lizziee

pirate, My husband is even more amazed; I can eat him under the table.

Cabrales, Lesley, southern girl and jakubc, Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I really wasn't fishing, but I appreciate your kind words. Yes, jakubc, Arpege is lurking in the wings. The amazing thing about this trip is that I didn't gain an ounce. When we got back to the States, we had another 12 days of traveling due to family obligations. That is when I put on the pounds. Here's to the French Paradox!

Les Elysees This restaurant is one of Paris's 2 star restaurants that is often over looked. It has always been one of our favorites for the ambiance (the ceiling was designed by Eiffel), the professionalism of the staff and the Mediterranean based cuisine of the chef. Elysees's chef has just been chosen to be the new chef at Taillevent, one of the most revered and most respected Michelin Three Star restaurants. He will be responsible for keeping the 3rd star and helping the restaurant celebrate 30 years of being a 3 star - quite a responsibility for a 39 year old chef. We were not excited by the prix fixe menu that was offered. I decided to create our own and the Maitre d' was more than accommodating. There were 4 of us so we decided to have 2 different kinds of fish and 2 different kinds of meat to be able to "taste" more. 1st amuse - white bean puree soup served cold with tiny crisp bits of ham. 2nd course--warm roasted langoustines with a melange of vegetables - diced tomatoes, haricot vertes, thinly sliced radishes, pea pods, and mushrooms in an olive oil "bath." An excellent dish. 3rd course--tuna with a brunoise of vegetables. The presentation of this dish was fascinating in looks. It resembled a "marrow bone." A piece of "lightly cooked" tuna was rolled into a circle--in the center the brunoise of vegetables, and the tuna sat on a tomato marmalade and thinly sliced pimentos interspersed with diced ham. 4th course--Jambon Iberica--the entire pig was presented at the table and thinly sliced by the Maitre d' at the table. This jambon is very special--it is a black-footed pig that is fed only a vegetable diet; imagine 4 carnivores eating a vegetarian pig. 5th course--fish. a seabass cooked like a roast with cepes and tiny bits of truffles. rouget with tomato confit, tapanade and a "fine galetter de socca" - a sweet pancake made with chick-pea flour often sold by street vendors in Nice. Both fish dishes were well-executed with a wonderful marriage of flavors. The chef is a master with fish. 6th course-- lamb loin roasted with cepes roasted pigeon (My note taking ability disintegrated at this point - too much conversation and wine) 7th course--cheese This was a well executed, exciting menu with a generous "nod" to the South of France. The room is beautiful and romantic with a pianist playing softly in the background. The service was superb and the quality of cuisine was innovative, without being fussy. WINES: The sommelier was excellent - we worked out selections in Magnum with reasonable value-- 95 Mont de Millieu 92 Pommard Lunch: Elysees de Vernet We had such a wonderful dinner at the beginning of our trip, that we decided to have lunch on our return into Paris. My husband had been salivating for the Jambon Iberica, but we were told that they don't serve it at lunch anymore. He begged, moaned, pleaded but to no avail. (Two days later as we were having a late night coffee in the lobby lounge at Vernet, Philippe, the Maitre d' stopped by for a visit. He had been out sick a couple days before when we had lunch. My husband happened to mention his pathetic appeals for jambon. Philippe asked if he would like some jambon sandwiches for the plane. The next day 4 perfect baguettes stuffed with Jambon Iberica arrived packaged as "plane food.") With our aperitif, we had an amuse of smoked salmon with about 4 grains of caviar--OK. 1st course-- Me - poulardes(clams) in a light clam stock with butter, parsley, a hint of mustard and 1/4" diced potatoes. My husband--a millefeuille of crispy slices of potato chips stacked vertically with a "glue" of brandade with a touch of anchovies holding them together. Delicious. 2nd course--we both opted for the tuna steak with nicoise olive sauce on a ratatouille mixture. The taste of the olives was overwhelming. We had asked for the tuna to be served "very rare" and got it slightly rosy. A disappointing dish. Dessert-- My husband - feuillette with wild strawberries and vanilla ice cream. Me--poached pear with berries and vanilla ice cream. Laurent, the assistant Maitre d' brought us a "gift." He had us guess what it was. It looked like ice cream, but we were dead wrong--goat cheese sorbet with olive oil and a touch of pepper. In general, they have revamped their lunch menu significantly. The orientation is towards a relatively inexpensive prix fixe tasting menu costing 58 euros which included a full bottle of wine. It was a cheap Bordeaux that would have been better omitted. As I mentioned previously, the wonderful chef is leaving for Taillevent in December. It appears that management has decided that they are going to lose at least one of their Michelin Stars so I wonder if they are dumbing down the menu, making it cheaper and creating a "self fulfilling prophecy." A question to members: There are more restaurants to post on this extended trip to France. Am I boring the life out of everyone? Should I keep posting?

