Restaurant Greuze, Tournus http://www.1france.com/

[jaybee]

One of the most memorable meals we've enjoyed in France was at Restaurant Greuze in Tournus.  The signature chicken roasted with garlic was so good that I would be tempted to make a special trip just to eat it again.  The place is a throwback to traditional Burgundian foods and preparations, comfortable and elegant surroundings and good natured service. I haven't seen it mentioned on more recent posts and wonder if this well travelled group contains others who've eaten there.  I'd welcome reading about their experiences.

http://www.1france.com/features/fwr_greuzetournus.html

[robert brown]

Jaybee, I ate there one time. It was so long ago that I doubt I can add very much. It must have been circa 1975. The food was wonderful, classic Burgundy cooking, of course. I do remember that I had veal kidneys in, I believe, a red wine sauce. The service was fine, but kind of straight-forward and not real cordial to us two Americans. I would love to know if it's still as good now as it was then.

[lizziee]

Robert,

Restaurant Greuze in Tournus was wonderful. We were there in 1999 and had a wonderful lunch. We were the only Americans in the room, but Jean Ducloux, the chef and his wife couldn't have been more cordial. It is traditional Burgundian food, beautifully prepared with the finest ingredients.

We had the menu Epicurien.

I had the cold foie gras en gelee and my husband had the marinated salmon. We both had the Blanquette de ris de veau Grand-Mere Ducloux. As the name suggests it is a homey dish from the chef's grandmother of stewed sweetbreads. There was then a sorbet marc de Bourgogne and then lamb with vegetables and cheese. I don't remember what we had for dessert. Again, it is straight-forward cooking with a warm and friendly staff. The wines were Clos des Mouche 97 and a 93 Chambolle Musigny from Faiveley - we do love Burgundian wines! I would definitely go back again.

Another find for us on this 1999 trip was Moulin de Marterey.. This is a little old house on a stream that used to be a gate/lock house. The old gears and wheels are still in place. This little restaurant was also warm and inviting. The chef, Jean-Pierre Gillot is very talented and came out of the kitchen to introduce himself as we were so delighted with his food. Two memorable dishes: 3 prepartions of snails - one in a confit of wine, one with wild celery or water parsley (in french ache) and one with tomato confit. The other remarkable dish was Bresse chicken done 3 different ways - an extraordinary and innovative dish. As you can see, the chef likes to take an ingredient and do different preparations of the main ingredient.  Wines were more than reasonable - a Raveneau Chablis and a 95 Monthelie ( both $40.00.)

[robert brown]

Well that answers that!!

[jaybee]

Lizziee, I am so glad you've joined this forum! (How long have you been keeping such records)?  Where is the Moulin de Marterey?  It sounds very appealing.

[lizziee]

jaybee,

Thank you so much for your nice comments. I am so glad to have "found" egullet - what a diverse, iconoclastic, knowledgeable group of dedicated food and wine people. It is a privilege for me to read the posts.

We have been traveling on our stomachs in France for about 10 years. It is only in the last 5 years that we have tried to keep detailed notes and collect menus. We try to pick a different region each year and spend 6 days in Paris and 23 days in the countryside.

We try not only to eat at 3*'s but also to find those little gems as well as check out the 2*'s to see if they'll make it to the lofty Michelin level. Finally this year we will succeed in eating in every 3* in France as for the first time we are going to Alsace and Strasbourg.

One year we did Burgundy/Rhone-Alps,another year the Pyrenees, mid-Pyrenees, another year Provence,Cote d'Azur another Bordeaux,Dordogne etc. I think you get the picture. We usually take the TGV from Paris to Burgundy ( I am a great lover of Burgundian wine and food) and then branch out from there. The idea is to drive no more than 2 to 2 1/2 hours every other day, have at least 2 to 3 meals in each destination 3* and really explore the area we have chosen for that year. This way we do not feel like we are living in the car and can spend time in the small villages "hanging around." We've been to a lot of market days and even an appliance fair in Auxerre. Of course you have to have somewhat of a marathon stomach to handle all of this - 2 1/2 hour lunches - 4 hour dinners makes for a lot of walking in between. But that is the most fun - exploring by foot.It also keeps the waistline somewhat manageable.

Moulin de Martorey is in Saint-Remy - 71100 Chalon-sur-Saone.

[jaybee]

Lizziee, You are fortunate. That's a wonderful way to travel.  My brother-in-law is a great travel planner and Francophile, so we've had the good fortune of many trips with him and my wife's sister such as you describe over the past 20 years (about one week shorter though).  That's one of the reasons I started a thread on "best trip itineraries."  We moved away from the 3* places after the first ten years and look for small, upstart restaurants and regional stars. That's what got us to Greuze. (Our travel companions got so into bistros in Paris they wrote "Paris Bistros," the third edition of which came out last year).  Have you covered the Sologne region?  I'd enjoy comparing notes on that with you, perhaps in an off-forum email.

[robert brown]

http://www.gastronomie.com/afp/gastronomie...30.ia3jq1d5.asp

Pierre Gagnaire is making some unspecified investment in 82-year-old Jean Ducloux, owner-chef of Restaurant Greuze in the Burgundy town of Tournus. Questions one might ask are how authentic will the food remain, if it hasn't already lost some of its authenticity; and what will happen to the restaurant after Ducloux "disappears", as the French like to say. Being an optimist at heart, I would like to think that this is an opening salvo in what could be a new concern for preservationist efforts in historic gastronomy.

[Bux]

A fascinating story for whatever it foretells. I like your optimism and appreciate your realism. No matter what happens it may be an important move. Whether or not it's a step towards preserving the classic heritage of French cuisine -- at least that of the previous century -- it appears to be a gesture of hommage to the classic cuisine -- and more so to the men who cooked that cuisine -- and who taught Gagnaire and to the relevance it still should have for younger cooks. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

I see there's a article on that site about the closing of Lespinasse as well. That article really doesn't add much to the story of Lespinasse's closing. It blames the weather this winter, threats of terrorism and most of all, the economy for the problems restaurants are having here.

The site is in French and not much use to those who have less comprehension of the language than I do, but probably interesting for those who read French, although the articles do not seem to have too much depth. There's an interesting line in one article about reaction of Kurds in Paris to the war. "Elle est contente d'offrir vendredi des Coca-cola, 'pour soutenir les Américains'" it said about one Kurdish restauranteur in Paris.

Without this site I wouldn't have learned about the worker's strike at McDonald's de Strasbourg-Saint-Denis in Paris. This is an old fashioned strike and stictly about wages. Damn the web. It really sucks one's attention and time.