Mougins Recommendations? Moulin

[ZenFoodist]

My dear friend will be spending some time away from the UK, in Mougins, for four days next week- a bit of skiing, and good dining hopefully.

Any not-to-be-missed places, in Mougins or environs, she should be thinking about?

Merci,

Lisa

I've edited the spelling of Mougins in the topic title as well. So the rest of you can disregard the flap over Nougins. -- Bux

Edited February 1, 2003 by Bux (log)

[Jonathan Day]

Lisa, here is is a quick run through some of the restaurants in or in striking distance to Mougins.

Mougins is something of a restaurant town, because of Roger Vergé and the Moulin de Mougins. At one point Vergé had two restaurants in town, the Moulin and one called L'Amandier; the former had three stars, the latter one. Unfortunately we found the Moulin an expensive disappointment: with the exception of one course, the famous truffled and stuffed squash blossom, the food was mediocre and the service dreadful. It fell from 3 stars to 1, and last year climbed back to 2. L'Amandier was not much better, though Vergé has now sold it and it may have improved under its new owners.

If you are looking for traditional food, I highly recommend Le Bistrot de Mougins, in the old village. It's in an old cellar, and the food is very good and includes things like daubes and civets that you don't often find nowadays. La Terrasse, on the edge of the village, is more modern. They have a prix-fixe lunch that is good value, and their menu often includes roasted game birds. The room is beautiful, especially if you get a table near the window, looking down toward the Med. La Ferme de Mougins is a very short drive from the village, and the food is good, though we found the service a bit cold.

Le Rendez-Vous de Mougins is in the village, and they have a "market menu" that changes seasonally. Brasserie de la Méditerranée, in the village, has good fish. Finally, Les Pins de Mougins, on the back road towards Cannes, looks dreadful from the road but has a pleasant garden and some very good dishes. The new place in town, and the most ambitious, is Le Mas Candille. We have had some good dishes there, but it is expensive for what you get.

Once you leave Mougins, you have the whole Côte d'Azur to taste. In Cros-de-Cagnes, try Loulou, for superb fish soup (not bouillabaisse, but good all the same) and magnificent slow-grilled steaks. Go the other way to Grasse for Jacques Chibois's two-star Bastide St Antoine. For bouillabaisse, drive down to Antibes to the Restaurant Bacon; try to get a table near the window for lovely views of the water. In Cannes, try La Cave for simple, traditional dishes, beautifully prepared. In La Turbie, there's the Hostellerie Jérome; in Menton, Chibois's Le Mirazur. In Nice, try La Petite Maison and Terres de Truffes; the latter features truffles in each and every dish, including dessert.

And, should your friend be feeling very wealthy indeed, she can drive to Monaco for Alain Ducasse's Louis XV.

I don't think she will go hungry.

[ZenFoodist]

Well, I've certainly proved myself to be quite the speller these last few days what with the San Sebastian faux pas earlier in the week :) Nothing like a bit of public humiliation to round my ego out a bit.

My friend Soph had called from across the pond and mentioned that she'd be going to Mougins (never heard of it...gasp!) and knowing she doesn't have a working computer in her flat, figured I'd post here and ring her up tomorrow with some info for her spur of the moment trip.

I could have sworn I heard Nougins...must be that posh English accent or the fact that at the time I was tending to a roux that was going all too dark on me. Something to be said about attempting to do two things at once.

Thank you for the detailed response. It certainly seems as though Sophie has a few days of feasting in her future.

Lisa

[Jonathan Day]

The error could have been worse: some Brits pronounce Mougins "Muggins".

In any event, I hope your friend has a great time. If she is shopping locally, La Grange du Val, in Tournamy, the newer section of town, has superb fruit, vegetables, truffles and cheeses; Boucherie Alain, right across from the Grange, has some of the finest meat I have tasted, and a great charcuterie range as well.

[Jonathan Day]

Nikolaus, a new eGullet member, suggested a thread on Roger Vergé's Moulin de Mougins.