Lunch - Pre Catelan in the Bois de Boulogne. The room is unbelievable. 50 foot ceiling with bas reliefs in stone--nymph type figures around the base of the ceiling. A huge mirror on one wall is highlighted by Grecian columns. Huge door windows flanked with salmon-colored brocade tie-back curtains look out over the gardens and woods. It has been described as a wedding cake building and it is. With the rose of champagne we were served a demi-tasse cup of gazpacho with chopped tomatoes and cucumber jelly. It was topped by a white quenelle that was chewy like gnocchi. I don't know exactly what it was, but it was tasteless. 1st course-- My husband--thinly sliced artichoke with capers, parsley and parmesan shavings in a butter based sauce served warm. Nice but not real exciting. Me--langoustines tempura presented on a starched white napkin accompanied by a pool of green basil cream sauce in a shallow glass bowl. On the rim of the bowl was a caviar cream sauce dusted with paprika. Both sauces were to be used as a "dipping sauce" for the langoustines. The basil sauce was too much but as I could adjust how much I used, I used it sparingly. The caviar cream was perfect and the langoustines were non-greasy, light, crunchy and just wonderful. 2nd course--we split roasted sole served simply with thick scallion ends and figs. The most interesting touch was a lemon that had been scooped out to serve as a serving "bowl" for the lemon sauce which had the texture and mouth feel of applesauce. A small spoon was provided to coat the sole with the lemon sauce. A very interesting touch--more effective and more interesting presentation than saucing the plate or a slice of lemon. We had planned on a light lunch as we were having a major dinner later. We passed on cheese and had coffee. Again for Robert Brown, there was a dessert cart with the most amazing array of chocolates, small pastries and the best macaroons. Wine: 99 Chablis Grand Cru, Les Clos, Dauvissat--one of our favorites, drinking well. As an aside, to let you know we do more than just eat, we took a 2 1/2 hour walk after lunch from the Louvre to Les Halles and back to the Arc de Triomphe. Of course, I had to stop at Dehillerin, the famous cooking store near Les Halles to pick up a couple of necessities. Some people get turned on by haute couture on Rue St Honore, I get thrills looking at knives, tart molds, pastry rings etc.

Cabrales, We didn't as it didn't seem appropriate and other than Chef Jung who was warm and personable, the rest of the staff was quite remote. We had met Chef Jung many years ago when he was in LA for a special event. We ended up reminiscing.

ellenesk, Sorry, I didn't notice this until I had hit the new topic button for my post on l'Ambrosie. We were just there and had a wonderful, perfect meal. See my just posted thread.

