Marc Veyrat

[cabrales]

Figaro Magazine recently reported that Veyrat is *considering* opening a restaurant in Paris. M Haeberlin is expected to supervise a restaurant to be opened around 2Q 2003 in the Europa Hotel in St. Petersburg. Apparently, P Haeberlin apprenticed with the chef who was the last to prepare cuisine for the Romanovs.

[Wilfrid]

The last meal the Romanovs ate might not have been terribly appealing.

[cabrales]

Zagat reports:

"Marc Veyrat: The three-star chef from the Savoy region is said to have a Paris project in the works for late this spring."

I assume the reference to late spring is not an opening date; otherwise it would be highly ambitious.

[Bux]

Let's hope that if Veyrat has plans for Paris, they are ambitious. I am looking forward to a project at least as ambitious as any Haussmann undertook.

[vmilor]

. M Haeberlin is expected to supervise a restaurant to be opened around 2Q 2003 in the Europa Hotel in St. Petersburg. Apparently, P Haeberlin apprenticed with the chef who was the last to prepare cuisine for the Romanovs. 

Last Spring I stayed at this hotel and had a very good meal at their beautiful restaurant. It was a solo dinner. There were very few tables and the stuff was gracious and cordial. After gulping down beluga with vodka, they brought the daily special, roasted venison Romanov style. It was very good. At some point I closed my eyes and imagined myself to be transported to a different era. Well maybe I had a prescient dream....

[fresh_a]

I saw Haeberlin and Veyrat together in Paris a several months ago. I also hear the new "project" is on the avenue des Champs Elysees...

[Stephen Jackson]

L’Auberge de l’Eridan - Marc Veyrat, Veyrier-du-Lac, France

Okay, so it’s me, T (my wife) and my parents. It’s the start of a long holiday, eventually ending up at our little house in the Aveyron, but the thing starts with a bang; a night at Marc Veyrat. I’d been about 10 years ago, and it was excellent then, but the rumours were that something had happened in the intervening years, and that this guy was now something a little bit special. Landed in Geneva, collected our hire car, and headed south, into France, towards Annecy. As we pulled into the yard in front of the hotel, out popped one of the staff, in smart beige alpine waistcoat and trousers, complete with standard Veyrat floppy black felt hat. Bags were whisked away, and we were shown to our rooms. T and I were told that we’d been upgraded to a suite (might have been something to do with me being a chef/restaurateur, might have meant they simply had a late cancellation. Or perhaps they knew I was going to post a review at eGullet and got scared….) The suite was magnificent. Since I was last there, they’ve re-decorated, and there’s even more of that lovely alpine chalet-feel to the interiors. The Genevrier suite is split level, huge lounge area, full mini kitchen (Oven, fridge, freezer, washing machine - which prompted all sorts of questions like: Who on earth would come all this way, spend ALL this money, and decide to just open a tin of soup and eat it on the balcony in their underpants?) Ceilings are covered with chicken-wire cages filled with dried nuts and berries and cereals. God help them if they ever get mice in that lot. Upstairs was the bedroom and bathing area, with one of those all-over showers and a Jacuzzi bathtub. Veyrat was ubiquitous; his little hat logo on everything in the room, and I was looking forward to seeing what the hat could do downstairs in the kitchen. It was still almost unbearably hot as we took drinks on the new deck at the front (lakeside) of the building. He has a semi-wild garden there now, and I took the liberty of wandering round sniffing and nibbling at a few of my favourite wild plants before the ‘first course’ arrived. I think it’s better to proceed in list-style from now on, and bear with me, will you? I’m working from a pile of hastily-written notes and illegible text from my PalmV.

