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Wish I had spelled restaurant correctly.

Graham, It is thanks to you that we "discovered" not only Le Mimosa, but also Can Peio. What great recommendations!!!! You are right that Le Mimosa is not per se a bistro. I used that term to define Le Mimosa as a family affair with Bridgett in the kitchen and her husband David, front of the house and sommelier. The feeling of the restaurant was so friendly that after a short period of time, we felt as if this had been our neighborhood resteraunt for years. The food was excellent, using the freshest local ingredients with Bridgett's own special flair. As for Can Peio in Junas. I still can't believe we found it. It is well worth the detour. Yes, it is an old train station - the ticket window is the pass through for the food. This was our first experience with Catalonian food and we loved it - especially the deep fried baby rouget. We ate and ate, platters after platters of food with the local wine Abadia and had a wonderful time at low low cost. Thank you again for a real find. I'm so glad that I had a chance to thank you personally.

John, I don't know if your itinerary is firm for the Dordogne, but there is one place that we fell in love with a number of years ago. It is Le Chaufourg in Sourzac, about 38 Km from Bergerac. It is owned by Georges Dambier, a dapper seventy year old who was a high profile fashion photographer in Paris. He and his cousin, Agnes run the inn themselves. George is the most gracious host who will regale you with wonderful stories. He will steer you to little known sights of the region. He has created at his family's country home the most romantic, beautiful country inn. There are 10 guest rooms, an attractive swimming pool and an outside pool house. We stayed in Chambre de Marie (presently about $220. per night). It has white cathedral beams over the bed, a study, a giant bathtub, huge closets, television and air-conditioning. This is an inn that is at once refined, elegant but also rustic. He is now serving dinner in the main parlor, a beautifully furnished room with a large fireplace. When we were there you had to specially order a dinner (which we did), but as I mentioned he now serves a short menu at dinner featuring local specialities. When we had dinner, it was just my husband and I. (Mother's day was the day before and everyone had left the inn that afternoon.) George had set up a beautiful table, soft jazz was playing, lights were dim, fire in the fireplace and his dogs nestled at our feet. (Bagdad Cafe, the poodle was especially receptive.) I don't have my notes on the exact dinner we ate that night, but my notes say that it was a completely satisfying experience emphasizing local ingredients and local wines. Hope this helps your itinerary.

For Ajay and Robert here are my notes on Troisgros. I have to hunt for my notes on Veyerat. I had expected that the hotel room at Troisgros would be very dismal after looking at the pictures in Relais and noting the pink edifice across from the train station. Nothing could be further from the truth. Their suites are magnificient - large, beautiful bathroom, bedroom- a contemporary large room - all chrome and glass. The new kitchen is unbelievable - at 1:30 am we watched the kitchen staff polish every inch of the kitchen - every copper pot, every piece of chrome glistened. The dining room is subdued and formal but not stiff - service is gracious. As we were having only 1 meal we didn't want to do the menu and miss having some of Troisgros' famous dishes. (We are going back this year for 2 meals so won't have that feeling of trying to have it all in one meal.) We asked our waiter if we could devise our own tasting menu - he said "une pour deux" - unusual for France but perfect for us. After a number of amuse - don't have my notes on these, we had tete de veau - a pressed pork head with tomato in olive oil basil vinagrette. Next the frog legs beignet was perfect - almost like a tempura batter with a remoulade of celery- blanched shredded celery served with tangy mayonnaise and vegetables cut in 1/16" cubes in an olive oil mixture.Then a tomato fritter with snails.. Next their famous salmon in sorrel sauce - rare 1/2" thick salmon with enough sorrel in the sauce for sorrel with each bite. Then crunchy grilled sweetbreads, natural sauce, tomato petals and potatoes. After cheese we adjourned to the garden for desserts, pastries, coffee, Armagnac and for my husband a Montecristo #2. It was a perfect evening - great food, super service and perfect ambience. I did find my notes on Jardin des Sens and completely agree with Cabrales that I am not a fan of their food.The dining room is terraced looking out at an Asian inspired garden with an eight foot "sluce" type waterfall coming down about 50 feet - very dramatic. We were given a lovely table and then proceeded to have an awful meal. The food is so overwrought - too many ingredients - it was out of control cooking. The service was equally bad - cold, uncaring with no spirit. This is the first 3 star restaurant I have ever been to where you feel as if you are being hurried so they can "turn the table." Just an example of the food - grilled rouget, cannelloni of asapragus, gratin of shrimp,panfried asparagus tips with sauterne reduction - all on the same plate. Another example - pressed lobster terrine with vegetables, smoked cured duck, mango, olive oil with vanilla - again on the same plate. We had reservations for dinner the next night and my husband begged for a bistro. I insisted we give it another chance. Food was somewhat better - squid with tomatoes, shrimp with the local ham - but service was indifferent and surly. We did have wonderful wines that night - '95 Raveneau Chablis Butteaux and '96 Guigal La Turque. If you are in the region there is a wonderful bistro type restaurant - Le Mimosa. David Pugh is the husband and sommelier and his wife Bridgett the chef. He is English and she is from New Zealand. She was a professional dancer, but settled in Saint Guiraud when they fell in love with the place. One dish that was particularly memorable was squid with oriental spices with mint very reminincent of the Slanted Door in SFO. It seems that Bridgett had been at the Slanted Door the year before and she was taken with their food and this was her interpretation. Again, thank to e-gullet for their input.

