Chez Bruno in Lorgues

[FDE]

The first two months of each year is always the season for black truffle. This year we were determined to experience the best.

The quality of truffle can vary significantly from one to another but who could have better black truffles than the "King of Truffles"? To experience the “black diamond” of the French cuisine, a trip to Chef Clément Bruno’s flagship is unavoidable. Located in Lorgues, a small village about one-hour drive from Nice, this one-Michelin star restaurant is the place to be.

Chef Bruno offers menus with various types of black truffles and our server strongly recommended the Tuber Melanosporum menu. A traditional dish of La Brouillade with black truffle was mind-blowing. It was hard to believe a simple combination of warm creamy scrambled egg with truffle aroma would be such a culinary delight. This must be the best egg dish we ever had.

What about his signature dish the Black Truffle Feuilleté where you cut open a golden sphere of pastry to find a whole black truffle inside along with foie gras and served in a deep Bordelaise Truffle sauce!

The main course consisting of beef tenderloin topped with seared foie gras and crowned with black truffle shavings completely packed my stomach!

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Edited March 6, 2010 by FDE (log)

[Dave Hatfield]

I remember going to eat with Bruno many years ago. We were on vacation staying at a gite in Bandol. The deal was that once each week one couple could choose & pay for a meal out. The rest of the time we had a pot to pay for food & meals.

My sister-in-law had seen a write up for Chez Bruno; it sounded nice. Casual ambiance, good food and so on. So I called and made a reservation. Since we weren't quite sure of the exact location or given my lousy French our reservation we decided to check it out during the day as well as doing some sightseeing in the area. Well, we found it OK, no problem. Our first clue that this wasn't the casual little place we were expecting was when we entered the car park to be greeted by a young man in uniform with e palettes. My wife & I went in. AS we walked up there were baskets of truffles on one side & of wild mushrooms on the other. We confirmed our reservation with no problem, but noticed that the luncheon diners we all very smartly dressed.

Back to the car where the ladies decided that: A) they wanted to eat here. but" B) they needed to wear their finest clothes. No problem. We had time to drive back home for them to change. Then the fun began. As we drove back we entered the most violent thunderstorm I've ever been in (we later learned that a number of people had been killed by it) We could only make 20 MPH ON THE FREEWAY! It was still going strong when we reached Toulon right at rush hour. Very congested and slow going.

When we got home we told the ladies they only had a 20 minute turn around time. WE guy studied the map & worked out a way to avoid central Toulon. This, we hoped, would save time. Off we went, Leo driving, me navigating. It was working until as we went up a steep hill the guy in front of us stalled. (at which point my wife said; "if we stall & I have to push this skirt & these shoes come off. I'm not wrecking them!")I immediately said; "curb Leo" He instantly went up onto the curb and made it around the stalled car. From there on the drive was slow, but uneventful.Needless to say we were late, but no problem at Bruno's.

The meal was memorable. Truffles with every course except dessert. One incident was comical. When Bruno himself came to the table to announce the menu he, of course, did it in French. My friend Leo immediately said; " Could you please repeat all of that in English." A big laugh from Bruno, but no translation. Later we were invited to inspect the kitchen. It was nice, but what impressed was the full size oil painting of Bruno as you entered.

Yes, a truly memorable meal. Almost as good as the story of our next meal which was the best bouillabaisse ever, but that's a different story.

[MichaelCE]

We also have a thunderstorm story. We were sitting outside on the terrace at Bruno in perfect weather when an unexpected black cloud came over and started dumping rain. Everyone picked up the plate for whatever course they were on and calmly went inside and finished. Then there was the time my wife had gone to the ladies room when Bruno came around to take our order. He was so miffed he wouldn't come back and the maître d'hôtel had to take care of us. I recommend going to the restaurant of Bruno's youngest son, Benjamin, in Nice: Le Diamant Noir.

[FDE]

Dave, what an entertaining story although it was not entertaining at that time. I am sure you had a memorable meal there, at least the journey was memorable! Chef Ferran Adria once said, "a great meal begins with a great journey". In your case, your memorable meal began with a memorable journey.

MichaelCE, oh my god, it was pouring rain for you too! I guess we were lucky, perfect weather for the whole day. Hope you enjoyed your meal as well.

[ScoopKW]

I only speak enough French to embarrass myself with the locals. But reading the menu, was that meal 165 Euros? If so, that's got to be the best value on the planet.

I'll be on Kayak checking airfare tomorrow if that's the case.

[FDE]

Yes, that's correct. 165euro for the best menu (Tuber Melanosporum).

From my truffle experience, it is much better to fly to some regions for a truffle meal. Ducasse in London is charging few hundred pound for a 5-course black truffle menu. It wasn't better or more (it's less actually) truffle, but I guess they charge a high premium because they imported the truffle, and for the fancy ambience and service of course.

Similar to white truffle, we used to have it in London every year paying easily few hundred pound per head on a multi-course white truffle dinner. Then one year we decided visit Alba during the season, and they shaved much more than London and cheaper and much more aromatic (especially with the extreme short life for white truffle... it might be already a week old by the time it arrives at your plate in London). So we decided not to have truffle in London again!