Les Loges De L'Aubergade, Puymirol

[Stephen Jackson]

Les Loges de l’Aubergade, Puymirol

My wife and I spent an excellent day in the Agen region, zipping around the Garonne valley spotting the plum trees and looking for a farm that sold the famous Pruneaux d’Agen. Mission accomplished – we found the Ferme Roques in Montesquieu, which had a small prune ‘supermarket’ attached. Duly stocked up on ‘fresh’ mi-cuits, eau-de-vie and chocolate-coated pruneaux, we hit the road towards Puymirol, about 20 minutes east of Agen, in order to get to l’Aubergade good and early. I like to get my money’s worth with Michelin joints; lie on the beds watching BBC World, taking long baths and eating the freebies.

Puymirol is a beautiful bastide-type village, perched scenically on a hill, and the Aubergade is right on the main street. It’s an impressive building, beautifully restored, with the bedrooms looking out over a small former courtyard that now boasts a wee swimming pool.

The welcome was warm, and we were told that, as they were quiet, we’d been upgraded to a tip-top room, on the ground floor, right by the pool. It was lovely – really airy and spacious, with all the mod cons one would expect – satellite TV, CD player, jacuzzi-bath and ample clothes-hanging space for those that value such things.

I helped myself to a very good drop of Maury (Gerard Bertrand – a fine chap) from the small decanter, and watched a new pope get elected on the telly. It was all going so well.

And so it continued. We walked through to the salon – a beautiful pale stone drawing room, with painted beamed ceiling, and luxurious soft furnishings – and sat by the roaring log fire. It was cold that evening, which is a shame, as there is a second courtyard which is used for dining in the more clement months of the year.

So, here goes:

The sommelier (lovely guy, very open and friendly) asks about drinks – Tracy orders a Sauvignon Blanc, I order a fino sherry.

Two rectangular plates arrive, with our nibbles.

Nibble 1 – A glass of foamy sheep’s milk with tiny diced cucumber – SO refreshing, really sheepy. Way to start!

Nibble 2 – A spoon with a piped rosette of smooth, zesty avocado puree on top of a piece of poached spider crab – really meaty crab flesh marrying with the super-ripe deep green avocado. Yummy. I could have asked for a sandwich with this in it at that point.

Nibble 3 – A tiny crispy sandwich of pureed salmon roe between thin tuile-like biscuits. Super-salty and really fishy (in a nice way). Big bowl of those, please.

Nibble 4 – A toffee-apple cherry tomato. A really ripe cherry tom, dipped in caramel (so thinly coated) and topped with a tiny sprig of rosemary, which made the thing work so well – I had never really tried rosemary with tomato in a raw sense, and it was marvellous.

So to the big stuff – the menu was loaded with dishes I’d have loved to try – almost everything appealed to us. There were separate sheets listing the menus (a Menu du Marche at 76Euro, an 8-course tasting menu at 140Euro, and a list of dishes from ‘The Atelier’ de M. Trama, which I presume were special brand-new dishes – almost works in progress)

We went A La Carte. I nearly always do.

Bypassing delicious sounding things like the ‘foie gras lollipops with toasted hazelnuts’ and ‘lamb’s sweetbreads with morels and asparagus’, we made our choices.

So to the dining room. Wow – it’s one of the most beautiful rooms I’ve ever eaten in. A high-ceilinged pale stone chamber with alcoves, minimalist yet classy chandeliers, and most of the seating on two-seater Louis XVI-type sofas or plush chairs. The tables were set cleanly and minimally, the lighting was perfect. The one thing that put us off was the terrible muzak that was being piped into the quiet room (we were two of only eight diners that night! Which, we were told, was pretty much average for this time of year. They didn’t seem unduly worried about it. However, Michel Bras was full to busting the very next night – peculiar)

The amusette: a cornet of sea-bream tartare with wasabi cream – an unbelievably delicate sweet tuile biscuit, barely containing a fresh, lip-smacking tartare of bream, topped with a super-tasty creamy foam of powerful wasabi. This was stunning.