L'Ambrosie - dinner Normally, the 7:30 PM traffic is horrendous from the Arc de Triomphe to Place des Vosges where L'Ambrosie is located. We allowed 30 minutes and arrived in 20 to a closed restaurant with the chefs all out front smoking. Pierre Lemoine, the Maitre d' saw us at the door and motioned, mouthing the words "come back in 10 minutes (or so). We had a terrific driver who took us on a driving tour of the area around Place des Vosges pointing out many of the sites of interest. We returned to get down to serious dining at L'Ambrosie. We were promptly seated in our favorite middle room. The room is magnificent; 4 huge mirrors are set in the middle of each wall, small lamp sconces flank the mirrors and elegant tapestry acts as "wallpaper." The floors are hard wood covered by a large oriental rug. Flanking two of the walls are marble side boards that serve as guerredons. A huge crystal chandelier hangs in the center of the room. The over-all effect is that of a beautiful, luxurious dining room in a fine home in the 17th century. It is absolutely elegant. The candle on the table is lit. We are ready for L'Ambrosie. With the champagne aperitif, we were served an amuse of salmon topped with a latticed shoe string potato round and a quenelle of chive cream. For the past 18 days we have eaten dozens of salmon amuse. Chef Pacaud provided the gold standard--perfect salmon with crunchy potato and the sauce to add flavor and intensity. Perfection is the word of the day (everyday) with Pacaud and L'Ambrosie. 1st course--foie gras de canard aux epices salmigondis (literally means stew) d'artichauts violet. 2 slices of foie gras were surrounded by a "stew" of 4 artichoke hearts with cepes and shallots with a touch of balsamic vinegar reduction. This sounds simple, but the quality of the ingredients, the perfect treatment of each ingredient and the very simplicity of the dish's structure made it wonderful. The foie gras was to be eaten on toasted baguette delivered hot from the toaster. When the baguettes started to cool off, the server replaced them. 2nd course--filets of rouget with cepes. A perfectly roasted rouget with crispy skin, and tender meat was covered with large, thinly sliced mushrooms that resembled apples sliced by a mandoline. Under the rouget the chef presented a duxelle of cepes lightly seasoned with a light sauce. The sauce was a marvel--it was actually a mayonnaise made with egg yolk, vinegar cepe-infused olive oil that remains runny--the mayo process is stopped just before thickening. 3rd course--Selle d'agneau rotie au cumin, cannelloni d' aubergine. Two perfectly done rose double lamb chops were presented in a simple pan jus with a slight crunch provided by sel de mer and a light cumin sprinkling. Two large eggplant slices formed the cannelloni. 4th course--cheese beautifully served We skipped dessert and had coffee, mignardises, chocolate truffles and small patisseries. Wine: Pierre went outside of his list and chose: 85 Meursault, Le Poruzot, by Mommessin - the aged, caramel, slightly sweet Meursault was absolutely perfect with both the foie gras and the rouget. 95 Ch. Phelan Segur, Saint-Estephe--young, fruity, solid and well matched to the lamb and wonderful with the cheese. Service: L'Ambrosie should be the training ground for serving staff at any fine dining restaurant, anywhere. There is no "B" team. The corps is all A+. They don't hover, but they anticipate. They concentrate. They know what to do and when to do it. Since Pierre Lamoine arrived 4 years ago, he has professionalized the staff to the ultimate and eliminated a snooty, temple like atmosphere. Everyone is friendly, gracious and helpful. This is not a "hushed culinary place of worship." It is a room of satisfied clients being served by well paid, well trained professionals - a true 3 Michelin Star experience--expensive but worth it.