I, among others, have posted negative comments on this place -- the most recent one here.

The above link mentions L'Amandier, which Vergé no longer owns. We dined there while he did own it. The food was fairly good and the prices not too outrageous. Halfway through our main course a diner at the adjacent table lit a stinking cigar, spoiling the food and the wine for us. We politely mentioned this (in French) to the waiter. "And what do you want me to do about it?" he snapped, and walked away. So L'Amandier got a skull-and-crossbones in the visitors' book we keep with reviews of local places.

After Vergé sold it, we returned to L'Amandier. A new team was on hand, complete with computerised radio transmitters to send the food orders to the kitchen. Despite this touch of clever efficiency, the food was dreadful: our dishes were either tasteless or burnt. And the service was even worse than before.

As for the Moulin, we have dined there once. The signature stuffed and truffled courgette flower was delicious. None of the other dishes seemed to have been made with any care or love. A plate of venison arrived virtually cold. And the waiters were too busy tending to a large coach party to deal with us. So the entire experience left a lot to be desired, especially given the stunning price.

As a part time resident of Mougins (we have a house below the old village) I have deeply mixed feelings about Roger Vergé. His fame has clearly contributed to the village's prosperity, and he has undoubtedly been one of France's greatest chefs and a leader in promoting simple preparations of perfect ingredients. He has brought our village a famous restaurant, a pleasant wine shop, a gift shop, and a cookery school. It is because of Vergé that Mougins is surrounded by some 40 restaurants.

I want to like the Moulin de Mougins. Nothing would suit me more than to have a superb restaurant within close range of our house. I hope that the restaurant's regained second star bodes a significant improvement. But the meal we ate there was far from magical. I am keen to hear more recent reports, and -- if they are convincing and positive -- to try the Moulin again.

[Nikolaus]

It appears I'm the one who inspired this new Forum Topic. So let's see what I can make of it.

I have been to the Moulin maybe 20 times since 1993. This is, in average, not very much, since it results in 2 times per year. Yet, I believe it covers a decently long period of time in which one can make comparisons and thoughts as to the place's development and tendencies.

What I do not want to discuss, at least not in the first instance, is all the topics about Vergé's other restaurants and undertakings, Vergé's (former) globetrotting, his relations with the local community, the highway extension through the Moulin, etc.. In spite of what one can think I don't feel they are directly related to the immediate quality and features of the Moulin as such.

Let me immediately say one thing: the very first time I went, my heart did indeed not warm up for one reason: every element not related to food, from service to timing, very much gave the impression of a luxury chainwork: cold and soulless calculation and perfection. In short, too professional and too littel human. It made You somehow feel like an object of the scene and the mechanism. (But already the very first amuse bouche sent me to heaven: a delicate terrine made by differently worked layers of salmon and hergs, with a Champagne sauce, which alone showed the effort of a regular dish - memory from 1993!).

A second thing which may confirm this: Despite the (by the way positive and rare) fact that the staff (at least the core) are always the same people since ten years, and I always reserve with the same name and via telefax, I never got recognized by anyone, I was always just one of the many, "one serving". And this even if I went there twice in few days.

The second thing is still bothering me (not because I want to be someone, but simply because I love direct human relations; however, I won't go there wth a plate "It's me!" on my waist ), it is certainly due to the high turnover of non repeating clientele which very busy people have to face. While, the first thing, in the end, is just the natural result of the high school and the extremely trained professionalism: simply, by never loosing a point or a gesture, they loose human warmth. This is a pity, but caused by a routined skillfulness which in the end is appreciable, and by the way to be found only in France.

On the other hand, there are also positive remarks on this side:

I once went there for my birthday. They found out and offered birthday cake and Champagne for the whole table.

