Michel Bras, Laguiole

[pim]

I'll go back in heartbeat. Stay over night and make sure you have the fabulous breakfast too.

[tony h]

I have a thing fore the cooking of Michel Bras and i realy love his book. Now I am thinking to get a reservation at the restaurant of Michel Bras. My question is if ther is sombody that have been ther resently. And mayby have som pictures of som plates or at least can tell me if the food experiens is worth the trip and cost!

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you just might just about make a res. for next year - or if you are very lucky a cancellation this season.

for me it was one the best meals/experiences ever.

[lanchon]

From the website, it says email them back in January. Does anyone know how difficult is it to get a table there? ie. Is it like El Bulli that I need to email on Jan.1st??

[Judith Gebhart]

From the website, it says email them back in January.  Does anyone know how difficult is it to get a table there?  ie. Is it like El Bulli that I need to email on Jan.1st??

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In our experience, what we have learned is that June thru September on weekends at Michel Bras book-up very early in the new year. April and May also book up quickly. Book whatever you determine to be your preferences as early as possible in January '08.

We think, if you can be flexible, your chance for both dinner and room reservations improve if you request reservations for mid-week. They are closed on Monday.

In brief, your efforts for receiving dinner and room reservations can be almost as difficult as elBulli. They are IMO equally worth it. We have been faithful diners since 1985. It is one of the most exceptional dining/French cultural experiences we have repeatedly enjoyed over the years. There are few places on earth that match this remarkable destination. Judith Gebhart

[Dave Hatfield]

I agree with Judith about how to get reservations, but I'm afraid I can't agree about the restaurant.

In our humble opinion Bra's is not by any means the top 3 star restaurant, in fact there are 2 star places we prefer. For example, not a million miles away from Bra's is Le vieux Pont in Belcastel. Only a 1 star, but the food, ambiance and location are at least equally good.

We have found Bra's to be over priced (wine prices are criminal), the food unmemorable (yes, of course, good, but.... can't remember a single outstanding dish) and the service lacking (The local kids are willing enough, but not trained to 3 star standards)

Make you own judgment, however or do as some friends did; Bra's one day, Le Vieux Pont the next.

Need I say which they prefered?

[algy]

I'm a big fan of Le Vieux Pont. It's a very different experience from Michel Bras but, for me, a more rewarding one.

I'm afraid that Michel Bras now feels rather soulless.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

I agree with Judith about how to get reservations, but I'm afraid I can't agree about the restaurant.

In our humble opinion Bra's is not by any means the top 3 star restaurant, in fact there are 2 star places we prefer. For example, not a million miles away from Bra's is Le vieux Pont in Belcastel. Only a 1 star, but the food, ambiance and location are at least equally good.

We have found Bra's to be over priced (wine prices are criminal), the food unmemorable (yes, of course, good, but.... can't remember a single outstanding dish) and the service lacking (The local kids are willing enough, but not trained to 3 star standards)

Make you own judgment, however or do as some friends did; Bra's one day, Le Vieux Pont the next.

Need I say which they prefered?

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I feel less alone now. Let me come out. It is not only that the Bras experience is soulless. Its cooking is self-absorbed und inaccessible. His house is a scar on the side of the hill that feels like a funerary chamber with his raw concrete and long empty corridors. The staff is as unprofessional as it gets and the dining room feels like a sad train (with a great view). Aaahhh I feel better now.

That said, I respect Bras and he has some of the best ingredients on the planet, especially meat-wise. Where can I buy the same "veau des lucs"?

Edited December 12, 2007 by julot-les-pinceaux (log)

[lanchon]

Alright, thanks for all your suggestions... I am still curious and want to try. I will email them on Jan 1st and IF I can secure BOTH a room and dinner, I will definitely go. I will then go to Le Vieux Pont the day after as Dave suggested and get back to you all next year. Thanks again.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Good call. Rooms are a really special experience.

[Dave Hatfield]

Alright, thanks for all your suggestions... I am still curious and want to try.  I will email them on Jan 1st and IF I can secure BOTH a room and dinner, I will definitely go.  I will then go to Le Vieux Pont the day after as Dave suggested and get back to you all next year.  Thanks again.