Lunch was at the one star La Vielle Enseigne near the Cathedral. This is a family-run restaurant with the young (20 year old) wife of the young chef handling the front and husband Jean-Christophe Langs in the kitchen. It is a beautiful 18th century building decorated with yellow painted walls, copies of impressionist paintings, some wood paneling and a white planked ceiling. There are only 8 tables, handling about 16-20 covers. The wife does it all! She takes your order, presents most of the dishes with enthusiasm and interest, carves the dishes and does the cheese service. (Incidentally she had her first child 6 months ago.) With the champagne we were served our amuse on a large white square plate with 4 colored plates: the yellow --- a sweet creme brulee (why???) the green --- a watery pea soup the orange --- a pasty squid-ink pasta with horseradish cream the white --- a zucchini wrapped sardine Not an auspicious start. 1st course My husband - sardine tempura with vegetable nicoise with gingerbread spices. The tempura was greasy and the gingerbread spices overpowered the nicoise. Me--a goat cheese and eggplant millefeuille with fresh tuna and a green pea sauce. The goat cheese, again an overpowering flavor and the tuna was overcooked. 2nd course My husband--lamb with horseradish sauce and a layered dish of green cabbage and tomato mixed with chorizo. The dish was excellent. The lamb was perfectly cooked, the tomato chorizo mixture well balanced and the sauce just right. Me-quail with pastilla covered with crusty string potatoes, balsamic vinegar sauce and a side dish of cepes with the quail legs. The potatoes were over-done. The pastilla was so sickly sweet that it was cloying. If you scraped it off, to try the quail without it, the quail was now rendered tasteless. We had cheese and coffee. A small tart was served with a glacé of carrot in a small spoon; creme brulee for an amuse and carrot sorbet for dessert! A mediocre to poor meal served nicely by nice people in a very pretty space. Au Crocodile--We had been looking forward to eating at Au Crocodile for months. It was, at first, a difficult reservation to get. They were scheduling a large group who had booked everyday during our time in Strasbourg. Numerous faxes later, a cancellation and we had our reservations. Au Crocodile is an old-fashioned looking restaurant. A huge painting dominates one wall, lamp sconces are set about 6 feet apart on the side walls, the ceiling is lit with a bluish/pinkish hue and each table is set with a small table lamp. A large rectangular serving table dominates the center of the room with only 4 tables for deuces on either side. Most of the tables are placed around the outside of the room. With our champagne we had an amuse of rabbit and vegetable terrine on a bed of lentils with 1/8" diced carrots and onions. 2nd amuse--a consommé of clear tomato water with a few finely diced vegetables in the bottom served with an anise flavored crisp. We had a difficult time trying to decide on what to eat and opted for the tasting menu. 1st course--Caille confit au foie d'oie Marechal de Contades. This was a wonderful dish--quail was stuffed with a pate of goose liver and the entire thing was encased in jelly served with a cream sauce. A small bunch of mixed greens was tied in a bundle at the top of the plate. 2nd course--roasted turbot served with creamy polenta and summer truffles. The turbot was served as a "hunk of fish." It was tough and basically tasteless. The polenta added neither texture nor taste and the summer truffles tasteless. One interesting note on the service. It is all done table side. The plated turbot was set on a burner. The sauce in a gravy boat was heated on another burner again table side. Then the sauce was added to the plated turbot and left to heat a moment. The result--a bubbling, hot sauce reheating the turbot. This presentation may have toughened the fish. 3rd course--two huge chunks of tough langoustines, heavily spiced (I'm not sure what it was as the server mumbled quickly what we were having.) There was also a puree of watercress served on the side of the plate. A word on the service in general. Everyone seemed to be going through the motions. There was no excitement, no willingness to make dining at Au Crocodile a memorable experience--they had lost the 3rd Star in March--why not make a big effort and maybe get it back? There was no "fire in the belly." At one point the chef was walking the floor greeting the guests and a German couple had him explain the menu and take their order as if he were the Maitre d'. At another point the sommelier was commissioned to be a photographer. 4th course--a chicken consommé with pyramids of fromage blanc and 1/8" diced ham and carrots. The consommé was delicious but the fromage blanc did not add much. I also wondered about the placement of the soup at this point in the menu. 5th course-veal medallion with girolles (a type of chanterelle mushroom). This was just plain boring. We ended up calling it "time warp food" as if you had been transplanted to those continental restaurants popular in the 50s. 6th course--cheese--service very perfunctory--let's get it over with attitude. Per usual we skipped dessert and had coffee. About this time Chef Jung stopped by with a bit more time to spend. He was charming. Wine: 98 Alsace Riesling, Les Ecaillers, Leon Beyer--very nice--a good recommendation with the early courses. This was the condescending sommelier's second choice--he tried to pass off a cheap Trimbach. 95 Pommard Rugiens, Michel Gaunoux. My husband picked this one to go with the meat and cheese. Unfortunately the meat was lousy, but the wine was good. It held up nicely for the hour or so that we had over the meat and then was great with the cheese. We were very disappointed with Au Crocodile. It seems obvious why they lost the 3rd star. Food and service is just not at a three star level. There is neither excitement on the plate or in the staff.