One of the times Vergé himself was in (often, lately, despite age and career) and came to our table, we showed the usual appreciation, especially for the signature courgette flower we were having in that moment. Well, after he left our table, and we had finished our plates, before the next course suddendly each of us was faced with another plate of that signature dish, offered by the Chef and with a peculiarity: it was more than double the dimension of the one within the menu, and the Maitre declared that Mr Vergé had especially chosen the flowers and the truffles for us.

But let's come to the heart of the discussion, the reason why I wanted to start it.

It is certainly true that the place dropped from three stars it used to have, down to one all of a sudden, and many felt that even that star was too much and kept more for "political reasons". Well, even should this be true, why does nobody question certain clearly undeserved three stars kept for identical political reasons. This is to say that, once acquainted that Michelin stars may be related to politics and not just to cookery, they become a less trustworthy judging standard, be they none, one or three.

But set apart this, I rather feel that all this talking about the place coming down etc. seems by now to be a common phrase, a kind of "fashion": people say so because everyone says so, therefore it will be right; and so it goes from mouth to mouth, becoming a dogma: but often there is no effective and concrete background to this affirmation.

I won't of course ever question anyone competent who is saying that his latest dinner or his last five dinners there have been a disaster, with valid reasons for this. This can, and did, certainly happen from time to time (although it never did to me, but maybe I am not competent enough ).

But more and more, I get the impression that saying "The Moulin went down" is just a must, part of the game and necessary to be in it, but without any real personal experience, background or explanation.

This feeling becomes particularly strong when the phrase is used in comparison to other places, especially when I realize that the comparison is done

(a) with completely different and not comparable places (e.g. I wouldn't compare it to L'Oasis), or

(b) with the new "cutting edge" creative tendency (anything from Bras to Veyrat), or simpler,

© with places where the chef is a former pupil to Vergé (e.g. Ducasse).

But what I would like to reply to everyone, is the following three very simple things:

1) We should consider that Roger Vergé has been the master and teacher for an enormous number of chefs in France and in the world, many of whom are now star cooks. In fact, almost all famous and recently celebrated chefs in the Provence Cote d'Azur area come out of his kitchen.

This means he eventually contributed and still contributes to the creation of knowledge and to culinary culture. If most of the three stars (not to talk of many others) learned cooking from him, and therefore many kitchens still owe him skills and success, why should we turn down the teacher? He certainly did not forget about his skills.

2) I realize the above may (and hopefully will) give raise to discussions. Therefore, a more simple argument: I have been visiting all kinds of upscale places (confining to these makes it easier), of course being conscious of the many possible styles and differences, and appreciating everyone and everything, from Adrià or Veyrat to Bocuse or Vrinat, for its peculiarities.

BUT my simple way of judging a restaurant, forgetting about all technicalities and know-how, is: DO I REMEMBER WHAT I HAD IN MY PLATE(S)?

It may be because of originality or because of perfect execution or because of a particular soul in the plate: a place is "good" if I had "unforgettable" food, and be it only one dish: something I can identify the place for.

Of course, "unforgettable" has different levels, it can last from a week (which would identify rather "remarkable") to a lifetime.

But I must confess that, in ten years and twenty meals, with few exceptions I do remember every single dish I had at the Moulin, its flavours, its texture, its presentation. This is true of course for its signature dishes such as the well known courgette flower with mushrooms and truffles. But also (and especially) for simple things such as a simple roasted Carré d'Agneau with potato purée and red peppers and its own truffled sauce, rose, juicy, intense, almost homecooking: a plate with CHARACTER and HEART.

Also, the signature homard au vin de Sauternes may not fit everyone's taste due to its very traditional creamy preparation, but no one can deny that technique and execution are perfect and the result is usually remembered for years.

Among the desserts, everyone of which sparkled for its beautiful presentation, I can mention examples from Verveine Créme Brulée with red fruits and rose soup, to many excellent variations of Chocolate mousses, green lemon soufflé with peach cream, mango carpaccio with passion fruit sauce...