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Agree with Julot. Good call. I too am relieved to find that I'm not alone in my skepticism about Bra's.

If you plan comes to fruition next year let me know and then please drop by our place for a drink or a meal. We're less than an hour from Le Vieux Pont. Send me a PM to set things up.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Because the water isn't muddy enough, I'll add our two cents. While the setting is extraordinary, we were terribly disappointed with our evening at Le Vieux Pont. The welcome, in fact the entire staff, was more professional than warm. While our room was the largest they offered, it was small and equipped with only one chair, so only one person could read in comfort. Dinner was ordinary at best. A minimal breakfast was served in a perfunctory manner on the ground floor of the hotel building. Our visit was memorable only because of its lack of highpoints. It was one of those rare experiences when my husband looked as me and asked, "Why did you say that we came here? Whose recommendation?"

[Ptipois]

Why don't you guys just go to Chez Camillou in Aumont-Aubrac, it's close by, and very good.

Chez Camillou

[Andy Fenn]

I have to disagree with the Michel Bras criticisms. My one meal there this year was stunning - definitely a higher level than Troisgros three days before. The desserts were a dud, but the hot foie gras and the lamb were astonishing.

I can't wait to go back, and this time I'll stay at the hotel.

[Dave Hatfield]

Why don't you guys just go to Chez Camillou in Aumont-Aubrac, it's close by, and very good.

Chez Camillou

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Looks good. Will give them a try when we get back home.

Any other 'local' suggestions? Within one hour or so of Villefranche de rouergue?

[julot-les-pinceaux]

I have to disagree with the Michel Bras criticisms. My one meal there this year was stunning - definitely a higher level than Troisgros three days before. The desserts were a dud, but the hot foie gras and the lamb were astonishing.

I can't wait to go back, and this time I'll stay at the hotel.

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I just said that I hated it (in a slight departure of my motto of objective and positive criticism), not that it wasn't good or amazing.

[Andrew Chalk]

From the website, it says email them back in January.  Does anyone know how difficult is it to get a table there?  ie. Is it like El Bulli that I need to email on Jan.1st??

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We got a table in June a month ahead.

Biggest problem was the virus. They had a virus on thir computers. It would send an infected e-mail to everyone they had e-mailed dozens of times until they finally understood my pidgen French explaining the problem. "Il y'a un Mitterand dans vos ordinateurs".

Allez figure!

BTW: Make SURE you

1) go the the Forge in Laguiole. It is the only authoritative source for the distinctive knives. The building has a 100 ft. knife in the roof - so you won't miss it on the way to the restaurant.

2) Go to the fromagerie at the far end of town. The oldest (5 years, as I recall) is so intense, so concentrated, that it is the first time I have had to stop eating a cheese on grounds of too much flavour.

[Gavin Convery]

On the subject of reservations - I requested a reservation for a spread of days for lunch in August and got Sunday the 3rd of August confirmed today.

Can't wait to go back as it is over 10 years since we ate here - last time we both had food poisoning (from the night before in Spain) and were forced to stay an extra night....even so it was still extraordinary. Now we have 2 children and we shall see how they cope with a fussy 5 year old and an adventurous 10 year old (she loves foie gras and snails!). Any experiences of Bras with children??

[robert brown]

Gavin, like you, I haven't been to Michel Bras in a decade (11 years, almost) and from what I hear from those who have been more recently than we have, you may well be relatively disappointed. (But let's hope maybe not). I consider myself fortunate to have visited Bras between 1987 and 1997 when he mostly had a restaurant and middling hotel in the town. Not only was it half the price of the restaurants of many of the other great chefs. but he offered a deep and ever-changing menu of audacious dishes. When you were at your table his wife or a waiter would bring you a book about herbs and plants so you could read about the many that he used at any given time. In fact four of us took him in our friend's car so he could get some herbs, not at some farm or from some other kind of purveyor. Instead he told my friend to stop the car, after which he would get out with a pair of scissors and cut some herbs at the side of the road. I also recall that he offered a small menu of classic Auvergnat dishes for about $15. so that the locals could afford to dine there.