Marcus, That is an excellent and thought-provoking question. At L'Arnsbourg, Auberge de l'lle, Boyer etc., we were unknown customers and we received extraordinary service and food. In France, because there are no turns at the finest restaurants, you can count on the finest. You have 40 people in the kitchen, 25 in the front serving maybe 40 customers. That doesn't happen in the States. Most of the time the designation of a restaurant as a Michelin 3* guarantees a 3* experience to everyone regardless of who you are and whether you are a regular or not. In the States, this has not been our experience. We have cultivated relationships with great chefs and restaurateurs so we are "positioned" to receive the 3* treatment when it is available. We don't expect extras or being catered to, but the chef/owners know we have experienced the best cuisine and occasionally (and it is only occasionally) we have a meal in the USA that is equal to those that are "routine" in France. Regarding Fleur de Lys, I know that anyone who walked in the door would be treated graciously and receive wonderful food and great service. But, will everyone experience what Nick and I had? It is very difficult to say. Will they have two different preparations for each course? I don't know. They know us. They know our tastes. They are well aware of our willingness to try everything and our enthusiasm for fine wine and food. Economics dictate that they must do 2 turns a night. They certainly never rush anyone out the door, but there will be the 6:00 reservation and the 9:00 reservation with a couple of 8:00s for regulars. The bottom line is that world class dining is rare in the USA. The great chefs in the States have a completely different set of problems from the chefs in France. If American consumers in numbers were willing to spend $ 120+ per person for food alone and the American wait staff became more professional, many of the very, very top chefs in the USA could produce at the Michelin 2 and 3 star level. So far, this has not happened. We have had endless discussions on e-gullet how to get a world class meal. I think Steven Shaw and others have articulated this far better than me when they talk about the interactive experience.

Every three star in France and some that were three and are now two (L'Esperance, Cote St Jacques,Oustau de Baumaniere). My husband wants a medal from the French government.

porkpa, That is an absolutely legitimate question. After 10 years of traveling and dining in France, this was to be the year that we had finally dined in every 3 star. When we had eaten at Guy Savoy the first time, it was a 2 star and I insisted to my husband that it didn't count to say we had eaten there as a 3 star because it wasn't the first time around. Whether this is an admirable "goal" to achieve is up for grabs. I must say, at this point, that this will probably be the last year we dine and travel at the "high end." It has become just too expensive and unless I win the lottery, we will plan future trips much differently. In general, our lunches tend to be more "mom and pop" stops while the dinners tend to be the grande affaire. In the future, we will probably forgo so many of the 2 and 3 stars in one trip.

hollywood, I'll have to check on the price - not cheap. Do you really think they would reduce the bill because we passed on the second service? If so, I have some property you might be interested in!!!!!

Before we left for France, we had to fly to San Francisco to catch a flight to Paris. There are no more nonstops on United from LA. We decided to eat at Fleur de Lys the night before. Nick's description of the decor, the ambiance and the service is perfect and needs no additional notes from me. Enough to say that Fleur de Lys is what fine dining is all about--elegant surroundings, correct, but warm and genuine service and perfect, well-balanced food. Locals use Fleur de Lys as a special occasion restaurant--one table was celebrating their big "40", another an anniversary, plus assorted other birthdays around the room. People dress accordingly--most men were in suits and ties and the women were elegantly attired. As usual, we never saw a menu--we just told Chef Hubert Keller to go ahead with the special tasting he had prepared; he was including a couple of new dishes that he wanted to try out. First amuse--English pea soup puree with mushroom and a swirl of creme fraiche. Intense pea soup flavor served elegantly in small demi-tasse cups on black onyx plates with a rice paper placemat under the cup. Second amuse--malpeque oyster with a lobster butter sauce with tiny pieces of lobster and a touch of pepper. Absolutely extraordinary. 1st course: Me: A tasting of foie gras--3 preparations-- a. terrine b. smoked duck gelee c. seared foie gras rolled in pistachio and chilled, served with "flower pot" brioche [brioche baked in tiny flower pots] My husband: Crispy sweet breads with sea urchin on top with white and green asparagus tops in a lemon butter sauce--very sophisticated and unusual blending of flavors that worked. 2nd course: Me--porcini dusted skate wing with squid ink pasta, rock shrimp "meat ball", and little neck clams. My husband--monkfish wrapped in serrano ham with an artichoke flan and sliced mission figs served with oxtail jus. The meat/fish combination was perfectly balanced. 3rd course: Me-braised lamb cheek wrapped in cabbage + lamb loin with fried garbanzo beans. My husband--squab with foie gras and truffles, a ravoli stuffed with squab leg confit. 4th course: Fromage--served on a plate (marble)set in the middle of the table tete de noir, camembert, roblochon, montrachet marinated in olive oil w/pepper corns and garlic served with thinly sliced fig bread (Nick's description is better than mine.) 5th course: Dry guiness ice cream, baba with molasses spice infusion sauce, nectarine claufouti with pistachio ice cream. Expresso with madeleines, chocolate truffles, small pastries Wines: We arrived at the table to find a 1997 Arrowood Cabernet as a gift from a friend. What an extraordinary gift! We began with Nicholas Feullate 1er cru Brut Rose--delightful, "easy" champagne. 99 Domain Schzumberger Grand Cru Kessler Alsatian Gwertztraminer--not at all cloying--clean, fresh flavor, excellent with the foie gras and the 2nd course. [just a glass each] 99 Domaine LaRoche, 1er cru Chablis, Les Vaudery--delightful. Then the Arrowood--excellent, full bodied, perfect with the lamb, squab and cheese For those looking for a true culinary experience in a relaxed, conversation possible room with gracious not hovering service, Fleur de Lys is a must reservation.

