Destination restaurants

[Margaret Pilgrim]

A current thread caused me to think about destination restaurants. Do you prefer to or usually patronize destination restaurants? Why? When? Do you encounter large percentages of locals and regulars or more first timers and once in a lifetimers? What is the biggest draw: the food, luxe surround/service, finding out what the buzz is about or the general expectation of quality? Do you support the destination restaurants in your city? When and how often? Do you find the number of tourists in destination restaurants a negative factor? Do you find the number of Americans in destination restaurants abroad a negative factor?

Thoughts?

[Ptipois]

What is a destination restaurant ?

[bleudauvergne]

I think what Margaret is referring to are the restuarants people make pilgrimmages to dine in, like the ones with Michelin Stars, for instance.

[pierre45]

I think what Margaret is referring to are the restuarants people make pilgrimmages to dine in, like the ones with Michelin Stars, for instance.

←

Not necessarily star restaurants.It could be restaurants with excellent regional cuisine and nice surroundings and perhaps not even famous.A lot of my travels in france are based around such places.i,e.Le relais de monseret in thezan(in languedoc) or michel sarran (in toulouse).I shall be in these places and others like it in the next few weeks.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Not necessarily star restaurants.It could be restaurants with excellent regional cuisine and nice surroundings and perhaps not even famous.A lot of my travels in france are based around such places.i,e.Le relais de monseret in thezan(in languedoc) or michel sarran (in toulouse).I shall be in these places and others like it in the next few weeks.

←

Indeed. Not a few of those listed on the Jeune Cuisins Francaise thread have qualified for this designation. How long did it used to take to get into La Regalade?

[Ptipois]

Sorry, I'm afraid I still fail to see what defines a "destination" restaurant. A French restaurant American and British people know about?

Edited August 31, 2005 by Ptipois (log)

[pierre45]

Sorry, I'm afraid I still fail to see what defines a "destination" restaurant. A French restaurant American and British people know about?

←

My definition is a restaurant that's worth a detour.I find these restaurants by asking people in the wine trade ,wine producers,other lovers of good and worthy

restaurants ,even food sites.

[bleudauvergne]

So if we agree that a destination restaurant is a restaurant that is perhaps off the beaten track, but people go out of their way to get there, I would say yes, I'm usually prepared to make a detour for good food, if its recommended on good authority. Sometimes I also take a chance and go out of my way at the recommendation of someone I don't know, for instance if we arrive at a town where we've stopped for the night and ask someone "the best place for ---". As for tourists and off the beaten track places, I don't have too much experience with that, but if I did arrive at the place and saw a tour bus parked out front, I'd wonder if the place was recommended because the food was actually good or because it seems to be popular with the tourists.

[Bux]

. . . As for tourists and off the beaten track places, I don't have too much experience with that, but if I did arrive at the place and saw a tour bus parked out front, I'd wonder if the place was recommended because the food was actually good or because it seems to be popular with the tourists.

←

You should not wonder. The odds are very good that a fine restaurant will discourage tour groups and that tour group operators will not ordinarily look for great restaurants. The reasons are many and complex. I discount of course, those gastronomic tours that do visit excellent restaurants, but they rarely do so in large groups. Tours of large groups tend to gravitate towards restaurants that can deal better with quantity than quality. Restaurants that can attract a clientele that is local and do repeat business with a local clientele do not want the disuption of a tour group that is apt to deter local trade. Travelers who enjoy good food and traveling in a group so often talk about leaving the group for their better meals.

That said, the first time I dined at elBullli, there was a tour group of perhaps a dozen bicyclists and hikers dining there. There was no tour bus however. The diners all cycled or hiked the seven kilomoeters back to Rosas and the organizers were one of those few exceptional luxury small group tour companies.

I would add that there are destinations restaurants in the heart of destination cities such as Paris. What might distinguish them from other restaurants in the same area is not the distance of a trip or detour, but how far in advance of a dinner one would be willing to reserve.

[John Talbott]

there was a tour group of perhaps a dozen bicyclists and hikers dining there.

←

Isn't that cool? Only in Italy or Spain have I seen it tho' and often women.

[John Talbott]

A current thread caused me to think about destination restaurants.

Thoughts?

←

Margaret; are you encouraging us to offer up places out of the ordinary (you know, not the Bocuse, Giradet, Guerard, Point memories) but places where no autos have but 73, 74, 75, and 78 license plates and where we'd drive in a second if given half a reason? Cuz I got one many klicks from civilization (34 from Annecy) - to whit - La Ferme de Lormay outside Le Grand Bornand - p 368 in the 2005 G/M.