These are the notes that I sent to Robert. Hope they help. Yes, we went to El Raco de Can-Fabes. I do not have tasting notes so I can only give an overall description of the dinner. The decor is rustic, a wood-beamed former tavern. The service was perfect - I honestly can't remember each dish but almost all was perfect except for the last which my only comment in my notes is that it was unremarkable. One surprising highlight was at a restaurant in Barcelona called Ca L'Isidre.The owner is Isidre Girones. We started with tiny whitebait deep fried. Every time they fry up a batch, they use fresh oil. Next an incredible gazpacho with clams and shrimp with a slight dollop of oil floating on the top. Next quickly sauteed squid in olive oil that were so tender they melted in your mouth. Then their speciality - roast baby goat with small onions and white wine.The owner's daughter, Naria, is the pastry chef. She did a wonderful dessert - in an egg shell she placed sabayon which represented egg yolk, white chocolate was the white of the egg and underneath all liquid dark chocolate.

Robert, Here are my notes on St Bonnet.I will post my notes on Roanne later. Auberge et Clos des Cimes in St Bonnet is an extraordinary place in the middle of nowhere - lots of hills and cows. The room we stayed in was very contemporary. The design is similar to Cote St Jacques in Joigny. Like Cote St Jacques there is an underground tunnel from your room to the restaurant that includes several sculptures of mushrooms (the restaurant's symbol) made out of real chocolate. The dining room is beautifully designed - the room directly opposite the salon ( for aperitifs and later cigars) is all white with an etched glass enclosure that gives the feeling of dining in snow. There are a number of tables by the stairs leading to the hotel, then a beautiful room by the windows where we sat. With the aperitifs there were 4 amuse - most notably a cheese tuile served in a specially designed glass holder and salami studded with mushrooms. At the table there was another amuse - a salmon tartar plus a fish (not sure what it was) mousse. We had the mushroom tasting menu - most of the dining room did the same. One table ordered a la carte - this is not the way to go. We were given the menu at the beginning as a souvenir - great idea - so we could follow along. 1st course- crusty foie gras with cereal underneath 2nd course- braised lobster with cepes, oyster mushrooms and chanterelles 3rd- omble chevalier again with mushrooms. The chef's food speaks for itself - perfect ingredients,blended perfectly, no over the top excesses. 4th - ragout of lentils with truffles and a poached quail egg - extraordinary 5th - champagne granita(could have had consomme) 6th - roast pigeon with fresh peas, cepes and a ginger toast 7th - cheese 8th - a whole series of small amuse desserts plus one main dessert - I had cocoa coffee based chicory ice cream. I know the descriptions do not sound like much, but the food and service were flawless. Believe it or not, our second night equaled our first. Alain, the general manager is wonderful He had had his own restaurant in Lyon for 15 years, closed it, then worked at La Tour Rose and is now at Clos des Cimes. He talked to the chef and worked out the menu. He would not tell us what we were having, he wanted it to be a surprise. Again, there were 4 amuse with the aperitif.Then we went to the table. 1st- gateau of crab with lines of quinoa plus wild mushrooms - this was a perfect marriage of tastes, nothing extraneous. 2nd- filet of bar with mussels and clams 3rd - out came 2 hot plates and a table for tableside prep- the most perfect dish - crusty sweetbreads served en brochette 4th - consomme of mushrooms as a digestive - intense flavor 5th - again a table was wheeled to our table with a large cutting board. Presented was a lamb cooked en croute with a mixture of fresh herbs. The croute was bread dough. Alain carved the lamb and the dough was sent to the kitchen to be re-crusted and then eaten with the perfect rare lamb. Also presented was a plate of spices to be sprinkled on the lamb - sel de mer, pepper, rosemary, thyme. Alain replaced the extra lamb in the dough shell and said he would save it in the kitchen for our second serving. The vegetables were crunchy asparagus, wild asparagus, favas, small spring onions. 6th - fromage 7th - pre-desserts We skipped the main dessert. Also, the sommelier, Laurent, is very young,but knows his stuff, Most outstanding was 1996 La Barbarine, Cote Rotie from Mathilde et Yves Gangloff. As I re-read the above I am afraid my food descriptions do not do justice to what was on the plate. What makes Regis Marcon's food extraordinary is that he blends flavors perfectly. He does not put 30 different ingredients on your plate and hopes some of it goes together. This is beautifully presented food using the finest ingredients with perfect restraint. We were excited by every phase of the meal - service, style and the food itself. We had such a wonderful experience that we already have our reservations for this year

