duck liver ravioli and escargot with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and artichoke hearts in garlic herb butter. Both were fantastic. Since it was a cold and rainy day (as days in Paris tend to be), I treated myself to a huge dish of cassoulet with pork, ham, duck, and sausage. The large tender beans warmed me up fast - great comfort food. Not a very interesting dish, and too heavy to finish, but it was great on a cold day. Jason got salmon with cream sauce and sautéed cabbage hearts. The salmon was perfectly cooked (almost by not quite opaque). The sauce was less than optimal match with the fish; I prefer bolder sauces with salmon. For dessert we shared a bitter chocolate pyramid with black cherry sorbet. The pyramid did not taste as good as it sounded, but the sorbet was great. Dauphin has a real non-smoking section - a great treat in Paris. The service was wonderful. Without us asking, the waitress even gave us the same table we had right after our engagement 4 years ago :) |
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Clos des Gourmets
3 course menu 30-45 euros
16 av. Rapp - Paris 7th district / Phone: 01 45 51 75 61 |
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Clos des Gourmets offers excellent food, but horrible service. We had a reservation for 8pm. We showed up 10 minutes late and the waitress punished us by not allowing sufficient time to read the menu. This restaurant was on a tight schedule even on a Wednesday night when we had dinner. Every minute counted; you had better read the menu fast, eat fast, and get out of there fast since someone reserved your table later in the evening. For appetizer, I had seared foie gras with figs and nuts – perfect pairing of textures and flavors. Jason had a cold soup with white beans, Serrano ham, chives, and tiny croutons that stayed crunchy in the perfectly seasoned milky liquid. The waitress came over to fix the ladle in the soup pot since it was sticking out at the wrong angle. She also tied another patron's scarf to the chair so that it does not fall in case someone walks by. The restaurant is very small and tables are very close together, but she was obsessing about it too much. My main dish was roasted sea bass with eggplant caviar, wild mushrooms, roasted potatoes, and brown butter sauce. Jason had a puff pastry pie filled with duck and foie gras. Both dishes were excellent. Jason's dessert of chocolate mousse with whipped milk was one of the best chocolate creations he had on this trip. My roasted figs with anise mousse and red wine sauce were very good, even though I am not a big fan of anise. As soon as we finished the last spoon, the check was slapped onto our table. We did not even finish our wine and decided not to pay until we were done. Our plan did not work, since another couple came in and the waitress stood over our table staring at us until we gave her our credit card. On the bright side, since we got kicked out of the restaurant after only an hour and a half, we had a beautiful moon lit walk from Eiffel tower to Louvre. |
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Georges Blanc
Menu 95 euros / 99 euros / 115 euros / and up
Vonnas, Burgundy / Phone: 04 74 50 90 90 |
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This 3 star Michelin restaurant got such high accolades that we decided to make this our splurge dinner. The small village of Vonnas is a Georges Blanc Disney land where you can get anything from tea cups to underwear with Georges Blanc's signature. Since Georges Blanc is the spokes man for Poulet de Bresse - the only appellation contrôlée for chickens - we had to try his Poulet de Bresse with cream and foie gras. It was indeed the best chicken I have ever had. The sauce was simple, but oh so very velvety and decadent and the chicken just melted in the mouth.
Unfortunately, Jason and I did not enjoy our dinning experience in George Blanc as much as we hoped based on the stories and legends about this restaurant. It could be due to our preferences in food, service and décor. We are not big fans of what people describe as "luxurious" dinning experience. We want luxurious food, but prefer cozy atmosphere to grandeur, and friendly but relaxed service. We said "bonsoir" to at least 10 lined up staff members as we walked in. Jason learned this phrase really well by the time we made it to our table. We had about 10 people serving us, which made the service attentive, almost too attentive, but not personal in any way. The room was beautifully decorated, but a bit too grand and bright for our taste. The rushing waiters who carried course after course created a feel of hustle and bustle. I got the menu for 95 euros and Jason got the one for 115. Our meal started with an amuse-bouche consisting of 3 little dishes: a little battered and fried frog leg, a snail in herb sauce and smoked salmon with lemon on toast. The salmon was very pleasant and refreshing. The other dishes were good but a bit on the heavy and salty side. For appetizer Jason got a very generous portion of lobster with balsamic vinegar sauce and mushrooms. It was an interesting and delicious combination of flavors, but not my favorite way to eat a lobster. Somehow a simple lobster bisque or lobster roll suite my taste better. I got the terrine of foie gras and rabbit with zucchini caviar. It was a very smooth and tasty foie gras, but without any surprises. We got so addicted to foie gras on this trip that we tried 7 foie gras dishes in the 2 weeks we were in France (good thing we don't go to France too often, or we'd have a heart attack pretty soon). Foie gras at Georges Blanc was good, but not memorable and blissful like foie gras with cassis, or onion jam that we had in other restaurants. I am not a health nut (especially when I go out), but if I am eating a dish that is death on a stick, it should make me moan with pleasure or it's not worth it. For the main course, Jason got the famous Poulet de Bresse. Yes, it was death on a stick, and yes, it made me moan. If there were not all these people around, I would lick the plate, so no complaints there. I got a fish fillet with basil sauce and 3 types of tomato (fresh, pureed and caramelized). The fish was tender and flaky and went really well with tomatoes and basil. Caramelized tomatoes were especially delicious. I think this was a great dish to show off the personality of tomatoes, but not really to show the personality of the fish. It was very tasty, but I had better fish dishes. After the main course, the waiter brought over a cheese cart with an incredible selection of cheese and walnut bread. Just when we thought we were as full as can be, the desserts came. Not one, but 5 of them. Jason chose the chocolate cake and I chose rhubarb compote as our main desserts, but we also got a wonderful little tiramisu, little lemon sorbet, and a little tuile basket with raspberries and cream. We also got a tray of candies. The sad thing is that we were too full by this time to really enjoy our desserts. I would prefer all this generosity in the beginning of the meal when we were hungry. This meal definitely had its great dishes, but the dinning experience as a whole was not balanced or comfortable. |
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