Christian Etienne

[Duncan]

We arranged to visit Christian Etienne on our last evening in Provence (Saturday 6th September), I had better explain that this had some direct effects on our visit:

We were booked on the motorail train from Avignon, so we were able to load the car onto the train late afternoon, and then had the evening free until the train left just before half past ten. Unfortunately the left luggage at the station closed at ten, so I felt it advisable to carry our overnight luggage with us in a small rucksack, and since we were also dressed more for the comfort of travelling than for a posh night out, I think we got a rather suspicious look from M. Etienne when we arrived.

Fortunately, once he had checked that we did in fact have a reservation, we were shown to a table on the terrace. One side of the terrace looks out on the imposing south wall of the Papal palace, but the main view was of a building with many blanked or fake windows with painted scenes.

We ordered a couple of glasses of Champagne as an aperitif, and I explained to the waiter that we had to be back at the station by about ten. I was very impressed by the staff throughout the evening, they managed to serve us quickly, even when the restaurant became busy later on (amongst others there was a wedding party of about 14), and we finished in good time to get back to the station about 20 minutes before our train left. We chose to try the special tomato menu, so that means we got through 7 courses in record short time. I would say though that anyone else going there should try to have a bit more time available so as to be able to enjoy the meal at a slightly more leisurely pace.

I’ve copied the whole tomato menu here. The web site also lists a tomato menu, last updated in June, but it is slightly different, so I guess that all through the season there is a continual fine-tuning of the dishes.

Menu Tomate

60€

Dés de concombre en gelée de tomate aux zestes d’orange

***

Traditionnels tartares de tomates aux trois herbes : ciboulette, basilic, estragon

***

Filet de rouget poêlé sur un ragoût tiède de tomate Marmande aux olive de Nice, coupelle de paillette de peau de tomate emplie de mousse légère au basilic

***

Déclinaison de tomates grappes farcie autour de la Méditerranée : mini ratatouille au citron saumuré, caviar d’aubergine aux noisettes, fondue de fenouil à l’huile d’argan

***

Tatin d’agneau aux pétales de Roma confites et fondue d’oignon, jus aux senteurs de marjolaine

***

Strates de chèvre, poireaux et dés de tomates fraîches, vinaigre de vin vieux, huile d’olive, fleur de sel

***

Bavaroise de tomate aux olives confite, pistou de fruits de la passion à l’huile du « Moulin Bleu Argent », sorbet tomates vertes, feuille à feuille d’oranges

To accompany this we decide to go for a bottle of white wine, and since we’d previously enjoyed a red Vieux Télégraphe (see the thread on La Prévôté), we ordered a bottle of white from the same producer. This went very nicely with most of the courses, although in retrospect it might have been better to order a glass of red to go with the lamb course (especially if we had had a bit more time). The sommelier gave the impression of being everywhere at once, giving people advice, opening wines, topping up glasses. I didn’t notice (because he was directly behind me at the time), but Judy says he used a small tasting glass to check the wine before serving it, which is a nice touch.

One slight worry I had was that, nice though tomatoes are, 7 courses of tomatoes might just be too much of a good thing. I needn’t have worried. There was enough variety in the flavours to keep us interested throughout.

First course was a tomato jelly with diced cucumber. This had a nice crisp flavour.

Next we had three small piles of diced tomato, each flavoured with a different herb (and a roquette salad alongside). Serving it this way as three separate mini salads meant we could have fun trying each on their own, or as combinations.

The fish course also showed a variety of separate flavours, which combined well. I especially liked the basil cream, and the slice of dried tomato had a very intense flavour.

The next course comprised three small stuffed tomatoes, each with a different stuffing. At this point the waitress had a bit of trouble remembering exactly what was in the third tomato, and lost it completely when the sommelier helpfully said on his way past ‘they are all different’ (we’d already figured that out). I see from my tasting notes that I failed to work out at the time that the hazelnut flavoured stuffing also had aubergine, wondering if it was mushroom.

The meat course was a lamb tatin: pastry, meltingly soft slow cooked lamb, covered with intensely flavoured tomato. This was topped with a puree of onion and surrounded by a sauce.

Next, the cheese course was slices of goats cheese interleaved with a layer of tomato, and one of leek. Having a set dish here relieved Judy of her usual task of choosing from a large cheese board. It was nice, but I think this course did the least for me; somehow it didn’t have quite the same excitement as the others.

