Five Major Meals in France

[Peter Rodgers]

We are off to a brief gastronic tour of provincial France. Would appreciate word of anyone's recent experience at: Maison de Bricourt in Cancale; Patrick Jeffroy at Carantec; Michel Trama at Puymirol; Moulin de Lourmarin at Lourmarin and L'Oasis at La Napoule.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Robert Brown recently posted on a meal at Moulin de Lourmarin. The other restaurants should have posts about them on the France board, although I'm not sure how recent the meals are.

[Bux]

My single meal at Roellinger's Maison de Bricourt was a few years ago. It was excellent and I have great respect for him. I deeply regret that my curiosity about other two star restaurants in Brittany has led me to try them before returning to Roellinger. None have compared. For the most part, they haven't come close to being in the same class. I haven't been to Jeffroy's restaurant, but it's the one in Brittany I have the most curiosity about and which would hold the greatest draw after Roellinger. Go to Roellinger with great expectations and my advice would be to have the tasting menu.

A lunch at Trama years ago was odd in that we were the only ones in the dining room on an offseason weekday. The meal was excellent, but it was a bit unnerving to be there alone and I found the decor a bit affected, though that's not so unusual in France.

I have no experience at the other two, but I think there have been threads here on each. I assume this is a long tour and that you're not going from one of these places to the next. What's your route and where else are you going? There are places in between that I would choose and perhaps some I would go out of my way to visit.

[robert brown]

I have plenty of opportunity to dine at L'Oasis, but have never had the motivation. As you must know, Louis Outhier has nothing to do with it any longer. The main problem is that there is simply no buzz about it. If you want to go all out on the Cote d'Azur, I would think you would be better off at La Bastide de St. Antoine (Jacque Chibois in Grasse) or even Villa des Lys in the Majestic in Cannes or La Palme d'Or at the Martinez. I had a very good meal at the Majestic, while Steve P. likes La Palme d'Or a lot, don't you Steve? A lot of people also like La Terrasse at the Hotel Juana in Juan-les-Pins. My wife and I split on it. I enjoyed it very much because they laid a lot of very competent food on you, reminiscent of the old days.; my wife thought it was too much and she felt the staff had an "attitude" (which they did). This was three years ago, however. Roellinger and L'Arnsbourg are about the only two restaurants in France I am anxious to visit for the first time. Let us know how your meals went at the former.

[Bux]

My wife and I split on it.

A good point. I'm loathe to suggest Michelin, GaultMillau, or any of the guides are as valuable as the imput from members, but any single report, especially when based on just one visit, should be taken with a grain of salt. If we won't accept the fact that a three star restaurant can have a bad day, sometimes the diner can have a bad day. I've had disappointing meals at well regarded restaurants and I've suspected the fault may well have mine more than theirs. Not every dish at any restaurant is of the same caliber. Good advice is often to stick with the house specialties.

[marcus]

On my last trip to Brittany, 2-3 years ago, I had dinner at Patrick Jaffroy when his restaurant was along the Autoroute before he moved to undoubtedly upgraded quarters in Carentec. He had a one star 16 at the time. I found it no better than OK, he crammed a very large number of flavors into each dish, and it was not under control. My impression was that he was young and still immature or just lacking in skill. I was very surprised when he received 2 stars, as I am usually in pretty good synch with Michelin.

Roellinger is somewhat controversial. The restaurant has received 2 stars 19 for many years and there are varying opinions. Certainly the chef is highly skilled and creates a fusion cuisine of French cooking techniques with Asian spicing. He certainly achieves his objectives. Everything was well prepared, but I personally disliked the actual flavors in each and every dish, and I'm not fundamentally opposed to fusion cooking, there are a number of restaurants in San Francisco that I do like. It certainly remains a must try and I wouldn't try to discourage anyone from going.

My favorite restaurant in Brittany was the Ferme de Letty in Benodet on the south coast of Finistiere. This is a one star restaurant that specializes in upscale, but not haut cuisine, fish and seafood dishes. A turbot dish for two with a brown sauce made a very strong impression, although I don't remember any more of the specifics. We found everything at this restaurant to be soul satisfying.

[Bux]

Ferme de Letty was a favorite of ours as well, when we were there five years ago. It had a star and a rating of 17 from GaultMillau. In the past two years at least, it seems to have been dropped altogether from the GM listings. I think that's rather odd as it's kept its Michelin star. We had an excellent dinner there that included a superbly well prepared lobster. I'm really puzzled that GM dropped it entirely. I've had other good reports about it in the past and it was here that a NY sommelier born in Brittany, discovered a cider which he was later responsible for bringing into the states. I see it as a restaurant worth going out of your way for, but not as a destination the way I see Roellinger.

Click for our comments on dinner at la Ferme de Letty and les Maisons de Bricourt in 1997.