[Jonathan Day]

Isn't "destination" somewhat relative to your local situation and mobility? There are local restaurants we love to revisit (e.g. Les Arcades, in Biot, or Au Rendez-vous des Amis, north of Nice, or Mantel, in Cannes) but wouldn't make a journey for. There are places in Liguria we are interested in exploring, and that requires something of a journey. This is a "detour" -- you're in the area, but the restaurant requires planning, and something of a journey.

But I think of a "destination" restaurant as one that you would plan a journey around, one where you wouldn't make the trip if the restaurant wasn't there. We travelled to Da Vittorio, in Bergamo, primarily to dine there with Robert and Susan Brown. Same for el Bulli. Same for L'Ambroisie.

In that case, the only thing that matters to me is the food. I don't care about luxurious surroundings -- two of the three examples above aren't particularly luxurious in setting or service. And if lots of "foreigners" (Americans or Brits or whatever) are around, so much the better, as long as the food is good.

The "destination" restaurant near us in France is the Moulin de Mougins. It has two stars and a reputation that is often based on glories of a couple of decades ago. So in that case, I often encourage visitors to try other places.

I generally won't plan a trip around a single restaurant without a recommendation from someone who is extremely "well dined"; never purely on the basis of Michelin stars. It can be very enjoyable when a group of people gather, from different parts of the world, to dine at a single "destination" restaurant.

[robert brown]

To my way of thinking, unorthodox as it sometimes is, there are two kinds of destination restaurants: those in what I call the "restosphere" and others that are personal and include those yet-to-be-visited "hit list" ones. There are those that are destination restaurants after you get to your destination, like all those misguided people who want to have their one splurge meal at La Tour d'Argent once they get to Paris. For the neophyte, such restaurants as the French Laundry, Charlie Trotter's, Daniel, and even el Bulli are addresses in the restosphere that the multitudes read about in the general press. For me, the only restaurant I would make a special trip for from, say, Nice would be L'Ambroisie which I somehow have managed not to visit in all these years. On the other hand, della Marisa had been on my hit list for five years, but I never contemplated making a special trip to Venice just to go there. Rather, once I knew I was going to Venice, I made sure I booked three months in advance. It's obvious that el Bulli is the ujltimate destination restaurant because it is the only one that gets people to plan or rearrange their vacations once they grab a reservation.

[John Talbott]

A current thread caused me to think about destination restaurants.

←

While today's Le Figaro's article by Francois Simon and Alexandra Bardini dealt with places French folk would see as “destination” restos in the rest of Europe, they are probably best detailed on this thread since there's no "Europe" or Europe thread yet. They are: The Fat Duck in Bray, UK, Amaya in London, Gambero Rosso in San Vincenzo, Italy, El Bulli in Roses, Spain, El Celler de Can Rosa in Gerona, Spain, Le Hof van Cleve in Waregem, Belgium and La Pinte des Mosettes in Cerniat, Switzerland.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

....It could be restaurants with excellent regional cuisine and nice surroundings and perhaps not even famous.A lot of my travels in france are based around such places.i,e.Le relais de monseret in thezan(in languedoc)....

←

I am grateful that this thread has been revived, Pierre45. I had overlooked your specific references in earlier posts. I have pulled up the website for le relais de monseret, and would love to hear your personal descriptions and thoughts. Many thanks.

[Bux]

I'm surprised not to fine the concise definition in my earlier post. Michelin succinctly defines it as vaut le voyage. Where you choose to eat in a city you visite for business or pleasure is one thing, but a destination restaurant is one to which you travel simply to eat and not because it is in any way convenient.

For me, the draw is basically the food, but of course I have a great curiosity about any place someone else things is a destination restaurant.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I'm surprised not to fine the concise definition in my earlier post. Michelin succinctly defines it as vaut le voyage. Where you choose to eat in a city you visite for business or pleasure is one thing, but a destination restaurant is one to which you travel simply to eat and not because it is in any way convenient.

For me, the draw is basically the food, but of course I have a great curiosity about any place someone else things is a destination restaurant.

←

Of course you are correct. Michelin has been the gold standard since its advent.

I used a much broader interpretation, so as to include idiosyncratic rooms such as Bistro du Paradou, Can Peio, perhaps pierre45's le relais de monseret, menton's good address in Gramat, and other places best described as delightful, if not of Michelin caliber.