Puymirol

[lizziee]

On the El Bulli thread Leslie C asked for my notes on L'Aubergade Les Loges, Michel and Maryse Trama's restaurant. Leslie had had a very bad lunch there. Our experience was the exact opposite. We were there in 2000 and had such a wonderful meal that we planned to return in 2001, adding 2 dinners and a lunch.

Our recap of the year 2000.

We had invited friends of ours to join us - He is the owner of a first growth Sauterne property. As we were the hosts my husband asked the sommelier to choose good local affordable wines. Quite a challenge with a world class wine merchant at the table. My husband's notes: "these young sommeliers are amazing ... they know -- it is as simple as that ... most of them are under 30, some under 25 and yet they know the wines the way an American kid might know musical groups or movies. It is a part of their deeply seated mind bank .. in this case  Juracon for the white. Hard for me to read the sommelier's handwriting for the red.

I will just mention some of the dishes and try not to be too long-winded.

First dish - a small glass (like a small orange juice glass) was presented that was filled with greenish liquid with two little balls floating in it. We were asked to guess what this was - couldn't - it was soft-boiled quail eggs floating in green tomato water.

Next potato chips which suggested red and black mini tacos - the chips were garnished with guacamole and salmon caviar and sevruga caviar.

Next cream of asparagus with morel mushrooms accompanied by mushroom sushi - a grilled mushroom on sushi rice.

Next a mini-duck sausage on crunchy lentils flavored with cantal ( a fruity cow's milk cheese).

Next a roasted pigeon perfumed with "spices of the Nile" and kumquats.

All in all an inventive, beautifully prepared meal.

On our return, Michel Trama took us on a tour of the new renovations - brand-new kitchen, new upstairs dining room (I like the downstairs better), the new Cloisters- outside area for warm weather dining and the salon de fume (smoking lounge.)

Recap of 2001-

First Dinner

Cream of cauliflower soup with oscetra caviar

Pan-fried rouget with black olive sushi

Brandade of lobster - a spectular dish with mashed potatoes, lobster roe surrounded by crispy potato - the feeling of the dish approximates brandade de morue

Bar (bass) in parchment with lemon confit - Trama calls this 'bar en enveloppe' the parchment was folded exactly like an envelope and even included a blue stamp in the right hand

corner

Morel mushrooms and green asparagus accompanied by the dry Serrano ham

Roasted pigeon served on a skewer with mideastern spices

4 desserts - his famous chocolate cigar puffing "smoke",black cherry chocolate mousse, crisp fried apple surrounding apple mousse and  ????

It was a perfect dinner although somewhat of a weird group in the dining room. By 10:00 most of the other tables had finished dinner except for us and one younger Belgian couple.

I had mentioned in the El Bulli thread that Michel Trama had come to our table that first night and said to "eat lightly at lunch tomorrow as he was orchestrating dinner for us."

I happened to meet him in the Tabac the next morning  and he said forget ordering lunch as well as dinner as he would take care of both.

Our light lunch!!!!

Started with a lukewarm "cappochino" of celery

Next rouget millefleur - there were layers of rouget separated by layers of red pepper, eggplant and other veggies.

Next one of the best dishes I have ever had - Trama calls it duck pot au feu. You are presented with a plate that has on it a napkin- wrapped jar of some sort. We unwrapped the napkin and there was a closed foie gras jar. Unhinging the jar, the most incredble aroma fills the air. Inside is a rich duck broth with chunks of duck, foie gras, and a yukon-gold type of potato, carrot, haricot vertes, peapods and a black truffle. Unbelievable.

Next a lemon sorbet and for dessert fresh strawberry tart on a ginger cookie.

This was our light lunch and we had only 5 hours to dinner - we walked!!!

Second dinner

This could have been a service nightmare. It was the day before French Mother's Day and there were some large tables with children. In the States, Mother's day and the day before are stay at home days for us. At Michel Trama's we had a wonderful slow, mellow meal with perfect service. This was the first time that the outside dining room had ever been used and even with the "new" dining room to contend with, the service was perfect.

1st - a tomato/basil sorbet - a perfect light start on a hot night.

2nd- les cassolettes en pomme de terre au caviar oscietre, maceration de ciboulette-  - a crispy potato surrounded mashed potatoes lightly sprinkled with macerated chives and garnished with caviar

3rd- Lobster millefeuille - similar to the rouget at lunch in persentation but with different vegetables

4th -langoustines sauteed crisp with ginger and orange oil - next to the langoustines a cone/tuile carmelized filled with small grains of couscous or grain - not sure which. The whole effect of the tuile was of a Japanese hand roll.

5th - foie gras sauteed accompanied with apple chutney and pepper jelly - foie gras at this point in the meal in unskilled hands would be a stomach killer but this was small and light.

6th - lamb roasted in a casserole with a perfect seasoning of thyme and rosemary ( not as spectacular as Regis Marcon's) but good.

I honestly do not remember the dessert course. We then went to the new smoking lounge and had Armagnac and my husband his cigar. We crawled into bed about 1:30.

I hope this conveys how much we enjoyed Michel Trama. He calls his cuisine a cuisine of the 5 senses -  to quote him "For me, a dish should be beautiful - well-presented to attract the eye, aromatic to excite the sense of smell. The savor must satisfy the palate and the crispness between the teeth make pleasant music to the ear. Touch is also satisfied, because at my place one resorts to fingers for sucking a shellfish."

