Not enough time has passed since the previous meal. I feel like I haven’t finished digesting, both physically and mentally, the meal at Arnaud Lalemon. But that’s how it turned out, and so I decide to try and choose a more limited menu. We’ll see if I can really succeed. This time I choose an aperitif that isn’t champagne but a cocktail of liqueurs – cassis, raspberry and more. It’s good to change things up sometimes. I take the shorter tasting menu, but it’s still four “basic courses,” so I hope I’m not exaggerating. One hundred and ninety-eight euros. We’re off.
Starters
Several appetizers are served, four in fact, all of them creative, tiny as they should be and full of flavor. For example – a tiny piece of sausage in an equally thin piece of toast with a small radish on top. A quail egg coated with dark crumbs that I didn’t recognize and even more so. All are swallowed in one bite. The flavors are bold but not excessive. A wonderful opening that already hints at the qualities of this cuisine. The head waiter Pascal chats with me. He has been at the restaurant for thirty years and of course knew the Lemloise family. He tells me that Jacques, who retired about eight years ago, lives not far away and continues to visit from time to time. Pascal is pleasant, speaks several languages, as I discover when I watch him move between the tables and make sure that everyone is satisfied. I settle for one glass of wine for the entire meal. A local Pinot Noir. There is a fairly nice selection of wines by the glass, at reasonable prices of less than twenty euros.
The bread tray contains five types and only one type of butter is served. I again decide not to overdo it and choose only two types of bread. Later I will not hold back and ask for additional bread of the other types. It is simply hot and delicious, as expected, it must be added. Another appetizer arrives – a piece of some fish fillet, lightly seared with a delicate cream on top, served in a broth of fish soup. The taste is absolutely wonderful. The pleasure is increasing. I am calm, lean back and savor the quality that seems to be in everything here. The design is somewhat old-fashioned but very elegant. This hall has 16 seats but there are four other halls of different sizes that hold a total of up to sixty diners. Today there are more than thirty visitors in the restaurant and Pascal explains that this is not bad at all compared to this time of year. Not far from me are sitting five guests with a beard who speak German. But sometimes they switch to English and I don’t understand why. I try to listen a little and discover that one of them is probably an important client of the other four and perhaps his German is not perfect. This is a business dinner and you can feel that there is a bit of tension in the air. I am well aware of such situations. It is a mistake, I think, to have a business dinner in a restaurant like this. In such a situation, it is impossible to truly surrender to the aesthetic experience that is here. They try to read the client's thoughts, to think about every word that is said. I see that the Germans are trying to enjoy themselves but they are not really calm, not relaxed. Too bad, for them. All that remains is to hope that the deal will still go well.
Langoustine cancer
The first course, langoustine, comes in two forms of preparation. One – the crab, with part of its shell still intact and another part exposed, with an armor-like covering, made of toasted and browned rice crackers with a little caramel on top. An impressive visual creation. I taste this first and am very impressed by the taste and especially by the chef's success in creating a beautiful appearance without compromising the taste, although for a moment I was worried that the crispy rice crackers would not match the soft white meat of the crab. I was worried in vain. The second form in which the langoustine is served is as a tartare placed on a layer of celery cream, topped with a layer of apple jelly, and on the tartare, delicate mustard cream and caviar. Divine! What an impressive dish, in every way. The pace of serving is a little too fast. Later it balances out.
Dorade fish and St. Jacques cookies
The second course is a fillet of Dorade fish, which translates to “golden spruce” in Hebrew, if I’m not mistaken in my translation search. Anyway, the fillet has toasted walnut crackers on it, and around it are ravioli on chicory pieces and pieces of fruit and pieces of white oyster meat. All of this in a sauce made from the fish stock. This stunning creation creates a celebration of flavors on the plate, not really connecting with each other but not interfering with each other either. You simply taste the ingredients separately and savor the experience. I hint to one of the waiters that I would like some more bread and he responds with a smile and serves me a buttery “brioche” that resembles croissant Warm and delicious. A sort of palate cleanser between courses.
