Margaret Pilgrim
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Posts posted by Margaret Pilgrim
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Indeed. Here is the current wine list.The wine list however is difficult to beat - nearly all local and great rapport prix/qualité. Over the years, the cellar has been assembled with skill and enthusiasm. These wines Languedoc wines are increasingly on the lists of some of the world's great restaurants but never at these prices. -
First, Graham Tigg is a must read. We have never been sorry after following one of his leads.
We love Le Mimosa and recommend staying at their tiny hotel that is located a few km away from the restaurant. You will not find a more knowledgeable tutor for the best wines from the area than David Pugh.
Auberge de Cedre is a good address with a split personality: the rooms in the main building are fairly primitive while the garden room is quite large and comfortable with en suite bath; meals are basic pension during the week with a more ambitious menu served only on weekends.
I strongly recommend reading Virgile's Vineyard which catalogs a year in the St. Saternin area with excellent references to people and places related to local food and wine. Although we have spent some amount of time in the area, this book (which I picked up at Le Mimosa) has provided us with many new addresses. (You should be able to find it at your public library).
Just west of Uzes is a wonderful and unusual restaurant: a restaurant on a poultry farm that serves only, right, poultry. La Bruyerette, in a hamlet of the same name and near the village of Aigaliers ( 04.66.20.64.92) serves several lunch and dinner menus from Thursday through Sunday. We enjoyed a delightful Easter Sunday lunch this year. (I learned of this good address, many thanks, from eGullet's Abra.)
Edited to add: I want to point out that Auberge de Cedre has upgraded most of its rooms to "en suite" or including private baths. This is major upgrade at this sweet address.
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Indeed, it is the measure of the finest home, country, provincial and even haute plates.... it's not "culinary blasphemy" to want to make a sauce with simple pantry staples, and you can in fact end up with one of the all-time great pasta sauces.
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l'Ourcine?
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I hope so.On my way! -
Naw, just come down to San Francisco. Our lowest end, Hong Kong classics consumed by immigrants not foodies, is our normal Saturday take out lunch. A $7.00 assortment lasts well into Sunday afternoon.My thanks again to RandyB for the New Nioulaville rec. I will post more when I have a chance to put my thoughts together with my pics but suffice it to say I was there for dim sum lunch today and found it very enjoyable.You're welcome. Now I just wish we had as good dim sum in Seattle. I have to go to Vancouver, BC, for the best dim sum.
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SQN is definitely today's address. However, I would suggest that you read every review you can before deciding if it is your kind of food experience or not.Sa. Qua. Na. would be my choice. We didn't eat there on our last visit as we had booked elsewhere and it had recently opened so it was an unknown. It has subsequenty got good press and a star. It looks pared back and very modern. -
Perhaps check out the April/May "Cuisine et Vins de France" magazine for a spread on Robert, including description of the dining room and the procedure for recreating one of his signature plates: Selle d'agneau farcie. Lovely.
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I'll coat-tail this question several of with my own. Are brasseries downhill because their food is predictable or because it is badly sourced and prepared? Or both? Or all of above?fresh_a, help me out, s'il vous plait.When you say that the brasseries are "all going downhill," are you talking about the food itself, and/or the whole concept (food, service, decor, etc.)?
Would you consider brasseries the French version of the "corporate chain restaurant," where the menu is basically the same, mostly geared towards tourists who want to be served by a handsome Frenchman with a French accent whose name is Jean-Luc, for that "French dining experience"?
And based on what pierre45 wrote, it sounds like brasseries are there when you just need something to eat, correct?
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Don't quote us, but we find that many (French) cheeses are most delicious several/many months after their suggested "consume by" dates.Yes, yes, yes -- Abbaye de Cîteaux is absolutely my favourite cheese! For those in the US, be aware that while you can purchase it from Murray's or at some Dean & Deluca stores, it will not taste quite the same because it must be aged for an additional 60 days. 
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As I read through the list of things western hemisphere sought in France, my immediate thought is, why not bring with you your taste memory and buy local products that most closely resemble them in flavor and texture. We've found this an extraordinary introduction to new product and, better, lovely new interpretations.
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Stepping completely out of character, we are going to visit Brasserie Julien in August. It fills two needs: open in August and my husband's interest in belle epoque art and decor. We'll find something on the menu and hope for a pleasant evening.
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As we compare American and French beef I would include the extraordinarily tender and flavorful grilled beef that is served just a few kilometers across the border in Spain. At Etchebari and many other grills in the Pay Basque, the proffered meat is, surprisingly, "ox", ancient farm animals that have been retired, pastured for some months, butchered at the extraordinary ages of 20+ years. Rendering the most succulent steaks, this meat was some of the best "beef" that I have ever eaten on either side of the Atlantic.
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Thoughts on Sociale? Only mention it because I've just cancelled reservations at a much tonier address for a birthday dinner and have booked at this casual but grounded room.
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While we are in the Talbot/Hatfield camp, friends travelling with us split off one evening and went to Allard. They loved it, not the least for your reason. They were seated in an English speaking area and soon were chatting with several couples from as many countries. They said that the food was quite alright and that it was great fun to exchange travel stories with fellow diners. They also raved about the old Paris decor and ambience.
(Visitors often complain about being segregated in an Anglo area, but if you have one waiter who speaks fluent English and the rest do not, it makes some sense to group diners by language.)