I could add concrete examples for the opposite: Confining to France, I remember I had excellent meals at nearby L'Oasis, but do not ask me about the single dishes which I do not remember if not for too many spices, after years. The same applies e.g. to Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier and also (as a whole, and set a part some simpler dishes) to Louis XV by Alain Ducasse (or rather Franck Cerutti) in Monaco, which seems to bother inspectors too, since it is loosing and gaining its star with amazing velocity...

In very few words: I feel the Moulin is an outstanding restaurant because it provided me many unforgettable and technically skilled dishes for years, from the most simple to the most original one, all with character and with soul, and eventually deserving a three star rating at least for quality and constance.

While in many other high rated places, including the ones I really love and I count among my favourites, I more than often would have problems in telling what I had ten days ago, even if at the moment I extremely liked it.

GOOD CUISINE IS (ALSO) MEMORY!!!

By the way, here is another nice argument for a general food forum topic: WHAT IS THE MEANING OF A "SIGNATURE DISH" NOWADAYS? Do they still exixt and are they still so "memorable"? And, if yes, what would their average life expectation be?

(I come to this question if I compare a first level with things like Vergé's courgette flower, Loiseau's frog legs with garlic and parsley sauce, Bocuse's truffle soup, with a second level made by Ducasse's asparagus and morilles, Passard's candy tomato with 12 spices, Savoy's artichoke and truffle soup with a third level in today's evolution: is it still about the same thing?)

3) My third argument is techinque and execution. In the Moulin, they know how to cook, and they do it with character.

And, here, there may exactly lay one reason for the turndown by critics and society: Vergé invented a cooking style, performed and spread it, teached it to others, and today still sticks to it firmly without concessions to modernity.

Of course, it is a style with signs of the time it was invented: it features traditional elements, the use of cream and butter besides the oh-so-fashionable olive oil, classical ingredients, a limited (although not absent) creativity... but it has an identity, and it means culture, to which it contributed. It should be recognized, appreciated and honoured for this.

Now, here lays a point: in my opinion, The Moulin was turned down first by Michelin and then by public opinion (or was it the other way around, who knows...), not because technique or quality of the food went worse, but simply because over time he did not evolve nor innovate. Simply, someone started to think that it was no longer "new" and eating always the same food made in the same style was getting boring.

In culinary society where over the years the mission appeared to be first "innovate", then "impress", and finally "astonish", this was and is of course an immense tort!

But, once again, good cuisine is memory, NOT surprise! Aso if I appreciate a dish by Adrià (Let's talk i.e. of jelly-tagliatelle Carbonara...), this is not because I was (only) surprised by it, but because I (also) REMEMBER it over time.

I would rather draw attention to the following: as mentioned before, the core staff of the place is the same since decades, this makes a "team" and a place to be identified and entrusted. It also enhances professionality, the true one.

Second, it is certainly curious that all those who are now greatly celebrated (starting with Ducasse) learnt their job from Vergé, while their teacher is discredited: it can't be true he is no longer able to cook...!!!

Third, in the same regard, all those who Vergé teached to cook did of course well in evolving, since what they learned was not their identity, which they had to search and develop, and has then be indeed appreciated if it deserved so.

But, Vergé himself, who invented the style, who made it a legend: why should he evolve, thereby loosing his identity and soul? He was right in sticking (not even to the fullest extent, by the way) to his tradition and preserving the soul of his cuisine and his restaurant. The Moulin does not want, nor does it need, to impress. It is not cutting edge. It is solid.

Furthermore: It is certainly true that, after loosing the stars, a period of decadence occured. This was unavoidable, since the loss of stars usually implies a dramatic income and turnover fall, which had to be coped with in some way. This may also have brought about some excesses in marketing and merchandise. But then, the place became self-consistent and stable, until to recent days.