Then a lightly seared “Cookie Saint Jacques” is served. Next to it is a kind of cube made, as it turns out, from red cabbage noodles, a little too sweet, perhaps the only comment I have so far. Next to the oysters is a kind of slice of cake made from strips of oyster meat combined with strips of pork leg confit. All this on thin toast with a little mustard. On top of everything is a thick and richly flavored zavon sauce, which is actually buerre noisette – a hot butter-based sauce. Plus – touches of truffle cream. Again, a wonderful work of art, intense flavors. Perfect pleasure. There are at least ten waiters in the restaurant, working in coordination and there is always someone available for my annoying questions, which are all answered with a smile. One of the younger ones has a slightly less command of English but insists on making an effort and answering in this language because “that’s how it should be” in a place like this that appeals to an international audience. I compliment him on his effort and he smiles awkwardly but with pleasure.
Lamb dish and desserts
The next dish is based on lamb and once again the motif of using a particular raw material in different forms of presentation returns. This time three of them – rib, confit and sausage. On the side – whipped decorations of vegetables (carrots and radishes) as well as snow peas and tiny potatoes. Everything in a lamb stock. The various ingredients of the lamb have unique, wonderful flavors. The combination of all of them, with the other ingredients of the dish is simply wonderful. A dish that represents another peak in this meal.
I feel too full and want to skip the traditional cheese selection and go straight to dessert. Pascal suggests I rest a bit, and in the meantime I take a quick tour of the other rooms in the restaurant. Before dessert, a sorbet is served that looks like something standard, but only until you taste it. Inside are hidden pieces of pomelo and on top is red grapefruit cream and regular grapefruit whipped cream. How foolish of me to think that they would settle for just a sorbet to cleanse the palate.
Then comes a set of six different “sweets.” For example, mango pineapple and passion fruit mousse, white chocolate cream, and more. All are precise, refined, and moderately sweet. A real pleasure. There is no overload here, nor is there excessive generosity, which is actually unnecessary even if it is ostensibly intended to please the diners. Obviously, there is no way to leave hungry from such a meal, but there is a very good chance that you will not leave too fat, which is of course not at all desirable.
The main dessert arrives – a kind of giant lemon-shaped “candy.” You have to gently break the coating and then you discover lemon sorbet inside, with a little honey and lemon emulsion. The taste is very sour and gently burns the tongue, icy, cleansing the palate. An excellent end to the meal. But of course, a tray with a variety of petit fours is immediately served. I restrain myself and manage to ignore them. The espresso that I usually order to finish off arrives here too. It is less strong and bitter than I expected but feels great on the tongue and I am completely satisfied.
The entire meal only lasted two hours, much less than similar meals I've had, but this time it's just the right time because I'm a little tired and maybe suffering from a bit of "overload" from these experiences. In the next two days I'll rest a little and concentrate more on the beautiful roads that lead from here to the rest of the journey. And now, towards the end, Pascal invites me into the kitchen. He tells me that they recently completed a renovation after the original kitchen had been in use for decades. I haven't seen such a huge and impressive kitchen in a long time. Twenty-four employees are moving around in it, a little crowded but it seems that everyone knows their place and the silence is exemplary. I'm introduced to Chef Eric Pera, who doesn't speak English well but Pascal translates and Eric has such a personal charm that it's hard not to fall in love with him. Humble, egoless, smiling and cooperative. He knows most of the other chefs I meet on the trip and asks me to ask about the well-being of Emmanuel Renault, whom I'll meet later. Emmanuel and Eric have together received one of the highest decorations given by the government. France To the best chefs in the country. Of course I will.
Back to the table. The bill is 244 euros before tip. This is one of the best deals you could ask for, guaranteed. This restaurant is the pinnacle of quality and uncompromising execution, with no “downfalls” (well, except for that red cabbage). And the combination with staying at the hotel further enhances the experience I had. I am lucky. Without a doubt.