Drome is Where the Heart Is.

[robert brown]

One would think that in my 30 years of French provincial dining in and around the Rhone-Alps and Provence-Cote d'Azur, I would have set foot at least once in the Department of Le Drome, particularly in the wine-growing region of Gigondas or the small but gastronomically-rich area known as Tricastin. Perhaps because of its dearth of renowned restaurants, I never did until a few days ago.

My Maitre Cuisinier de France friend Guy Gateau, whom you may remember from the scintillating Roundtable and Q&A we had with him earlier this year, invited me to visit him at his home outside Nyons and to visit the Universite du Vin in Suze-la-Rousse. Guy picked me up at the Orange train station and drove me to the school where I received a thorough guided tour from the Rhone Valley's equivalent of Mr. Slow Food, Jacques Avril, the university’s deputy director. The Universite du Vin, which takes up all of the monumental 12th-century Chateau de Suze-la-Rousse, is overwhelming unforgettable. I’ll have more to say about it in the near-future.

We returned to Guy’s house for an aperitif and great conversation before we left for a mediocre restaurant meal in Vinsobres. One reason of many why I enjoy the company of Guy and his wife Karen is that they have their fingers on the pulse of the economic and labor situation of restaurants in France. Right now there is an acute labor shortage affecting both small and large restaurants, though it seems it is felt the most in the former category. Karen mentioned a two-star restaurant near Nice that is looking for a dishwasher, chef de partie and a commis. Look in the “help wanted” ads in L’Hotelier Magazine and you will get an idea, she told me.

After a good night’s sleep in Guy’s guest cottage and some toast with his homemade apricot confiture, made just the way I like it with little sugar so that the true taste of the fruit that is one of the great products of the immediate area comes out, Guy showed me some of the small towns and the Chateau de Grignan. He dropped me off at the Montelimar station where I told him I would be back to visit, this time with my wife, the next time we were in France.

I know that the Vallee du Rhone is where many wine lovers go. It does seem to be a difficult area, however, for fine restaurants. Does anyone have any suggestions? For example, I have heard much about Beaugravieres in Mondragon, best known for its wine cellar. Where else might one consider dining?

[Bux]

Vinsorbes is about 10 k from Vaison la Romaine, just over the border in the Vaucluse. There's a one star restaurant in Vaison la Romaine with a good reputation, but my recollection of dinner there was that it was a one note restaurant. The food was good, but there was no depth in the kitchen. As an example, they served a bit of the garnish for my main course as an amuse. Although well cooked and tasty, it lessened the overall sense of the meal and made my main course a bit of a anticlimax. Clearly you weren't in a gastronomic pocket of France.

The Drôme however, has not been entirely devoid of gastronomy. At the opposite end of the department, there has been Pic in Valence and Chabron just north of Valence. The Drôme is home to the wines of Hermitage.

A greater question may be why so much of the cooking in French country restaurants no longer has its charms for us and I assume for you. Mrs. B and I were always pleased when we stopped for a meal in France at one time. We have had a much longer history of dining with pleasure at little unstarred restaurants than we have of touring the stars. Today, I often dread the impromptu stop as much as I do in the states. It's just so hit and miss and there seems to be so many mediocre restaurants that are well regarded locally. Have we become jaded or has the continuum that was French cuisine been broken. There's too great a disconnect between nourishment and fine dining, or so it seems these days. For all that, I recall a pleasant lunch in Grignan in a restaurant that was picked without the help of a guide, just because we were there at lunch time and there's not much else to do at lunch time but eat. Perhaps I'm reading too much into your use of "mediocre" as in the description of the restaurant to which you were taken by Guy Gateau.

[Underhill]

A restaurant in the Drôme that we have enjoyed very much in the years since we first discovered it is Les Hospitaliers, part of a small hotel-restaurant complex in the medieval village perché of Le Poët-Laval. The restaurant then had one Michelin rosette, since lost when the owners retired and the formidable chef had to take over management of the entire operation--but my husband and I can't detect any difference in the quality of the food. The carte changes with the seasons and the market and is always interesting, and the wine cellar is first rate. The restaurant is both inside and out, with a terrace that has a view to the mountains in the distance. Part of the terrce is enclosed on three sides and topped with a rustic roof: perfect when the weather turns a bit chilly or windy. At night the setting is absolutely magical and quiet, with nothing to distract from the food and the stars overhead.

Le Poët-Laval is located just off the road that runs from Montélimar to the charming small town of Dieulefit, from which one can head south to the town of Nyons for selective shopping at the olive co-op.

Montélimar itself has some good restaurants as well, which we've sampled only for an occasional lunch because we can't bear not to eat and stay at Les Hospitaliers.

Edited September 5, 2004 by Underhill (log)

[artisanbaker]

i have lived 18 months of my life in La Drome. i love it.

try restaurant les cedres in Granges-les-Beaumont

picodon de dieulefit: i love it!

Edited September 6, 2004 by artisanbaker (log)