I hope you don't mind me butting into the conversation. For the past ten years we have spent at least one month in France with side trips to Spain and Geneva , We try to "hit" a different region each time. We attempt to mix Michelin 3 and 2 stars with Michelin 3 forks, mostly in the countryside. In Paris we tend to stick with the 2 and 3 stars. Our dining experiences for the past two years have been Pierre Gagnaire (6 times), L'Ambrosie (3 ) Apicius (2 ), L'Eysees de Vernet (3 ), Faugeron (2) , Bristol ( 1) Le Cinq (1), Le Divellec (2), Taillevent (4), Lucas Carton (2), Le Grand Vefour (1) Ledoyen (1), Le Pre Catalan (2), Jamin (1), Guy Savoy (1) and Benoit (1).Our favorite by far is Pierre Gagnaire. Not everything works and any resenblance between his description of the menu and what is on the plate is purely coincedental. However, this is the most extraordinary over-all food experience. Other favorites are L'Ambrosie -perfectly prepared food with the finest ingredients, Apicius,an innovative chef, L'Eysees de Vernet, often overlooked but worth experiencing - wonderful Jambon Iberico - a beautiful room, Faugeron, his truffled egg perfect. We were very disappointed by Le Grand Vefour, Divellec and unfortunately Taillevent. In 2000, we had a wonderful meal at Tailllevent, last year with the new chef from Carcassonne, it was horrible and service which has always been their strongest suit fair. During the year 2000 and 2001, ( excluding bistros)we have eaten at Les Loges de L'Aubergade (5 meals), Auberge et Clos des Cimes (3 ), Michel Bras ( 2 ), George Blanc ( 6 ), Les Pres d'Eugenie (4), Le Jardin des Sens (2), Trois Gros (1), Pic (2), Domaine d'Auriac (2), Michel Chabran (1), La Pryamide (1), and El Bulli (3). I won't go into detail, but if anyone wishes detailed notes I do have them. Briefly, Trois Gros in Roanne is perfection - from the frogs legs beignet, salmon in sorrel to the sweetbreads - there was not a misstep. Auberge et Clos des Cimes is another fantastic experience. I honestly thought Regis Marcon would get his 3rd star. Les Pres d'Eugenie has not faltered at all unlike some other 3 stars. Guerard is there every day, overseeing everything. Michel Bras is an unbelievable experience - although impossible to get to. Les Loges de L'Aubergade was also wonderful although Trama will probably never get a 3rd star as he has been very outspoken to the establishment. Georges Blanc is our warm, fuzzy experience- predictable, solid food. We were very disappointed with Jardin des Sens (horrible service, mediocre food), La Pyramide ( a disaster), Michel Chabran ( not worth the trip), Pic ( a good stopover on the way south) and El Bulli. probably the worst food experience we have ever had. (The year before -2000 was extraordinary but this past year a nightmare). We were with 2 other very well-known chefs and all four of us kept looking at each other wondering why we didn't get it. (Again I have detailed notes on all of this). Memorable bistros: Cote Rotie in Ampuis, Auberge du Pont de Lanau (a perfect place to stop on the way to Bras - chef and his wife just bought it - they are from Quebec),Oustal de Barry in Najac, L'Epicerie in Valence, La Fontaine, Le Mimosa, and Ca I'Isidre in Barcelona. I hope I haven't been a bore. Our 2002 trip is all planned. Thanks to e-gullet I definitely have a reservation at L'Astrance. I am undecided about Hiramatsu.