And then one more thing happened: Vergé, a 70 years old self made man who at this point could certainly and quietly enjoy the left star and rest on his success, earning his life without any effort through an still prestigeous and always full restaurant and group meals, DID NOT rest on royalties and tourist-coaches:

At his age and at the "end" of a lifetime career, he is now making efforts to requalify: he sold the inflationated Amandier and concentrated on the Moulin; he took over again in the kitchen from his second Serge Chollet and is now almost always present; he modernized the menu, lightening it but preserving its identity (thereby rising prices very slightly, and for the first time in ten years!!! - the menu has been 750 FF form 1993 to the euro, and last time it was 119 e - You all know certain other outrageous standards...), he refurbished the whole place... and, finally, despite the tourist coaches knocking at his doors (should he send them away, or are upscale places expected to hang out a plate forbidding access to them?) he won a second star back!

In my personal opinion, there are all elements for aiming even at a third star again, but this is probably too much expected...

What I can say is that I realized the effort for requalification during all the past years, so I know it has been carefully built up, and is not the casual result of a single and sudden inspiration by an inspector.

All in all and as a conclusion: if there is a place which contributed to culinary history and culture, if this was the school and benchmark for most of today's Chefs, if it preserves its tradition, if it makes efforts for a deserved requalification in spite of ending its days in an obvious way, is it enough to remember the by-gone days and to talk about incoming coaches, to turn that place down? And is this useful for our culinary culture?

I guess I wrote enough for today, and I bless whoever made it until to the end...!

PS: I am not paid nor otherwise linked to the Moulin (wish i was, i'd eat for free!!! )

[vmilor]

I have been at the Moulin only once in 1991 when it possessed 3 stars. I was not impressed then thinking that the food did not have soul and character although it mimicked haute cuisine. Now Nicolaus' well written and honest piece did convince me to give this place another try. His criteria of greatness,i.e. remembrance of dishes long after they have been consumed is a solid criteria. The fact that at 70, and certainly in no need, Monsieur Verge is at the helm is remarkable and speaks for itself. It is entirely possible that in an age people have forgotten the taste of a good breed of lamb(this is esp. true for Americans who can not eat great lamb), it may be a better bet to compose a menu of 30 different kinds of gelatinous baby food with a sweet edge to them than to risk failure by trying to perfect a dish with intense flavors. My vote for Verge is on hold but I appreciate a thorough report whose author has no qualms about being an iconoclast.

[Jonathan Day]

Many thanks to Nikolaus for this extended and interesting post.

After reading it I plan to retry the Moulin this summer, most probably at lunch where the prices are a bit more reasonable than at dinner.

On my earlier post, I would emphasise that outstanding food would have made all the other problems and discussions disappear: the poor service, the wine waiter's repeatedly forgetting our order, the village discussion around M. Vergé, L'Amandier, etc. We really wanted to like the Moulin, and after the stuffed courgette flower, were prepared to like it even more.

Sadly, the rest of the dinner was fair-to-poor both in concept and in execution.

Nonetheless, we'll give it another go and report back.

[degusto]

Roger Vergé has sold his Moulin de Mougins to Alain Llorca, the chef of Chantecler in hotel Negresco in Nice. Llorca will reopen the Moulin de Mougins under his management in January after the annual closing.

[menton1]

It seems that the chef position at the Chantecler is a transitional job; Before Llorca, Dominic LeStanc moved on to open his own place, La Mérenda. I don't know if Llorca is as much of a maverick as LeStanc, though. Bon chance to Llorca! Did Vergé retire completely?

[robert brown]

Jellybean, thanks for the scoop!!!! It's the end of a prolongedly dragged-out era. To see the curtain come down on the home of one of the greatest chefs in history is sad, even if the restaurant was in decline for the past dozen years or so. In its heyday, the Moulin de Mougins was magical. Every aspect of it was charm and class personified. The discreet setting in one of the most picturesque, gorgeous villages in the world and the timeless sense of elegance that Denise Verge imposed on the restaurant was nearly unique, rivalled perhaps only by Michel and Christine Guerard in Eugenie-les-Bains. In the 1970s and the 1980s, the cuisine at the Moulin was in the highest echelon, matched by only a handful of other three-star chefs in France. Even though I stopped patronizing it with the exception of one meal a few years ago, I feel sad. My head feels a bit out of whack as it has a hard time taking in the fact that not only is Roger Verge departing, but that a chef whose cooking, after my having had two dinners, has yet to be to my liking is taking over. The thought of an Adriaphile in the Moulin bothers me. It doesn't seem right. Maybe it is just the fact that Roger Verge has been so deeply associated with both the village and the restaurant that it is difficult to imagine the Moulin de Mougins in the hands of any other chef.