Even the dessert course continued the tomato theme. The bavarois of tomato and black olives was delicious, and I thought the olives went surprisingly well in a sweet dish. Both the passion fruit and the sorbet provided a nice contrast.

Instead of coffee we asked for tea (Darjeeling), which came with an orange jelly, almond something, pistachio something-else, and a very nice ganache with lavender.

The total bill was €214. It made a wonderful conclusion to our holiday, although if given the chance I think I’ll want to go back sometime when we aren’t so rushed.

[Gary Marshall]

i had an all tomato menu at le choiseul, just outside tours, i thought it ws rpetty unique but obviously not!

gary

[Duncan]

i had an all tomato menu at le choiseul, just outside tours, i thought it ws rpetty unique but obviously not!

Can you remember any of the dishes on that menu? Does it sound similar to the one I described?

[Gary Marshall]

Duncan,

From my report on my trip to tours....

'girlfriend suggested she'd drive us somewhere, i opened the michelin and found 'le choseuil' in Ambroise a 1 star hotel/rest. had no idea what to expect but turned up to find a nice old house with a large first floor dining room, a bit bright but welcoming staff. We were not looking for a menu degustation but plumped for a menu 'le jardin du france' which was comprised totally of tomtatoes. i was initially sceptical but it was bloody good.

starter was a selection of tomato and parmesan bruschetta, a tomato quenelle and a tomato sorbet. all light and very fresh.

mains were a stuffed tomato with a variety of seafood, crayfish tails and lobster sauce i had a tomato tart with braised beef and tomatoes again great.

cheese followed (no toms!) and then a confited tom to finish.

all in all a great meal, for E 45 i think, would recommend it. restored faith that had been lacking from previous nights.

the current menu from their webiste at www.choiseul.com

On the theme "Gardens of France"

the summer menu is around "tomato" till middle of september

Galette de socca aux tomates confites et caillé de brebis du "Pays Lochois",fèves et pistou

***

Morue fraîche caramélisée aux épices douces

et jeunes légumes, beurre noisette à la tomate

ou

Tarte fine à la tomate, champignons et râble de lapin,

sauce diable à la graine de moutarde

***

Sélection de fromages frais et affinés, pain aux noix

***

Gaspacho de tomates et fruits rouges, pain de Gênes au thé vert et angélique,sorbet tomate-ananas

46 € No beverage

65 € wine included

cheers

gary

Edited September 25, 2003 by Gary Marshall (log)

[Bux]

The sommelier gave the impression of being everywhere at once, giving people advice, opening wines, topping up glasses. I didn’t notice (because he was directly behind me at the time), but Judy says he used a small tasting glass to check the wine before serving it, which is a nice touch.

I agree, it's a nice touch. You'd be surprised however at how many people feel cheated that the sommelier is "drinking" their wine. I gather that most of these people also don't mind tasting, or maybe drinking, corked or otherwise off tasting wines. I'd rather have the sommelier guarantee my wine than dare me to spot the flaws.

Nice post. I think it was last year that a friend told me he had really enjoyed the tomato menu. He also had nice things to say about the sommelier, although somehow I had the impression it was a woman then. If so, then it's nice to hear there's a consistency of service through a change in staff. You write a very appealling account of Christian Etienne. Avignon draws so many tourists that I always fear it will lose it's reputation for offering good food. In fact most of the tourists quite happily enjoy the mediocre food served in the outdoor restaurants in the main square. The scene makes a pretty picture, but the food has always been much better in the various restaurants. I've had meals that were memorable in one way or another, but all in good ways, in starred and unstarred restaurants in Avignon over the years. I also don't find Avignon's tourism to be a turn off. After a nice meal, I'm happy to return to the square for an espresso or digestif and people watch.

[rozrapp]

i had an all tomato menu at le choiseul, just outside tours, i thought it ws rpetty unique but obviously not!

gary

An upscale restaurant in NJ offered a special Tomato Menu in August. However, it was a one-day event only. Unfortunately, we were away on vacation and couldn't take advantage of it. (The good news is that we were in Quebec, dining on fabulous food. But that's a conversation for a different board. ) The menu at Christian Etienne sounds wonderful. Since NJ is known for its tomatoes, it would be great if restaurants here would do this type of menu as a regular thing during the height of the tomato season.