Marcus: Roellinger is somewhat controversial. The restaurant has received 2 stars 19 for many years and there are varying opinions. Certainly the chef is highly skilled and creates a fusion cuisine of French cooking techniques with Asian spicing. He certainly achieves his objectives. Everything was well prepared, but I personally disliked the actual flavors in each and every dish, and I'm not fundamentally opposed to fusion cooking, there are a number of restaurants in San Francisco that I do like. It certainly remains a must try and I wouldn't try to discourage anyone from going.

That's interesting as I wouldn't describe the cuisine as "fusion." I generally dislike the food that goes by the name of fusion, but I loved Roellinger. Knowing my lack of "appreciation" for fusion cooking, my daughter warned me that Roellinger used lots of "foreign" spices. Roellinger notes that neighboring St. Malo has been a port through which ships from the Indies, carrying cargoes of spices, have passed for hundreds of years. I felt he handled those spices as if they were a part of his tradition and not as something to which he adapted to French cuisine.

My worst experiences with "fusion" food were probably in San Francisco. Kunz, when he was at Lespinasse and Roellinger are the two who would give fusion a good name if they were seen as fusion cooks.

[marcus]

I also noticed that Ferme de Letty dropped out of the Gault Millau. It was 17 for a number of years, then dropped to 15 for a single year and finally was dropped altogether about 3 years ago. There is undoubtedly a story here, but I don't know what it is.

I'm not sure that it really matters, but I would definitely classify Roellinger as a fusion restaurant. Although he may be inspired by St Malo's having been a spice trading port in the 18th century, I don't believe that there is a continuous tradition to today, nor do I think that there are other restaurants in the area that directly inherit a local tradition of using Asian spices. He names many of his dishes for places in the east such as Goa or the Indes and my bet is that he reads recipes from that area and adapts the spicing to French technique learned at restaurants that he worked in such as Guy Savoy.

[Bux]

The Ferme du Letty story is very curious. It's one of those restaurants I sort of keep track of, and that's some indication of my interest in someday returning. I was surprised to see it disappear from GM and then equally surprised to see it still in Michelin. I had assumed they closed and that the young chef went off to fancier quarters somewhere.

As for the definition of fusion and the classification of restaurants by that term, I also doubt it matters much to most of us. Those labels are handy, but only when they mean the same thing to everyone. These days, half the cooks in Paris are using some Asian ingredient and almost all are using some European ingredient they wouldn't have twenty years ago--Italian olive oil, white truffles, Spanish ham, etc. What I found was that Roellinger's food seemed seamless. I suspect that at some point a chef and his restaurant attract enough attention and positive reviews from some quarters that our interest in piqued and we just have to check it out for ourselves.

[Jonathan Day]

I have eaten at L'Oasis in La Napoule and wrote a comment about it back in May ... click here ... L'Oasis entry is at 17th May.

I would summarise my view as "good but not great, and very expensive." It would have been more pleasant on a sunny day with the atrium opened up. The oyster with seawater granita was superb.

The dinner we had at the Bastide St Antoine in Grasse (J. Chibois) was far better in every respect. I will unquestionably return there, but probably not to L'Oasis.

[Steve Plotnicki]

I ate at La Palme d'Or at least once a year, sometimes twice, for the last 6-7 years. I always thought it had the best cooking on the coast, post the late 80's, early 90's peak in nouvelle cuisine. Most years it was great, cooking at what I will describe as a 2 1/2 star level, but some years I found the menu a little boring. But they are good at preparing things off menu. There must be a changing of the guard going on because recently I saw a cookbook featuring recipes from Provencal restaurants and Christian Willer was featured along with his "Chef de Cuisine." They also have a good wine list and you will find wines fron Niellon and Coche Dury on their list.

I think the heyday for top quality cooking on the coast has come and gone nearly 10 years ago. Back then you had Verge, Outhier, Rostaing (the old man) and Maximin in his prime. It was amazing to spend a week there.

[Bouland]

... Patrick Jeffroy at Carantec ...

I spent a week with Patrick last October. I like his cooking, and the hotel is very comfortable. As you are probably aware, he now has two stars. He's received a lot of coverage in the French press this summer, so I suspect the crowds may finally be finding their way to Carantec. Patrick is very creative, and like a lot of creative people, not everything he tries is a success. But enough things are to make a visit to his restaurant a rewarding experience. Due to his location and his relationships with the local fisherman, it not uncommon to see him buzz out for a few minutes late in the afternoon to pick-up some fish that someone just caught, and to see the same fish being served for dinner that night.

Although I think his seafood is the best thing to order their normally, one of his specialties is a terrine de Roquefort that can be had as an alternative to a standard cheese course. He taught me how to make the dish and do so at home nowadays.