[sumac]

We ate there after it lost its third star just because we wanted to experience verge's cuisine. Everything was beautiful and when the chef came by our table, we told him it was wonderful and he said, "it has to be." different era.

[degusto]

I agree completely with what Robert Brown wrote.

Just some additional observations:

There have been rumours that the Moulin was for sale for quite some time (years).

Vergé opened le Moulin in 1969 when he was 39 years of age. He gained three stars in 1974. How famous he was before 1969 I don't know.

Llorca is 35 years old and I think at least he believes he can acheive the three star level and I think we will see him try to get rid of the Vergé soul that rest within the place, which he must do. It has been a (poorly managed) museum of Vergé's cooking for too long already.

He is likely to cook differently than what he has done at Negresco as he has likely been a prisoner of Negresco in one way or the other and as he must realize by now that what he has done there never received the highest recognition by anyone.

There is no doubt he is immensly talanted but the question is if he will resist the temptation of just trying to continue a more Adrialike cuisine that is a la mode today and instead really try to create his own style, which is very difficult. I personally think there is a great possibility to create a true style based on a remake, modernization and improvement of the "cuisine of the sun" that Vergé was the creator of and that Maximin and Ducasse moved forward, but that has changed little over the last eight years or so. The ingredients are certainly available and he has a large amount of talent, the spirit and motivation and certainly a dream setting. Time will tell what happens.

Edited November 21, 2003 by Jellybean (log)

[Jonathan Day]

This does look like an eGullet scoop! Congratulations to Jellybean and the France forum! Robert, I am jealous every time you post those memoirs of 3-star dining in decades past. Makes me wish I had started this earlier.

As a part-of-the-year "Mouginois" I have a strong personal interest in seeing the Moulin live again. As I've posted before, M. Vergé and the village have had a love-hate relationship for a long time, stemming in part from a decision to separate the Moulin from the old village by a motorway. Vergé sold L'Amandier, the less upscale restaurant in the old village, about a year ago; as of October they still had the wine shop and Denise Vergé's gift shop, as well as the Moulin.

We dined at the Moulin a few years ago, when it had fallen to one star, and we felt we had badly overpaid for the food we were served; also the service had some terrible moments. I was tempted to write to Michelin and complain that this place didn't possibly deserve one star.

Once they had regained a second star, we had lunch at the Moulin this summer, and enjoyed that a lot more. The welcome and service were wonderful, the food was pretty good, and we had a pleasant walk amidst the modern sculpture in the garden afterwards. I would still not have given the cuisine two stars -- more like one or one and a half. The ingredients and execution was good, but there was a certain sameness to some elements of the menu, such as a light green pistou served with virtually every dish: "cuisine du soleil sauce", I guess. There was a certain sense of going through a dance that had been fresh many years before, but was so no longer.

The Moulin also operates an "école de cuisine", and we attended a class this fall. Serge Cholet, chef de cuisine at the Moulin, was the instructor. It was fun, the dishes he prepared were tasty, and it made me want to attend more of M. Cholet's classes. But I had the impression that Cholet either didn't have much of a vision of his own, or wasn't allowed to express one. M. Vergé's long shadow hung over the whole. I wonder whether Cholet will move on or stay to cook with M. Llorca.

"Cuisine de soleil" is certainly right for that part of France -- as Jellybean says, the ingredients and the setting are all in place. Roll on January...