First Course:

Me: ‘Les Tours De Pomme De Terre Au caviar Oscietre, macération de Ciboulette’

Eight tubes of potato at differing heights, made of thin, crisp potato slices, surrounding creamy potato puree, topped with blobs of caviar, and a few traces of intense chive oil. Sensational – the potato tubes were crispy and light, the puree airy and creamy, the caviar lendng the whole thing that unforgettable flavour, and the chive oil doing its thing regarding seasoning the dish perfectly. Yummy.

Tracy: ‘Tous Les Legumes du Jardin Dans l’Assiette a la fleur de Sel’

Essentially, a plate of vegetables, but so fresh and tasty. Similar to Bras’ ‘gargouillou’, but with a few more ‘homely’ veg knocking about on the plate. Crisp slices of dried beetroot, asparagus spears, chard stalks and leaves, peas, broad beans, broccoli, cauliflower, all cooked to crunchy perfection, and seasoned judiciously with crunchy salt. To one side there was a spoon containing an intense ratatouille-flavoured warm dressing – really intense tomato and red/yellow pepper flavours. Lovely stuff.

The bread arrived in a glass pot, and was exceptional – grissini that tasted like brioche, and two small ‘campagne’ loaves, one flavoured heavily with sesame oil, and one with tender sunflower seeds.

With this we drank a smashing Irouleguy 2000 from Domaine Arretxea, an old friend.

Okay, to the Main Courses:

Me: ‘Le Hamburger de Foie Gras Chaud Aux Cepes, Jus De Canard Corsé’

Trama’s sig dish, and I simply had to do it. It was terrific. The waiter announced it as ‘Le McTrama’, and it really does look like a burger on the plate. It’s essentially a huge cep cap, roast nice and golden, covering two massive slices of perfectly-done goose liver, and the base is (bizarrely) a piece of fried pineapple. I hadn’t expected that, but it works well, the fruitiness and sharpness stopping the whole thing from bringing on a coronary. The plate also held a trace of reduced balsamic, a healthy splash of super-intense duck jus, and the burger was topped with a few crisp shards of crisp ivory-coloured fried garlic. Then the waiter offered me a Trama-labelled sauce bottle, containing a rich cep ketchup. If I could have slid it into my trouser pocket, I would have. Sadly they don’t sell this in the little shop. A really great dish, and everything that I like in a plateful of food – interest, intense flavour and a bit of a chuckle occasionally.

Tracy: ‘L’Agneau Roti Au thym, Beurre de Persil Simple’

This sounded so absolutely perfect, she had to try it. On the plate, two scarily tiny racks of baby lamb (I say scary, because my wife used to work on a sheep farm, and she judged these racks to be from an almost unborn lamb, size-wise. Didn’t stop her scoffing the lot, mind) These racks were superbly cooked, meaning barely, drizzled with a tasty lamb-thyme jus, and sitting on a delicious pool of parsley butter. The additions were equally impressive – a little pot of coco beans, half whole, half pureed; really creamy and smooth. A little pot of braised sweetbreads, topped with a skewer of the kidneys (such tiny kidneys!) and the final touch was bloody amazing, yet so simple – two wedges of spinach-filled croque-monsieur. Great idea, which I’m nicking off him on my next menu. A great way to soak up all the juices, really tasty and simple. Bravo.

With the mains we drank a corking ’99 Cahors, Clos Triguedina ‘Prince Probus’ (oo-er). Delicious, and perfect with our respective meat feasts.

Now. Here’s something.

They don’t do cheese. We went straight into dessert. No cheese! Well, I had to ask, didn’t I? To be honest, I’d have probably not partaken on the night in question, but I did wonder what was going on. The maitre d’ said that this was simply the way of Trama. They DO have a cheese trolly, but it only comes out if people specifically request it. Otherwise, the experience of l’Aubergade is to eat as Trama sees fit, and this seemingly doesn’t involve a cheese course. How rum. But how ‘balls-out-f**k-you’ brave, I also thought. Didn’t bother me one bit, and it made for an exciting few minutes’ conversation before the puds hove into view.