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Robert, this is the very opposite of what we experienced earlier this month. Yes, the restaurants we visited were full and turned away enough custom to fill the rooms once again. But rather than fewer and poorer choices and inferior cuts we found that the current slump at the three star level has brought the price of superior product to a level that allows the mid-range kitchen to scoop up and offer outstanding value: examples, coquilles St. Jacques among the best we have ever tasted, baby lamb whose age is counted in days rather than months. In contrast to some half dozen years of being disappointed at new addresses, we enjoyed dining rooms (that have been discussed on this forum) that were unselfconscious, plates well-conceived and delicious..... The argument that because one’s favorite restaurant is full every day means that the crisis is not a meaningful factor vis a vis dining out doesn’t strike me as meaningful-- not when your favorite restaurant is trimming its choices and offering you mostly a lot of starches, vegetables, various types of filets and cheap cuts of meat. -
Okay. I'll bite. Les Papilles has become our "first night in Paris" reservation. We know that we will arrive jet-lagged, disoriented and in need of Bertrand's warm welcome and stressless food, that he will choose an extremely interesting bottle of wine for us, that we will be cossetted and leave revived, culturally transitioned and ready to take on Paris in the morning.
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We regularly (read: nightly) travel out of our arrondisement.I'd like to hear from folks who dine out in Paris regularly what you would consider/recommend as "destination" places to eat with the definition being based on1. worth traveling out of one's immediate neighborhood
We don't patronize restaurants that don't provide what we consider this ratio.2. Value (excellent price/quality ratio)
This question is problematic on an ongoing basis. We've been visiting Paris multiple times a year for probably 15 years. As kitchens and dining rooms soar and decline, our destinations change.3. with one week to dine out in Paris (so a max of say, 10 available meals)Destination restaurants tend to be those on the cutting edge of the media. Best you stay tuned here. For better or worse, you will hear about what is happening now.
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I am confused by MBC's menu. Is the (longer) list of choices at the top of the page only available at lunch? Everything that sounds interesting to me is in that section, but we would be reserving for dinner.
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While it is gratifying to know that you are dining on the best product that can be found, I have always felt that the true test of a chef was indeed the ability/skill/awareness of how to make something extraordinary out of little. And conversely, nothing irks me more than to have the kitchen handle fine product poorly. As in medicine, the first scripture applying to product should be "Above all, do no harm."Here’s another prophecy: as raw materials become more expensive, we’re likely to see a widespread shift, not only from the luxury cuts of meat, but from the super-sourced ingredients whose meticulously documented provenance bumps up the cost. Attention will once more be paid to the skill with which a chef does the best he can with what he can afford. There will be a renewed respect for inventive cooks such as M. F. K. Fisher’s Dijon landlady, Madame Ollangnier, who was notorious in the local markets for buying their cheapest merchandise, however unpromising:Storekeepers automatically lowered their prices when they saw her coming…Up would come the trapdoor to the cellar, and down Madame would climb…he would pick up a handful of bruised oranges, a coconut with a crack in it, perhaps even some sprouting potatoes…And yet…from that little hole, which would have made an American shudder in disgust, she turned out daily two of the finest meals I have ever eaten. -
It's entirely possible that there are other explanations.
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Quite right. But however the announcements of these closures were couched, the question hanging in the air is to what extent Michelin pressures tipped the balance in deciding whether to continue or close. Given the economic climate that began last year, what kinds of cost or menu alterations could be made while continuing to meet Michelin expectations? Leaving at the top of one's game may not be a protest, but it may well be a bellwether for the thinning ranks of expensive restaurants.I find it strange that Marc Veyrat is still listed as *** although an article that I read about the closure of his restaurant had mentioned that the decision had been made in time not to appear in the guide.Now Michelin for an entire year will list a *** restaurant that no longer exists, very unfortunate in my view.
Maybe it was too embarassing for them to have 2 chef's (Roellinger & Veyrat) to hand back their stars in one year... Bad publicity. I don't think 2 in one year has happened before.
I may be wrong, but as far as I was aware neither were 'handing back' their stars, but simply closing their respective restaurants for other reasons (Veyrat cited physical difficulties after a ski accident a few years ago) rather than as a protest against Michelin.
For that reason, I would not really think it bad publicity.
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Indeed. We visited without this information and enjoyed a very ordinary meal in the inside dining room. It was ameliorated by two charming young Basque couples sitting next to us who wanted to practice their English.We should clarify for Al and all that the reason to sit at the common table at Afaria is that you get the tapas-type stuff there and no longer at the tables farther inside and it's the tapas-type stuff that makes the place interesting.I will also repeat my past warning about Lena et Mimile: the modern menu is only served half the year! Check that it's available when you book.
Languedoc dining
in France: Dining
Posted
I am delighted to find that Auberge de Saugras finally has a website. Thanks to another of Tigg's recommendations, we enjoyed a lovely Easter lunch here several years ago. It is in a wonderful area of high garrique northwest of Montpelier. While the food was quite good, what I remember most was the welcome, the setting and the feeling that this was a very individual kind of place. All of the other diners were locals enjoying a holiday. I "need" to return here and spend a night or so and the website makes it much easier to plan. Notice also the excellent carte of local wines.