We were not looking forward to going to Guy Savoy. Our last meal, before the remodel was OK, but not extraordinary. The restaurant looks entirely different--the Maitre d' said they re-did everything except the Chef as "he owns the place." (an exact quote) There are now 3 small dining rooms. We were shown to a room towards the rear of the restaurant. The room is ultra contemporary with one wood wall, 2 chocolate brown fabric covered walls, and 1 tan painted wall. The only decoration is provided by 2 large contemporary paintings. The high ceiling is paneled in frosted glass from which is suspended white panels which provide a "floating look." The dining room we were in seats 20 with the service tables in a hallway outside the room. There is no hustle or bustle in the room. Serving tables are removed except when serving. Champagne and an amuse of foie gras on toast. A few minutes later a second piece was offered, a nice touch. 2nd amuse--on a square glass dish we received 3 smaller glass dishes (1) cream of carrot soup with curry (2) zucchini wrapped tomato in an olive oil vinaigrette (3) cepe on a rosemary branch with balsamic vinegar reduction. 1st course--his signature dish of oysters--huitres en nage glacee. On a specially designed large square of bubbled glass, we were each presented with 6 large oysters in the shell. Under the oyster was a cream oyster nage and on top a nage gelee. Scattered on the plate for effect--strings of seaweed. Wonderful, but too much--3 oysters would have been the portion of choice. 2nd course--again a signature Guy Savoy dish. Lentils with black truffles. The black truffles were not the tired, light variety we experienced a few times. It seems they were purchased last March, then frozen, and thus retained their fresh, aromatic taste. (Guy Savoy shared that fact with us on his second visit to our table). The dish was rich-rich-rich, but wonderful. 3rd Course--roasted duckling a la ancienne (a dish for 2--should have been marked for two giants or 6 normal people). The duck must have been over 5 well fed pounds--not wild duck as we had at Boyer--this was a fat farm duck. He or she probably was so fat it could not walk - no wonder it got caught and became dinner. The Maitre d' carved the duck perfectly, extracting every morsel of meat. The thinly sliced, rosy duck meat was fanned out on the plate surrounded by sautéed girolle mushrooms, thinly sliced sweated potatoes with diced giblets - sort of like the galette at Boyer. Unfortunately the potatoes were greasy and the giblets were over-cooked. This part just fell flat. On the side there was a small casserole of skinless peas and 4 small mounds of pureed peas placed in a twirled string of spaghetti. The duck was served in two courses--legs and thigh meat were to be presented as a salad. At this point, we were on culinary overload after the first service of the duck preceded by the oysters and the lentil/foie gras. We just couldn't face any more food. We thought of looking for someone to pass the 2nd service on to, but as no one looked hungry or needy, we skipped the second service and let the kitchen have it for themselves. We passed on cheese and asked for coffee--just a cup of expresso please! At Guy Savoy, there is no simple thing like just expresso. Accompanying the expresso-- 1. sorbet 2. thin slice of apple tart tartin 3. 2 tuiles 4 8 little tarts 5. 6 pieces of checkerboard (Guy Savoy logo) chocolate squares 6. 2 chocolate truffles 7. 2 chocolate 'thingies' 8. a chocolate partridge in a pear tree!! Unlike our past experience at Guy Savoy where service was perfunctory, cold and haughty as a 2 star, the 3 star Guy Savoy was warm, charming, friendly, helpful and well worth revisiting on a trip when our appetites are more ready. The one annoying part of the service was the "bread man." Before each course, he wheeled his cart to the table and helped you select the right bread for your next course. As there were 5 tables in our dining room, most of whom were doing the grand menu, that made for a lot of cart wheeling which became intrusive and then down right silly. Wine: 2000 Dageneau, Puilly Fume, Silex--wonderful as always. 1998 Cote Rotie, Les Grands Places, Jean-Michael Gerin--lovely and perfect with the duck.