Me: ‘le Double Corona Trama, Sa Feuille De Tabac Au Poivre’

The classic Trama pudding (apart from the other ‘classic’ apple cristalline. This was served in an ashtray (a nice big glass one, not a mucky old plastic Gauloises pot, you understand). The ‘cigar’ itself was a rolled biscuit filled with a coffee-tobacco chibouste cream, and alongside was a tuile tobacco leaf scented with coarse pepper (yum), a tiny glass of cold strong coffee (not so nice) and a ‘spent’ match made of white chocolate. I have to say I was underwhelmed by the flavours, and it felt a little gimmicky, unlike the hamburger, but it was nice enough to eat, and faultlessly put together.

Tracy: ‘La larme de Chocolat Aux Griottines, sauce Vanille’

Yet another Trama classis, a well-tempered chocolate ‘teardrop’, filled with a rich mousse containing booze-soaked griottine cherries. A small jug of really good crème anglaise accompanied this. It was pronounced to be good, but nothing special.

So the puds had knocked the 5th star off, for us. It had, however, been a truly exceptional meal, with friendly, helpful, witty staff, a great wine list, the most amazing surroundings, and even Trama himself popped out to say ‘how do’. Nice man, very quiet. He seemed genuinely chuffed when I mentioned how long I’d waited for this meal, and how I hadn’t been disappointed at all.

I decided against a cigar with my coffee, but apparently the humidor at l’Aubergade is legendary in its quality and quantity.

Instead we finished off the meal with some nice Petits-fours, a Talisker (me), a Vieille Prune (T) and a couple of espressos. The mignardises were: a really good cannelé scented with orange, a chestnut/cream profiterole and a little bar of bitter chocolate.

And so to bed, safe in the knowledge that the Catholic Church had a new boss, and I had a big wobbly tummy full of terrific food. Slept like the dead, and awoke to a really good breakfast of pastries, cherry jam and chantilly cream, and a pot of good coffee.

We paid up (770Euros for the whole caboodle), said we’d definitely we’d be back, and hit the road, en route for Laguiole, and that evening’s stay/meal at Michel Bras, our favourite place on earth. My review of that is forthcoming.

Les Loges de l’Aubergade is a great, great restaurant. Well worth a trip, and it’s only a couple of hours from Pau airport if you step on it (and if you don’t take a detour to buy too much Madiran at Chateau d’Aydie! like we did. I couldn’t resist – their 100% Tannat dessert wine, called ‘Maydie’ is absolutely brilliant. Word.)

[pierre45]

Very nice report with a touch of humour .I look forward to reading about your experience at M Bras.

A bientot

[bleudauvergne]

Les Loges de l’Aubergade, Puymirol

Me: ‘le Double Corona Trama, Sa Feuille De Tabac Au Poivre’

The classic Trama pudding (apart from the other ‘classic’ apple cristalline. This was served in an ashtray (a nice big glass one, not a mucky old plastic Gauloises pot, you understand). The ‘cigar’ itself was a rolled biscuit filled with a coffee-tobacco chibouste cream, and alongside was a tuile tobacco leaf scented with coarse pepper (yum), a tiny glass of cold strong coffee (not so nice) and a ‘spent’ match made of white chocolate. I have to say I was underwhelmed by the flavours, and it felt a little gimmicky, unlike the hamburger, but it was nice enough to eat, and faultlessly put together.

The whole idea of serving a dish in an ashtray seems like an interesting concept but a very different one from anything else that you were served in that beautifully accounted dining experience. In all it sounds like you had a great time and I enjoyed your memoire, looking forward to the day when I can do the same (this could be 20 years from now given the way things are going). You have expressed it with an eloquence and sense of humor that has got me smacking my chops in anticipation to hear about your next stop! Please hurry and give us the next installment!

[zeitoun]

Thank you for this great report, I will be myself dining at L'Aubergade with my wife in three weeks. Trama is sort of a mistery to me, it will be my first time visiting and I am not going with much in terms of expectations since prior to this report I haven't received that much feedback on his food. I am now eagerly anticipating this visit... I'll try to report back after I return from my trip.

[Stephen Jackson]

My Bras review is finally up, folks. Enjoy.