1) Some ‘Nibbles’ with our drinks – lichen mousse / provencal vegetables / pepper & goat’s cheese soup with lavender

each of us was presented with a large rectangular glass plate, on which sat a small log (yes, log. Bit of tree) which was covered in small flowers, tied with wire and poked into the wood. The first glass contained a thin, fluffy, cool cream made with lichen and Veyrat’s famous all-vegetable stock. It was delicious, refreshing and tantalizing. I wouldn’t say lichen had any particular flavour, but it was certainly redolent of something. Like a walk in a rainy forest. The vegetable nibble came in the form of a tiny pressed pepper, aubergine and tomato tian. It exploded with flavour, everything ripe and balanced perfectly. Finally, the pepper and goat’s cheese glass. This was brilliant stuff. At the bottom of the glass was a rich, smooth red pepper puree, topped with a layer of liquefied goat’s cheese, sharp and creamy, and floating on top was a thin film of intense lavender oil, which seemed to elevate the primary flavours. I was now officially ready to eat. And this alfresco overture was made all the more astonishing by the fact that about 20 of us were now taking drinks on the deck, and we all had an almost identical log in front of us. We all sat there, slurping and glugging. Monsieur Veyrat was prowling around and chatting, and seemed to do little else all evening. This bothers some people. I’m fairly ambivalent. You can’t expect the man to do it all, and as much as I hate going out and pressing the flesh, he’s a damn good frontman. We ordered, chose wine and water, and went to our table.

2) Cometh the Hour, Cometh The Bread Trolley

Yoinks. A huge trolley is pulled up to our table, and the pleasant girl invites us to choose from about a dozen types. Throughout the meal we tried a superb saffron bread, excellent Poilane, and a cereal bread so full of flavour I wished I could have bought a few loaves to take home. My father, being as he is, ate the bacon bread all evening. it was delicious.

3) ‘Virtual’ Ravioli of Parmesan, Bouillon, Smoked Twigs

a small glass bowl is placed in front of each of us, and in the bottom is a small flat yellow disc. UK readers will know what I mean when I say it’s just like one of those yummy sherbet-filled flying saucer sweeties. To the side, a small pine twig, trimmed to look like a small bottle-brush. It had been smoked, somehow, so it smelt fantastic – like a lovely pine log fire. The waiter came to the table with a jug of steaming vegetable bouillon, and poured it onto our discs, and they started to bubble and melt away. We were encouraged to stir the broth with our twigs, and drink the soupy mess quickly. It was ambrosial. The smoky pine scent, mixed with the pungency of the parmesan and the tasty bouillon left one wanting more. Lots more. I nibbled my twig, too. Pine needles taste quite nice. Not sure I was meant to, though.

4) The first courses:

Me – Mallow Jelly with Caviar and Coltsfoot Foam

T – ‘Salade Folle’ with Sandwich of Provencal Vegetables and Tastes of the Sea

Dad – Foie Gras served Two Ways

Mum – Boiled Eggs, Nutmeg Foam, Oxalis

My plate contained three medium shot glasses, layered up with a marsh-mallow (guimauve) jelly (mallow extract is a natural setting agent), pearls of caviar, a caviar cream and topped with a vivid green foam made with coltsfoot. It was great stuff; the coltsfoot lent a vegetal note, and the caviar’s saltiness mixed well with the pale flavour of the jelly.

T’s salad came as a plate of the Provencal vegetables (sandwiched up like the nibble on the first plate), and sauteed prawns, plus a wooden test-tube holder filled with bouquets of various leaves (I identified shiso, oakleaf and mitsuba). She was also served a ridiculously good panisse, the chick-pea ‘french fry’, which was filled with molten Parmesan and dusted with more of the grated cheese. It was crunchy on the outside, but yielded a smooth, tasty filling full of flavour.

Dad’s foie gras came on two plates; four perfect cubes of chilled liver terrine with veins of pureed black fig. Another plate contained a large slab of sautéed liver, sitting in a small pool of cooking juices, with traces of cocoa and orange zest. He loved it to the point of forgetting to offer me any!

Mum’s eggs were a sight to behold. In front of her was placed another plate with a log on it, except this was more like part of the base of a tree trunk, with moss and oxalis growing out of it. Along the wood were placed four eggs, with their tops lopped off, brimming over with a warm nutmeg foam. Alongside lay four Hessian-wrapped plastic syringes filled with a warm oxalis cream. The waiter picked each syringe up and blasted the cream straight into the eggs. The egg itself was half-boiled, half-scrambled, which made it more interesting texturally, but I didn’t care for it. It was like a bad scrambled egg, quite lumpy. Still, the flavours worked really well, especially the nutmeg foam. That was magic.

