Bordeaux - Good eats

[David Bizer]

Greetings, I just joined eGullet today after reading most of the posts over the past couple of weeks.  I've been looking for a forum like this for quite a while.  Now I found it.  I hope I can contribute from time to time, as I've been living in Paris now for 3 years and have no intentions on living....mostly for the cuisine!

My question is...can anyone suggest some great restaurants in Bordeaux.  I'm looking for one of the best, and then a couple of other less expensive (read-not three star) bistros.  I'm staying in St. Emilion and have time for three lunches and two dinners.  Any suggestions are truly appreciated.  Thanks!

[yvonne johnson]

Welcome to the boards. Here are some notes on my visit (this past summer) to Bordeaux and surrounding area

The Grand Théâtre restaurant. Wonderful foie gras pate (heaviest, richest I had over the ten day stay). Braised pork in dense reduction. Light desserts, e.g., compote with nuts. The dining-room is grand, chandeliers and so on, but service is not formal. Around 250F per person (not including wine).

Didn’t manage to get to La Tupina but the locals with whom we dined one night said it is still really good as is Le Chapon Fin. These are two of the most raved about restaurants in Bordeaux I think.

The full name escapes me: ends in “Dupont”, behind Cité Mondiale. Rouget (red mullet) app served cold; duck with foie gras, and best cherry clafoutis I’ve ever had. Good house wine by the jug.

Lighter fare:

Café Régent brasserie, place Gambetta. Bargain set menu—150F for three courses.  Salmon with dill, roast lamb. Excellent St Julien les Fiefs de Lagrange 1998.

Nlle Part Ailleur brasserie, 19 cours du Maréchal-Foch. Excellent salad: prawns, salmon, avocado, greens.

St-Émillion

Chateau Grand-Barrail, a couple of miles outside St E.

Lobster with a refreshing light broth, a little strong on the lemon. Terrific ravioli with foie gras. Delicious pigeon. Lamb with cumin crust. Cheese (I love the cabecu) board was the most extensive we’d seen. Desserts didn’t impress me much.

Very expensive. Is it worth it? Mixed view. My husband thought it was the best meal we had on this trip. I thought it didn’t quite make that grade.

If you had more time I’d put St-Cirque-Lapopie on top of the list of places to visit.  Of all the villages that are built into the cliffs in this area, this one is the most stunning. And I had a perfect mesclun, tomato, prosciutto salad at Auberge du Somral.

[Bux]

I think I may have mentioned Amat's Le St. James in Bouliac across the river from Bordeaux. Our first visit for lunch made me a fan of his food years ago, although it was Jean Nouvel's architecture that I really wanted to see at the time. I don't recall my wife's meal, although I know it started with a tartar of raw fish and oyster, which I coveted after she allowed me a taste. I had the seasonal special of pibales (tiny eelets) in olive oil with some Basque hot pepper and his specialité--pigeon pastilla. I was surprised to see a dusting of powdered sugar, but I understand this is the way it's done in north Africa. It was superb. A chocolate dessert with pistachio cream made for a perfect meal. We were so pleased that I found the one star rating totally puzzling. We returned about a year later and stayed in the inn for a couple of days. I started dinner with a fish tartar. It had been on my mind. My meat course was less impressive this time, although I thought the restaurant was still stronger than one star. I don't know what I missed, but Michelin still rates it as one star. Maybe it's Michelin who's slow to notice as the GaultMillau rates it an 18. It was difficult to pull ourselves away from the gastronomic restaurant the second night, but we chose Amat's bistro, the bistroy--for bistro & destroy. The food is simple, but well done and of a local character. The service is adamantly bas cuisine but with a smile. Our wine was opened and plunked down before us without ceremony and we were left to pour our own tasting as well as serve ourselves, but when we ordered too many canneles for dessert, the left overs were carefully boxed and presented to us with our bill. I believe the canneles, Bordeaux contribution to pastry, are also served after dessert in the main dining room. They are worth the visit to either room. It's another specialty of the house, although even fairly good ones are a treat.