At our last visit to the restaurnt in town, he put drawings on the wall of what he was hoping would be a new hotel-restaurant designed by a modernist architect from Bordeaux. I thought to myself that surely this is a pipe dream, probably wishing that he wouldn't go upscale, but rather remain at the relatively simple location. We liked the new locale, however, and the cuisine remained in its ambitious way. Now I can feel that like so many of the three-star restaurants, Michel Bras is quite big business, turning out their 'Menu du Terroir" or whatever it's called to as many people as they can.

And by the way, his sister-in-law told me "Here, people pronounce all the letters". Thus, it's Michel BraSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Edited March 14, 2008 by robert brown (log)

[Andy Fenn]

Yes, I only heard the BraSSSSS when Greg Wallace and John Torode shouted it at one another on the Masterchef final.

I went last summer, and it was absolutely wonderful. I think I posted a review on here somewhere; superior meal to Troisgros. I've booked to stay this year, and I can't wait to go back.

[algy]

Yes, I only heard the BraSSSSS when Greg Wallace and John Torode shouted it at one another on the Masterchef final.

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I wouldn't assume that Greg and John's pronunciation of anything is 100% accurate.

[Matthew Grant]

I've heard the complaint about it being like a production line before. I wonder why more people don't order ALC, there are plenty of interesting dishes?

[Matthew Grant]

Yes, I only heard the BraSSSSS when Greg Wallace and John Torode shouted it at one another on the Masterchef final.

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I wouldn't assume that Greg and John's pronunciation of anything is 100% accurate.

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If you ring to make a reservation they pronounce the "S"

[sundownyellowmoon]

On the subject of reservations - I requested a reservation for a spread of days for lunch in August and got Sunday the 3rd of August confirmed today.

Can't wait to go back as it is over 10 years since we ate here - last time we both had food poisoning (from the night before in Spain) and were forced to stay an extra night....even so it was still extraordinary. Now we have 2 children and we shall see how they cope with a fussy 5 year old and an adventurous 10 year old (she loves foie gras and snails!). Any experiences of Bras with children??

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Hi Gavin,

We ate at Michel Bras about 8 years ago. The meal was spectacular--perhaps things have changed since then. There is a vegetable dish that is called "gargouillou", which means, as best I can tell, "fanciful mixture of vegetables". There must have been 20 local (many wild, I'm sure) vegetables in the mix. I've spoken with other friends who have been there, and this dish seems to change with the wind.

We were travelling with another couple and between our two families we had 5 children, ranging in age from 4 to 11. We elected to not bring any of our kids--even though our son, 11 at the time, still wishes he could have joined us. To accommodate the kids, we asked the hostess when we made reservations what we might do with our kids. Madame Bras called us back and made arrangements for us: she hired a babysitter for the kids, (her niece, if memory serves me well) and they just had a simple meal in the room. (Note that none of our kids were French-speakers, and the babysitter spoke very little English. Still, it was a fun night for all.)

I hope this helps.

Jon

[sbb1979]

I'm booked in for dinner in August and very much looking forward to it (although, slightly worried by some of the reports on here).

We won't be staying at Bras, so does anyone have anywhere else nearby that they recommend - we're looking to keep costs for that bit down as the rest of our trip is proving to be quite costly.

Having said all of that - and assuming that I can only make it to one top restaurant this year (and that I'm based in London), would any of you Bras doubters recommend an alternative restaurant? We have friends in the area there, so that was one attraction, and I love his book and recipes, but we could be tempted to go pretty much anywhere else in Europe.

[docsconz]

I'm booked in for dinner in August and very much looking forward to it (although, slightly worried by some of the reports on here).

We won't be staying at Bras, so does anyone have anywhere else nearby that they recommend - we're looking to keep costs for that bit down as the rest of our trip is proving to be quite costly.

Having said all of that - and assuming that I can only make it to one top restaurant this year (and that I'm based in London), would any of you Bras doubters recommend an alternative restaurant? We have friends in the area there, so that was one attraction, and I love his book and recipes, but we could be tempted to go pretty much anywhere else in Europe.

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Although somewhat concerned by the mixed reports I've read on Bras here and elsewhere, I wouldn't consider myself a Bras doubter as I haven't been myself. The restaurant in Europe that currently most piques my interest, however, is Noma in Copenhagen.