Point of Interest: At this point, a party came to a nearby table with a small girl, who held in her arms a real live rabbit, all fat and brown and lovely. Minutes later, a beautifully peeled carrot on a small green plate appeared from the kitchen. Now that’s what I call service…

5) Crayfish with Roquefort and Meadowsweet

Another small bowl, with three huge crayfish tails sitting in a powerful fluffy Roquefort cream, and dusted with pretty meadowsweet flowers (I love meadowsweet so much!) It was strange how well it worked, because meadowsweet is really pungent, and the cheese was very strong, too. But somehow it married up brilliantly, the sweet, strong fishiness of the crayfish held its own, making for a most impressive dish.

6) Test-tube of Broad (Fava) Bean Puree with Truffle and ‘Effervescent’ of Truffle

Like it says, a test tube was handed to each of us, nestled in a specially carved piece of stone. The lower half was an iridescent green ‘soup’ of broad beans (not especially flavourful), and the upper half was what I presume to have been a truffle bouillon. Into the top of each of the tubes, the waiter dropped a ‘pill’ of fizzy truffle stuff (I have no words here), and it bubbled and fizzed, releasing strong truffly flavour into the tube. School chemistry would have been more exciting like this! I chugged the whole thing as required, and it was like being hit in the face with a massive black truffle. Masses of earthy sweet pungent flavour, and then the calming bean puree to stop you in your tracks. How they made the effervescent is anyone’s guess. But as a bit of theatre, it was most welcome.

7) Gaspacho with Dry Ice

A highball-esque glass, quarter-filled with a terrifically sweet tomato gazpacho, and a dried hollow stem of something (I reckon lovage or comfrey) through which to suck it. Oh, and a cube of dry ice, bubbling and fizzing away, sending out clouds of ‘steam’ over the top of the glass. Very Jean-Michel Jarre. I was disappointed with the gazpacho itself, it being way too sugary, which got in the way of the tomato, but it was a nice funny point in the meal. Food should sometimes make you giggle, and we all had a good chuckle at what we were being given here.

8) ‘Cappuccino’ of Potato with Truffle and Chocolate

My word, this was good. It was a tiny bowl of super-whipped silky pureed potato, dusted with cocoa, and at the bottom lurked masses of chopped truffle in what I can only describe as liquefied chocolate. It was that simple, or seemed to be so, at any rate. The chocolate was rich and dark, the truffle scented and musty, and the whole thing was superb.

9) Main Courses

Me – Pork Cheek with Matafans, Artichokes, Lemon Yoghurt Emulsion, Mugwort and Truffle

T – Fera with Vegetable Emulsion and Wood Avens

Ma – Omble Chevalier with Poppy and Fromage Blanc

Pa – Langoustines with Comfrey ‘Semolina’, Cauliflower and Pine Kernels

Kilner Jars of Vegetables

My main course was one of the best things I have ever eaten. In a huge copper pan were placed the tenderest pieces of braised pork cheek, interspersed with pieces of truffle, artichoke hearts and the matafans, which are frizzled potato croquettes. The lemon emulsion was incredibly tart, and cut through the unctuous pork and starch potato brilliantly. Finely-shredded mugwort gave the dish a pleasantly spicy note.

T’s fish came in large sautéed chunks with a strong sauce of avens (a bit mushroomy in taste) and a few spoonfuls of fluffy vegetable stock emulsion. It was pronounced delicious, although the sauce was a little overpowering, and had to be taken in small amounts with each piece of fish

Mum’s fish was quite simply a whole omble chevalier, laying across a beautiful blue glass plate, with a strong whisked sauce made with sharp fromage blanc, and poppy seeds and flower heads.