La Tupina brings back a somewhat funny but embarrassing memory for me, but a wonderful one for my wife. On a fall night we entered passing a wall of fire and many birds roasting on spits. My wife immediately ordered a roast pigeon. I spotted a truffle menu at an unbelievable price. You know what they say, if it looks too good to be true ... . Only afterwards did I realize that the menu noted truffes de himalya or something like that. I had heard about inferior truffles from China, but wasn't thinking.  Well I slogged my way through a meal of course after course all heavily laden with truffles that were as flavorful as old potatoes from the supermarket, while my wife enjoyed her perfectly cooked pigeon. She said it was one of the best she'd ever had and couldn't imagain how I could have passed one up after seem them. My only revenge was that it was hard for her to eat as she was laughing so hard. Of course I also have the advantage of first hand working knowledge of Chinese truffles. La Tupina's hand written wine list/book is a gem of some sorts. It's a fat bound book of small pages of graph paper--one wine to a page.

[Bux]

I've been living in Paris now for 3 years and have no intentions on living....mostly for the cuisine!

Gee, I hope that's a typo. We hate to loose new members so quickly. On the other hand, it you intend to overdose on cheese and foie gras, I suppose it's only understandable. Welcome aboard.

[David Bizer]

Thanks for the speedy responses.  With your help, I've got a decent schedule mapped out.  If there were one or two vineyards you would visit in the St. Emilion area, which would you choose, and how do you go about arranging a visit?  I'm under the impression drop-ins aren't so common in France.

Also, Bux...thanks for pointing out my typo...I even previewed my post before sending.  Must be some kind of Freudian premonition....

[Bux]

I've started to use an interactive spellchecker, but as it doesn't care if I "live" or "leave," the net effect is to make my mistakes harder to catch.

We spent an afternoon in St. Emilion. It's a charming village, assuming one overlooks the fact that it seems to exist for the purpose of being a tourist attraction. It was not so bad in September and probably much better in November. I suspect that like a number of tiny villages that have not changed in centuries, it's at its best in the evening when day trippers leave and again in the early morning. I should probaby also admit that, at times, I take a certain social pleasure in being in a place that's a destination. At any rate we contented ourselves by just being in the area and making our connection with the terroir by watching the grapes grow. Admittedly, we have become more passive tourists these days, at least on occasions like this.

France is a big place and vineyard hospitality varies from area to area. At one extreme are the Grand Cru Medocs where invitations are difficult even for professionals, with certain exceptions. For instance Chateau Beychevelle, coporately owned, has regular guided tours--without tastings. At the other end of the scale are the many small wineries scattered about France where there isn't much to look at in the way of impressive buildings or even sophisticated machinery, but drop ins are encouraged, tasting is gratuit and the owner hopes you will buy a case or at least a bottle. Our friends in the Languedoc do much of their wine shopping this way. Even in St. Emilion, I suspect you will find smaller producers with limited distribution eager to have you knock on their door. Look for "degustation gratuit" signs. If there's a chateau you want to see, you can write ahead and see if they will accommodate you. If you have any contacts with merchants, distributors or sommeliers, they may be able to arrange a visit to some places. It's worked for me in Napa Valley.

If you go to Bouliac, and if you're a fan of contemporary architecture, you might ask to see the guest rooms at the St. James. Jean Nouvel is the architect and his talents are best (or least) displayed in these rooms. As he seems not to have had a thought about maintenance or repair, I'm curious as to how these rooms have withstood daily use. Among his other works are the Arab World Institute and Cartier Foundation buildings in Paris, and the renovation of the Opera house in Lyon.

[robert brown]

My wife came across a small place Michel Guerard has by the sea with six rooms and a dining room while she was reading Mayle's "French Lessons". (Sometimes you can find good-sounding things in bad books). But is the place really good? Anyone been there or heard anything about it?

(Edited by robert brown at 8:53 am on Oct. 23, 2001)

[Bux]

Michel Guerard seems to own most of Eugénie-les-Bains with at least four different places with different styles and levels of luxury and offering at least three different places to eat as well as a choice of gastronomic or minceur (residents only) menus in his main dining rooms. I'm not aware of the place by the sea. Do you have any more information.

You've got me thinking. I wonder how many other chefs own small towns, or at least enclaves besides Guerard in Eugénie and Amat in Bouliac--just to return to bordeaux for sake of the thread.

[robert brown]

You mean like Blanc in Vonnas? Or does it have to be on the Atlantic Coast or SW?

[robert brown]

I'm working on the Michel Guerard place. It's called "Le Huchet", but nothing in Google about it. There is an area called "Le Courant de Huchet". I'll wait until I put my hands on the Mayle book in a little while, I hope.