[JudyB]

At this point the waitress had a bit of trouble remembering exactly what was in the third tomato, and lost it completely when the sommelier helpfully said on his way past ‘they are all different’ (we’d already figured that out).

What Duncan didn't say in his post is that the (French) waitress was trying to tell us in English what everything was. For virtually everything else she did an excellent job, but obviously got lost halfway through this one.

The one area in the restaurant that Duncan missed was the trip to the toilets: the stairs leading there had an impressive selection of bottled fruit and vegetables. While I'm not sure what all of them were they mostly looked to be bottled tomatoes, of various colours, with at least one bottle of what I think were gherkins. Has anyone else been there and actually know more about what they were?

As Duncan said this was a thoroughly enjoyable evening to end our holiday. In addition to the meal itself, Avignon was also celebrating(?) the Côtes du Rhone vendange up in the gardens above the palace. Unfortunately we arrived too late to see the earlier processions for this, but we could hear some of the proceedings while we were eating.

[badthings]

Avignon draws so many tourists that I always fear it will lose it's reputation for offering good food. In fact most of the tourists quite happily enjoy the mediocre food served in the outdoor restaurants in the main square.

Last fall I had lunch in a place on the square (called Domaine maybe?) that had a nice selection of wines by the glass (maybe 20?), which is both rare, and a pleasant luxury in the middle of the Rhône. I'm guessing they're trying to capitalize on "gourmet" tourists.

Had a decent pistou to eat too.

Now I really wish we'd sprung for Christian Etienne. Thanks for sharing.

[cigalechanta]

Next time, try Heily Luccalus, tho I like sitting outside on the terrace at Etainne overlooking the pope's palace.

[edm]

Anyone been to "La mirande" lately ?

Thanks for input.

[JudyB]

We paid another visit to Christian Etienne during our trip to Provence this year. As on previous trips we gave in and went for the “Menu Tomates”. Although in previous years this has always been very enjoyable this year he seems to have achieved a more balanced menu. Although every course still uses tomatoes somehow the combinations were better and the tomato flavour much less overpowering.

This year the menu was as follows (see here for the French rather than my attempt at translation below):

Trio of cherry tomatoes stuffed with: aubergine caviar, foie gras, chickpeas with anchovy

Three varieties of raw tomatoes with a summer salad, basil and olive oil

Crab roll, finely chopped tomatoes, with confit slices of Roma tomatoes, pistou and roasted pine nuts

Poached egg and slices head of pig’s head brawn on a pearl barley risotto, with dried tomato tapenade

Slow-cooked lamb on crispy ravioli with courgettes, diced beefsteak tomatoes and a sage jus

Socca of mozzarella with tomato sauce, chive and chervil salad

Crystallized tomatoes on a pistachio dacquoise with tomato sorbet and strawberry juice

We chose a white Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Vieux Télégraphe 2003) to go with this.

As on previous visits the service was excellent, with the staff clearly trained to address us in English where possible. There were occasions where the complexity of translating the menu into English was beyond some of the staff, but they certainly tried. The only element of service which was perhaps a bit unusual for such a restaurant was the wine – this was opened and placed in an ice bucket beside the table, but no-one came to serve it. Since this was a lunchtime visit and Duncan had to drive back afterwards we were quite happy with this, but it wasn’t clear if this was a deliberately relaxed lunchtime service or a reflection of the sommelier on duty. (This was a female sommelier instead of the male one we have seen on previous visits).

[AlexBernardo]

I'm glad to see an update on this resto. The last time I was at Christian Etienne was also back in Sept. 03, during the tail end of the infamous heat wave. I was impressed with the Tomato Menu, as it was unique and tasty and surprisingly went well with the wines my wife and I had (a Crozes-Hermitage White, Alain Graillot and an unknown Cotes du Ventoux that the sommelier blind tasted me on, but forgot to disclose to me the label). I believe that male sommelier is an American from the Midwest. Probably what impressed me more about the resto was its setting, in a building that's part of the ancient Palais des Papes. Dining on the outdoor terrace overlooking the Palais des Papes square below was somewhat breathtaking.

Anyway, though my experience was good I've never returned as I thought it was pricey and a bit pretentious for me. In Avignon, I enjoy more the tiny, hole-in-the-wall Au Petit Bedon on 70, rue Joseph Vernet. Very good modern take on Provencal cuisine.