Dad’s langoustines were immense things, laying on a bed of greens, with flicks of a light cauliflower cream, and to one side was a rolled comfrey leaf, filled with a granulated pile of remarkable ‘frozen’ comfrey. It was similar to the frozen foie gras powder I had at El Bulli some time ago, and it melted on the tongue, releasing lovely swet herbal, vegetal flavours. A nice touch, and superb with the rich meaty langoustines

Our vegetables came in small sealed jars, opened at the table. It was a few florets of cauliflower, and courgette pices in a lightly-herbed buttery emulsion. I could have done without mine, to be honest. We were all getting full.

10) Cheese

Mindful of my stomach’s attempts to crawl away and have a good night’s rest, I opted for a couple of local cheeses, neither of which I can remember, but one was a good peppery goat’s cheese, the other a hard Cantal-style floral cow’s milk effort. I waved the bread trolley away the minute I saw it. The cheese bread selection looked wonderful, but I was determined to get through this without my pants splitting.

11) Pre-desserts

Oh God, not more food. But what a selection. A huge plate, decorated with twigs and sprihs of herbs and flowers, upon which were nestled several delicious little sweetmeats. As far as my notes and memory can recall, they were:

Little Lemon Beignets

Rice Pudding (in tiny shot glasses, with a layer of super-sour blackcurrants (superb))

A cup of "genepi" foam (alpine juniper) with a chocolate syringe to squeeze into it (strong)

3 sorbets (in cornets) and 3 mousses of the same – lime (really tart, superb), serpolet thyme and lemon balm

Tiny Blueberry Clafoutis on sticks

Nibbling gently on these, I got my second wind, as we say round here, and I was ready for the final push to the summit….

12) Desserts

Me – Asparagus Feuilleté with Warm Asparagus Mayonnaise, Apple Coulis

T- Mille-feuille of Chocolate, Cardamom Foam, Peppered Thyme Coulis

The folks had given up by now, and who’d blame them? My asparagus (chosen simply for its bizarre-factor) was basically what it said. A small square puff pastry casket filled with baby asparagus tips and a thin creamy warm mayonnaise, with a sharp apple coulis and a cylinder of green apple sorbet. I’m still not sure why I liked it, but I did. It was a bizarre concoction, and the two elements seemed quite disparate, but there was something in it that linked the asparagus and the apple. I suppose it was like a savoury (like I do a warm Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese here at my restaurant). Strange and wonderful.

T’s chocolate dessert was a lovely plate of tiny scoops of bitter and white chocolate sorbets, with a feuillete of chocolate mousse layered between rice-crispie chocolate sheets. The peppered serpolet sauce lent the dish a bit of edge to counter all that sugar, and was marvellous.

For an accompaniment, I had a lovely local Vin de Paille, and T had her favourite Maury. Both perfect.

Coffee was taken back out on the veranda, so Dad could light up a cigar, and we all ordered coffees.

The minute we sat down, more desserts arrived! Run for the hills! We were served four tiny crèmes brûlées, flavoured with serpolet, meadowsweet, liquorice and chicory. All delicious, slightly warm, full of herbal flavours. I am loath to say that I ate the lot.

Then, with the coffees came the final plate, the petits-fours:

A little Tiramisu

5-spice cream pot

cumin caramel lollipops

They were great, especially the cumin lolly, but we’d all really had enough by then.

It had been a gargantuan effort, it had taken about three hours, and as I sipped my coffee and gentian eau-de-vie, I felt as full as an egg. We were all blissfully happy. it had been a memorable meal, generally excellent, with a few dishes not quite to our taste, but all of it cooked to perfection, served with style, wit and amiability, and with a refreshing lack of pretension (the likes of which T and I had suffred last year at the hands of Regis Marcon at the Clos des Cimes in Saint-Bonnet-Le-Froid, not a place I’ll be rushing back to. If anyone wants to hear of my woes there, I’ll be happy to dredge up my notes)

Our wines, and I’m afraid I can’t remember the producers or vintage, were an excellent buttery, floral Chignin-Bergeron and a terrifically robust Mondeuse, from a sensible and Savoie-heavy list. I’d not drunk much Savoie wine before, so I left it up to the sommelier, pointing out that I wasn’t going for broke, price-wise. He did the decent thing, and chose wines just off the bottom of the list. Nice man.