Beachfan, That is one of the reasons we try to eat at the "great" Michelin restaurants more than once on this kind of a trip. This is hard to do at a free-standing restaurant as opposed to an inn-attached restaurant. Also, as the prices have escalated and the euro relative to the dollar is so strong, you feel the "sting" greater on the misses. Have you posted your notes on Buerehiesel? I would love to read them.

Don't know a thing about Huchet. Sorry. The airport at Pau has no automatics?

Cabrales, This is an old stand by that I used at parties for my son - not at all gourmet fare.

Cabrales, Many years ago we ate at Galupe in Urt and it was wonderful - the salmon is a must dish. We were driving from Bordeaux to Biarritz and it was not a short drive. On the same trip, we also went to Bayonne and took a long taxi drive. I don't remember the meal all that well as we had a long lunch at the one star Bakea, right on the border, that lasted longer than we had anticipated. The chef at Cafe de Paris used to be extraordinary, but all current reviews are not very good. You might think of one of your "quickies" to Eugenie les Bains. It is still a 3 star experience and Guerard is still active.

Cabrales, That is why I described it as drummettes - if you ever eat chicken drummettes, it is very similar - scraping etc. That is why I was so taken with this dish. I absolutely agree with you that this was the moistest, most flavorable way I have ever had frogs legs. A masterful way of preparing a classic dish.

Buerehiesel is located in the Strasbourg zoo. It is a beautiful restaurant reminiscent of an aviary. The wood ceiling is high with a large, etched rectangular glass sculpture hung horizontally. Tiny spotlights on the ceiling illuminate the room and reflect off the glass--it gives the room a fairy-tale look. Unfortunately, there are good tables and bad at Buerehiesel - 4 tops dominate. Madame Westermann tours the room regularly with an eagle eye and mentioned my fax confirmation, at least twice, verbatim. Unfortunately, that was it for "personal" interest. Even though we were not particularly hungry (we had lunch at L'Arnsbourg just 5 hours prior) we ordered the tasting menu at 130 euros because it seemed to make sense and a la carte would have been 50% more. Amuse--feuillete topped with tomato, thickly sliced veal with a mustard sauce and 1/16" toasted croutons. This was accompanied by a very fishy, unidentifiable soup in a demi-tasse cup. It is hard to give complete descriptions of each dish as our succession of servers (we never had the same one twice) did a terrible job of presenting the food. This is the underlying problem with Buerehiesel. It is an institution with good food, but with a strangely diffident, removed staff with no real pride in service or food. My husband described it this way, "Everyone is serving everyone while no one is truly serving anyone!" 1st course-gelee et langoustines aux legumees croquants. The langouostines were perfectly prepared, the gelee nice, but the raw 1/16" diced mixture of vegetables was totally un-interesting. 2nd course--Schniederspaetle et cuisses de grenouille oelees. This is the signature dish - a tour de force. The frogs legs are served like drummettes in a perfect parsley, garlic sauce. On the side is a pasta ravioli, cut with a cookie cutter, filled with sliced onions, cooked in butter until translucent, but not brown. A fantastic dish. 3rd course--rouget poele aux coquillages. This was absolutely awful. The rouget was so fishy tasting that it was barely edible. It was placed on some sort of al dente barley with a parsley, butter sauce and ringed by mussels--what a mess. 4th course--sole roasted on the bone with a balsamic reduction sauce and a salad with 2 thickly sliced large cepes and one cepe cooked with garlic and butter. This was another excellent dish. The sole was well prepared, perfectly cooked and flavored. 5th course--roasted venison with a sauce of reduced stock and red wine, served with green cabbage and a mousseline of celery and mushrooms. Nicely done. We skipped the cheese and had one bite of the first dessert. There wasn't anything wrong with it, we were just plain full. Again for Robert Brown -there was a 3 tier dessert cart. Wines: The sommelier was a disinterested, older type who seemed to be going through the motions. 98 Trimbach Riesling, Cuvee Frederic Emile--nice, dry and a good example of what we were seeing as basic Alsatian white - well matched to the food. 98 Cote Rotie, Jamet - the sommelier recommended this--nice but not great--Rhone was a good choice with the game, but just not dazzling. Obviously, we were disappointed with our meal at Buerehiesel. It could have been that we were so "blown away" by our meal at l'Arnsbourg that Buerehiesel suffered in comparison. (I would never recommend eating 6*s in one day, but it was the only place to fit L'Arnsbourg into this trip.) Also, the service was so indifferent, that it took the pleasure out of dining. All in all, this was not a three star experience, particularly in comparison to L'Arnsbourg and Illhaeusern.