[tony h]

Michel Trama / L’Aubergade - June 07

A week’s visit to the Dordogne foolishly led be to believe that Puymirol wasn’t too far away. Two hours of torturous driving to get there didn’t quite dampen our spirits for lunch but left us feeling less that joyful at the thought of the journey back. The hotel itself is stunning is almost every way - except, of course, for the journey. L’Aubergade is remote – really remote and, but the looks of it, the only thing in town. I had thought Puymirol would be lovely little hill top town to wander – nope. Its dead, really dead. We did ask the MD what lead M Trama to set up here – it’s hardly an obvious choice. “It was a mistake” we were told. However, somehow, Michel and Maryse Trama have pulled it off creating a hotel and restaurant of genuine beauty, comfort and style. Fucking expensive, too.

We were led to the cloister for lunch – only installed in the last few years. It’s a stunning whitewashed partially covered courtyard; table spaced well apart only that didn’t matter too much as there were only a few other table occupied.

My meagre notes were take some time ago – here are the high points of the tasting menu

Pre-starters: Asparagus & cep foam / Smoked Tomato / Mackerel / ratatouille sushi. I have no more info on these & my memory fails me

First course was lobster roll. This was three Japanese inspired rolls stuffed with lobster and crisp Asian vegetables. The dipping sauce was too oily for the delicate flavours. I thought this was a little alarming – if you are going to do sushi – do it well. My suspension were that this was here because it used expensive ingredients rather than it adding to the meal. A little out of place, IMO

Courgette with tomato and basil foam. The whole table stopped and gawped: wow! One of the most stunningly beautiful dishes I think I’ve ever seen. Long thin rectangle of courgette & herb jelly on top of which was piped undulating courgette “pate”. Another jelly strip placed on top to form a courgette sandwich-like entity. Atop were five tomato & basil foam hemispheres around which were tiny herb & tiny flower were arranges as if miniature bouquets dancing in and around the foam. It was a good two minute before anyone dared cut into it and mess it up. Breathtakingly good.

Salt cod (new way). This was salt cod as I’ve never had it before. Several long thin strips of potato in between were salt cod foam. Its very hard to describe – here’s a wee drawing looking dow from above. The line are the potato, the circles cod foam (damn, picture didn't work, ah weel - last row aligned to the right )

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OOO

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OOOOOOO

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OOO

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We were told this was one of the first times they had served this dish and it was still undergoing changes. Home run if you ask me.

Red pepper “open” ravioli. Square of red pepper jelly at the bottom of the plate. Filling of fine dice of red pepper and tomato– another square of jelly but, I think, squid ink this time. More filling. More jelly etc. Surrounded by langoustine cappuccino sauce. As with the courgettes above we just stared at it for a while. Of particular note here was the incredible meatiness of the pepper dice – often vegetables can be a little insubstantial without meat – but not here. They did something to the vegetables that packed one hell of a punch.

Cauliflower – cooked risotto like. Hmm. This was a bit of a stinker. The cauliflower florets were separated to the size of rice grains and cooked like a risotto. The first two or three seconds of each spoon tasted great but we were quickly left with heavy starchy and slightly raw vegetable-ish porridge.

Quail eggs poached in red wine – I skipped this as i can’t eat eggs (poached, fried, boiled) without possibility projectile vomiting – not a good thing in nice company. It looked pretty disgusting – on one liked it. I had mushroom and wet polenta dish instead which was simply stunning.

Foie Gras Burger (or Le McTrama as the waiters called it when they served it). Slab of of foie gras perched on top of a potato disk (maybe pinepple from the review above) with a seriously good serving of cep dice – dried cep slices to accompany it. This was quite heavy going but good nonetheless.

Desserts were served on a large platter – quite daunting; actually - you felt like big a kid who’s gotten everything they’ve asked for and didn't know where to start. They were: green apple sorbet w apple slices; cherries & cream; strawberries & cream (completely different to the cherry dish) and chocolate tear with raspberries. Of particular note was the sorbet: a ball of pure green apple sorbet with thin slices of dried apple inserted into the sorbet so that the apple looked like it was being reconstructed (looking down – imagine a bicycle wheel – the slices as spokes). Pure fun.

Apart from a couple of odd dishes we didn't let them dampen our enjoyment of the meal. It is well worth a visit but don’t be daft like us – stay overnight.

Edited August 5, 2007 by tony h (log)