Prices? Well, I sneaked a look at the only menu with prices on, and all three courses were similarly-priced. They averaged out at about €75 per dish. Some first courses were €105. The rooms cost about €700 each. Breakfast was taken on the deck, and was an excellent selection of hams, cheeses, yoghurts, jams, honey, pastries and breads, with brilliant quince and raspberry juices in old-time rubber-stoppered bottles.

Worth it? Well, frankly, yes. It was an evening of pure drama. The place, the food, the service, the treats, the indulgence. It all rolled into one quantifiable whole. Sure, you wouldn’t go there every night, nor would you survive eating that much food for three nights in a row, I expect (perhaps that’s why there’s a kitchen in the suite. If I’d had to eat that much for two nights running, you can bet that on the third night I’d have been the one spooning tinned pasta into my mouth on the balcony. In my pants, naturally) As the (sometimes overpoweringly floral) GaultMillau guide points out, how much does a Prada handbag cost, and does it give as much satisfaction? Can you put a price on such things if they give you what you want from them? Memories. That’s the thing. I’ll remember this meal for decades, whilst the physical remains of it has long passed through the plumbing of Veyrier-du-Lac. We were present as a chef possibly reached his creative peak. It was a show, it was an opera, it was an experience in the broadest sense. It was also a bloody great dinner.

We had a whale of a time by the lake, and the next morning we headed for Switzerland, and after that we arrived in Lyon.

Which is where my next review begins….

[ballast_regime]

Stephen:

Your review was excellent, even if some might say a tad longish, but I wish every write-up was this length, if not more so. The devil isn't in the details; just pure reading enjoyment. Thanks for your post, and I will look forward to reading many, many more.

Thanks,

Ian Lowe

ballast/regime

[Stephen Jackson]

I was cringingly aware of the length of the damn thing as I wrote it, but there was just so much to mention. Over a dozen courses. So I thought I'd risk it this time. My other reviews are a lot more easy on the eye/mouse.

[ballast_regime]

Stephen:

No, please... Longer... Let the Tolstoy in you come out.

IML

b/r

Edited July 11, 2003 by ballast_regime (log)

[sockettrousers]

Ever since Gault Millau gave Marc Veyrat its first ever 20/20 I've been planning a trip. Before I commit, I'd be interested to hear if anyone here has eaten M. Veyrat's food. If so, do you think it's worth the trip from 06 and the thousand plus euros for dinner for two and a room?

r

[robert brown]

Sockettrousers, I used to dine on Marc Veyrat's cuisine fairly often after my first meal in 1986. For a time it was great eating. My last meal there was around eight years ago. I think he has become a swell-headed,narcissistic celebrity chef (face lift and all) with that ridiculous hat he always wears. I wish I could tell you about his restaurant today. Some people hate it and others like it. It sounds like he is trying to be the French Adria, and to me there is only one Adria. I can safely say I have eaten my last meal there. I hope someone else chimes in who has been there in the last couple of years. Where in the 06 do you live? Or will you be travelling through there (Alpes-Maritimes)?

[paulbrussel]

Unfortunately I haven't. But if you would like to get an impression of his cooking, you might well have a look in his new book that has been published recently: three tomes in a box and extremely expensive, but very nice.

[Bux]

We had lunch at Veyrat's restaurant outside of Annecy almost six years ago. I was quite prepared to dismiss him and his cooking as overly affected from what I had read. My curiosity and my lack of general acceptance of what's said in most restaurant reviews was enough to get me to go there in spite of the anticipated price and low expectation. As a side note, when a person gets to be a celebrtity chef, he's going to draw lots of criticism from writers whose audience is heavily populated with readers who want to hear that this very expensive food is really the emperor's new clothes. This is a partially why I don't pay much critical attention to what's written about famous chefs in the general media and I count most of what's written in the glossy food magazines as aimed at a general audience except when it's aimed the other way--that is to say, aimed at the top bracket of disposable incomes in an effort to attract advertisers.