pirate, When I finish posting all the meals this year in France, we will then go over all our notes and come up with our favorite top 20. Both the Boyer dish and the Marcon dish definitely will be on the list.

Ajay, I was not suggesting that I approve or disapprove of smoking. I was only making a comment as to how difficult it was for the kitchen and dining room staff to coordinate the arrival of courses because of the constant flow of people moving to and from the lounge to smoke during service. As to smoking in general in France at the moment, there is a general shift to non-smoking/ smoking sections in the provinces with the better tables being in the non-smoking section i.e. Boyer. Quite a change from a few years ago. In some restaurants in the provinces, St Bonnet for one, there is no smoking allowed. In others, there is a small placard, placed on the table, requesting that you be courteous to each other. In others, cigarette smoking is allowed, but cigar smoking is only allowed in the lounge. None of this holds true for Paris where smoking is allowed in every restaurant we ate. "I'm curious about the poached egg you ate at Regis Marcon. Virtually always the eggs are poached in vinegared water and retain a vinegar flavor. Was this the case?" Pirate. There was absolutely no vinegar taste at all. The dish was described as smoked poached eggs and indeed there was a slightly smoky flavor.

bunny, I can't reccommend Auberge de L'Ile more highly. What would be fun for you is that as he presents the menu himself as well as the wine list, it would give you a chance to really talk and "pick his brains a bit." (Again, he speaks perfect English). As for kitchen equipment, I would go with jaybee's suggestion. In fact, I would e-mail Troisgros and ask where their staff buys their knives etc. If all else fails, Dehillerin in Paris has a catalogue - a cook's candy store!

mlpc, If anything, I have noticed a Mid Eastern/Moroccan/Far Eastern bent that might account for the sweet/savory taste. From the 2000 menu, he describes his pigeon dish as "Pigeon gauthier et supreme de volaille elevee a l'Egyptienne." I seem to recall a sweet/savory combination, but as my husband was doing the food notes at that time and he took very brief food tasting notes, I honestly do not have a clear recollection. This year: rouget was tinged with a hint of sweetness from the carrot sauce deep fried oyster with eel - the sweet coming from the eel The "Pekin Duck" I am not a great lover of the very sweet with the very savory i.e. Veyrat's fish with saccharine was horrible, but normally Gagnaire is in balance, with these two tastes. I always have such a hard time describing Gagnaire's cuisine as it is so improvisational in nature. He loves jazz and I think he uses jazz technique for his own artistry. It just seems very hard to pigeon hole Gagnaire. One of the finest dishes I have ever had was Gagnaire's sea urchin soup which I had 2 years ago and still can taste to this day. Last year, it was something as simple as a vegetable tart that my husband described as Gagnaire's gift to the Gods." (That is it for my husband's tasting notes!) As a personal preference, I love the cheese cart and look forward to it at the end of the meal, especially with the last of the red wine. This is totally subjective and I do not have notes on the cheese course this year.

Uh, lizziee, I did acknowledge that in my previous post. Why did you feel the need to point it out again? Rachel, I'm sorry. It was meant as a joke, but remodeling nightmares are no joke. It's just that I've been there myself.