[Bux]

"... at my place one resorts to fingers for sucking a shellfish."

As much as anything else, this is the sort of statement that would make a multi-starred restaurant even more appealing to me.

[Lesley C]

Thank you Lizziee for your review.

I was there in the summer of 1999 and, as I said before, my lunch -- the 800ff menu de degustation -- was a huge letdown. I remember an avocado puree topped with caviar served in a martini glass, a stuffed pepper, a foie gras spring roll, prawns with coconut, roasted pigeon with cherries, and a chocolate mousse with more cherries (cherries are Trama’s trademark no?) served in a chocolate tear shape (IMO a very dull and very passé dessert). The portions were tiny. The only highlights were the marinated cherries served with pigeon and the mignardises plate. Service was also superb. I found the modern dining room cold and the glass marbles set on the tables were pretentious enough to make me laugh out loud. The clincher came when I requested a copy of the menu (made of cardboard and paper) and, was actually charged 100 ff for it – shocking really, as we had just dropped close to $600 US for a lunch for three with only a half bottle of wine.

Thank heavens Puymirol was so beautiful. The incredible views from the town square cheered us up immensely.

Tell me, do you think Trama made more of a fuss for your group as you were visiting with the owner of a vineyard?

[ajay]

I remember an avocado puree topped with caviar served in a martini glass,

THis dish sounds very reminiscent to one that I had at L'Arpege this winter: Pulpe d'avocat a la creme de sevruga d'Iran "nouvelle peche".

I wonder what direction the inspiratoin for this dish flows...

[OSulliM78]

lizziee

You've given me a burst of Proustian happiness that I must thank you for!  I had the best meals of my life there back in the 80s, and ever since I've been reading carping reviews which have oppressed me sorely.  I want to go back, but I fear destruction of my dreams.  I so loved the room as well.

BTW, Leslie, the chocolate teardrop was on the menu then!

[Bux]

The virtues of traveling off season are many, but so are the pitfalls. For every opportunity to secure a reservation at a moments notice, there's an equal opportunity to dine alone and we have many a meal in an empty restaurant that deserved a lively crowd of happy diners. Trama was one. We called for a table at lunch at eleven the same morning. We understood the hesitance at the other end when we arrived an hour or two later. It wasn't that they couldn't fit us in. It was that we were the only diners that afternoon. Was it even worth the trouble to deal with us?

We were passing through and as we had some distance to go and things to do and see that afternoon, we had a very light and simple lunch. It hardly gave us much insight to the extent of Trama's capabilities but it was an exceptionally pleasant meal and good value for the price. I share Lesley's amusement at what I thought was a rather affected table setting, but those things amuse me and do not distract from my meal. Dining alone in a coldly formal dining room was a bit of a turn off however. I really enjoy dining in a room where I can watch the activity of other diners eating and waiters serving. It all contributes to the theater aspect of a fine meal. This is something I was to discuss and will in another context.

[grahamtigg]

I had the best meals of my life there back in the 80s

We did as well. Spring 1983 was when we discovered "serious" food from a background of near total ignorance. Trauma made the biggest inpact at the time (we also went to Guerard and Bras) because of the sheer energy that exuded from all the dishes and the young staff. We had many great lunches in the '80s, all midweek, and there were always several other tables occupied. Our last visit was in 1993 when we stayed (rooms had been built by then) for a November weekend. While the food was still OK and the rooms exceptionally tasteful, we were the only residents and the staff were simply too distant/bored. I blame some of it on a quest for three *'s, which isn't of course fair because it's not my career. Sometimes it is better to remember places as they were.

As an aside, Bras' cooking has evolved enormously since the early '80s. Bux's report is eagerly awaited.

[ajay]

As an aside, Bras' cooking has evolved enormously since the early '80s. Bux's report is eagerly awaited.

I second the sentiment, how about it, Mr. Bux?

[Bux]

My apologies on that score. I'm not playing hard to get. I've been busy and also spending too much time reading and responding on this board. You might say that eGullet.com has been distracting me from my responsibilites of posting my trip on eGullet. Perish the thought I have much of a life offline.

I'm up to Laguiole, which was our next stop after Belcastel. There was some confusion on checking out. There credit card computer was not yet hooked up to the phone line. We were there the night they opened for the season. They asked if we had cash. Who carries cash? They asked if we could give them a check. My wife said yes, in dollars on a NY bank. How many Americans have a French bank account? We've often thought about opening one, but with credit cards and a US account at a bank that adds no foreign currency conversion surcharge for ATM use abroad, it began to make very little sense without a French income. The outcome of all the confusion was that we forgot to ask for a menu, but we called the next day and they promised to send one to us in the states. It hasn't arrived. That's no excuse for not posting, but it would have been helpful in writing. We loved the food, but ran into a bit of opening night unpreparedness in other aspects. A few personal things to take care of and then a few words on Bras, although honestly I really enjoy writing about the places no one knows. Discovery may not be more exciting than perfection, but it has a different kind of interest.

[grahamtigg]

There's menus here on Bras' web site although they could well be out of date. The gargouillou is on of the finest dishes I've ever eaten.