Okay. The short answer is that we found very little in the way of affectation. We were excited and pleased with our meal and thought it offered good value even at the price. I'll also note that for some reason, Veyrat interrupted our service as we were ordering cheese and decided to send out several more courses on top of all those we had already recieved in our tasting menu. I'm not sure why. Either he just felt we really appreciated his food, or Mrs. B's active note taking made him think she was someone else.

Since then, I've heard several reports that he's changed his style and may have gone off the deep end, but I've heard that about other restaurants I've enjoyed and I've heard great reports from people I respect about restaurants I thought were on shaky ground. There's always going to be a lot of subjectivity to taste. Go with your curiosity, if you can afford it. If you're going to regret having a disappointing meal more than possibly missing an exciting one, that's a different story.

If price is a concern, and it was for us, you can consider staying in Annecy and dining at Veyrat. We stayed in the Imperial Palace with a wonderful view of the lake. Rates are about half that of Veyrat's Auberge de l'Eridan, and it's the most expensive hotel in Annecy. You can easily cut that cost in half again by staying in a more modest, but comfortable hotel.

[Louisa Chu]

s-t, when/where are you going? I'd go. I have not been to either yet, but a couple of the guys I worked with at Ducasse worked with him and think his cooking's brilliant. I can't remember if we mentioned this before, but he is actively looking for a space in Paris - most recent consideration was at the Lutetia.

Marc Veyrat

[Bux]

Brilliant would be a fair description of our meal six years ago. Almost all of it was inventive, none of it was shocking and all of it was superbly well prepared. I managed to finish off those extra courses not out of hunger, obligation or politeness, but soley because I just couldn't stop myself from having just another taste until it was gone.

The Lutetia has had a one star restaurant for as long as I can remember, but Veyrat would be a feather in its cap.

[cdh]

A friend ate there a year or two back and emailed me a complete review of the place and the 15 or so course meal he had. I'll see if I can find the email and edit it to a postable format.

[cigalechanta]

We ate at his Auberge de Eriden on Lac Annecy. It was fabulous and sitting on that deck for drinks before hand, makes you feel you are on a luxury yacht. When you enter, you are taken by the guide down an elevator that barely holds the three of us. They were kind enough to give me the menu. Be warned. It is TRES CHER!

[cdh]

Mission accomplished. About a year ago a friend reported to me on his meal at Veyrat's Ferme de Mon Pere. Dishes served were as follows, with my friend's personal reactions noted.

1. Platter with a pumpkin soup, herb sorbet, and a tartiflette (cheese, potatos, bacon, and onions).

2. Foie gras with a citrus sauce. 

3. Scrambled eggs in the shell with a nutmeg soufflé and sorrel sauce injected into it at the table. 

4. A soup with cheese and chicken broth 

5. A “cappuccino” of truffles and mashed potatoes served with a shot of soup with an effervescent tablet of truffle powder (really)

6. St. Pierre fish served with bumplings made of basmati and almonds served on a hot stone. This dish was the not entirely exceptional on due to being slightly overcooked by the stone.

7. Scallops served with a grapefruit and lime sauce

8. Root vegetables served in a clay shell with truffles and a milk sauce 

9. Tail of “langoustines” served with a frozen herb powder and an acidic sauce (amazing)

10. Caramelized frogs legs in an herb powder 

11. Pigeon with a truffle juice and some unidentifiable sauce mixture in a glass. Insane. 

12.  Cheese course 

13.  A citrus and fritter desert 

14. An apple soufflé 

15. Several bizarre desert crèmes. I was able to ID cumin, soy, chives, and almond milk. 

16.  there were also several entremets between the courses. 

17.  A 1955 Calvados 

18.  A Cusenier Cognac from 1936 

19.  Coffee and and A Cohiba Pyramides Serie Limitada 2001.

[sockettrousers]

Where in the 06 do you live? Or will you be travelling through there (Alpes-Maritimes)?

No, we live in Vence.

I'm very surprised that only one member (so far) has eaten Veyrat's food recently.

cdh's friend's menu sounds pretty good. Especially "ail of 'langoustines' served with a frozen herb powder and an acidic sauce" and the "...effervescent tablet of truffle powder".

r

[vmilor]

We have eaten there in June 2002. It is interesting that about 75% of the dishes were identical with the notes posted above, although the season is very different. Veyrat and Adria are similar in that both chefs are trying to "create" a type of cuisine oblivious to seasonal variations and they lead the gastrotech trend. I find this normal as most reviewers want to be dazzled by technique and are not particularly attentive to(or knowledgeable about) ingredient quality.

I had also dined and stayed at Veyrat in the mid 90s and had a fantastic meal. His cooking was very intense but harmonious at the same time.

In 2002 the earlier magical experience did not repeat. Veyrat's interest in extracting flavor from mountain herbs and flowers had reached ludicrious heights, and the endless infusions numbed the palate and beyond a certain point I lost interest in his experimentations. He somehow made different dishes taste too similar. To me this is a sin.

The negative highlight was steak frites where the steak was literally uncooked and the frites had an uncanny resemblance to reconstituted potatoes. The positive highlight was ultrafresh omble chevalier whose flavor was enhanced with its citrus infusion.

I did not choose expensive bottles, we had a Condrieu and a local red and paid about 1000 Euro.

I remember rating the first meal 19.5/20 and the second 13/20. Interestingly El Bulli is also inconsistent, my 2 meals there may rank 14/20 and 19/20.

Veyrat is capable of greatness but maybe because he is self thought the very qualities that made him a cutting edge chef also threaten to undermine him as his vision is blurry about when innovation ends and absurdity begins. Please go and see for yourself and report back as to where he stands right now. I may be convinced going back.

[Bux]

I had also dined and stayed at Veyrat in the mid 90s and had a fantastic meal. His cooking was very intense but harmonious at the same time.

That would be a very fair understatement about our meal there. Six years ago, prices were much lower and we drank local whites and reds. At that time, Veyrat's inspiration and experimentation were tied to the local produce and the wild plants of the local Alps, but the results seemed classic. Vmilor describes another sort of food than what he produced then. Clearly, I might be disappointed today, but it's a risk I'd like to take someday.

[Stephen Jackson]

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry327572

[Holly Moore]

About two years ago a friend and I dined at his other place, La Ferme de Mon Père in Megève. It was a wonderful experience. Alas I forget most of the details. What I do remember has little to do with the food itself:

When we made our reservations, the only time they could fit us in was 7 PM. As it turned out we took a few wrong turns on the way there and did not get to our hotel until 8:30. The concierge called and was able to get us in at 9:30.

We went for the full menu. About half way through I started feeling unusally full. I had been having some digestion problems prior to the trip to France which later turned out to be a blockage of the intestine. At this point it was just a semi-blockage I figure. Anyway at that point I started taking just a bite or two, either sharing it with my partner or returning it partially eaten. Evidently they noticed because when desert time came the server brought me a porrige/pudding instead of one of their regular desserts. It was greatfully appreciated. I'm assuming they made it just for me.

As far as I'm concerned we had the best seat in the house. Right next to a glass wall - behind which were a bunch of chickens in a barn yard setting. A fascinating floor show complete with a king of the mountain competition and multiple demonstraions of the end result of a chicken's digestive process.

Veyrat at the time paired the breads to the course. Three different breads offered through the meal.

Service wise it appeared he had raided the local high school's science lab. Flasks, syringes, beakers. A novel gimick I enjoyed.

All I can remember about the food itself is that it was exciting and very, very good.

We had dined at Taillevent in Paris two days earlier and while the cuisine and hospitality at both was excellent, La Ferme de Mon Père was a lot more interesting and a lot more fun.

[cigalechanta]

We had a wonderful meal at his Auberge De Eriden located in Tailloires, Lac annecy.