[robert brown]

Okay, it's called "Domaine de Huchet" and Mayle doesn't pinpoint its location other than it is on the long stretch of beach on the Atlantic Coast. It seems quite simple; has three guestrooms and a couple or one chef in the kitchen. Bourgeoise cooking, sounds also like "table d'hote" situation. Sounds nice and relaxing, but Mayle gives no other info. except that you book it through the Eugenie-les-Bains location. It's described in next-to-last-chapter in case you want to sneak a peek at your B&N. (Now I see a description and photos (French text) of it on their web site).

(Edited by robert brown at 1:14 pm on Oct. 23, 2001)

(Edited by robert brown at 1:26 pm on Oct. 23, 2001)

[Bux]

Right. Blanc in Vonnas was my first thought. I mentioned Guérard because that's who we were speaking of at the time and Amat, because he was already mentioned and germane to the subject of the thread.

Mayle doesn't pinpoint its location

Go ahead, give me another reason to find him a pain. ;)

Now I see a description and photos (French text) of it on their web site

http://www.michelguerard.com/, but a quick glance gave no information about where it is exactly or how much it costs. It's not even mentioned on the Guerard reservation form. It's also curious that I don't recall seeing any literature about it at Guérard. We were there a couple of times. We stayed at La Maison Rose and ate in the main restaurant, but for all the brochures we ran across, I don't remember one from the Domaine de Huchet.

We're way off the subject matter. I tend to ramble myself and not pay attention, but I suspect this part of the discussion may be missed by someone interested in Guérard.

[robert brown]

It's kind of bizarre. Who's meant to stay there? It sounds quite lovely, as I'm sure it is given the way Michel and Christine do things. Who knows if it's even open this time of year. Even more bizarre is the Mayle book. It got absolutely no attention as far I could tell. I grabbed it away from my wife and couldn't believe how uninspired the little I read was. But I must be the only Francophile who never read any of his books.

[Danielle]

I'll jump in and join the crowd of Amat's fans.  We are going there for New Year's Eve (Saint-Sylvestre), they are open, and we'll stay at the inn -- we are Jean Nouvel fans too.

Bux, have you stayed at Cloitre Saint-Louis in Avignon?  He designed the new wing.  Even the rooms in the old cloisters wing are contemporary and beautiful.  The only drawback there, is the restaurant: awful!  But there are enough good places for scrumptious dinners in Avignon.

I'll post a couple of questions about Bilbao and Barcelona on the board where Spain is discussed, so if any of you know restaurants in either city, please go there, as a favor to me.  Merci.

[cabrales]

I thought I would share certain recent reading on "pibales", as mentioned in Bux's October 18 post on a meal at Amat.  The below description is from Jim Harrison's "The Raw and the Cooked" (portions on Spain):

"In Europe, where the eels, male and female, are seized by erotic frenzies, they leave the lakes and rivers and ponds to indulge in furious orgies in the faraway Sargasso Sea.  From their eggs are hatched larvae which were brought back by the Gulf Stream to our estuaries as 'civelles', called 'pibales' here: delicate wriggling babies, three or four centimeters long, served piping hot, in earthenware saucepans with extra virgin olive oil, Esplette (sic) peppers, and garlic."

[cabrales]

I read Jonathan Meade's final column as food commentator. He named his favorite restaurant -- La Tupina.  While I have never been to the restaurant, I find Meade's views on restaurants useful at times and am now slightly more inclined to try La Tupina.

[Bux]

La Tupina was the scene of a lovely meal for my wife featuring one of the pigeons spit roasting on a wall of fire in the front part of the restaurant. She was very pleased with her choice. I foolishly went for a menu of Himalayan truffles. I've recently described my disappointment in another thread on eGullet.com. I'd like to return to right my mistake, but I'm drawn to other parts of France.

[Danielle]

Just came back from France.  As mentioned earlier, we spent New Year's Eve at Jean-Marie Amat's St James in Bouliac: Jean Nouvel-design hotel and the restaurant.  A most memorable evening and night:  the 800 FRF (it was still 2001!) menu was as follows:

- Terrine de foie gras mi-cuit aux noisettes, et cru en sashimi au gingembre marine (with an accute accent on that last 'e'):  the raw foie gras was divine, as it literally melted in my mouth, with a faint ginger taste emanating from it; the terrine reminded me more of the traditional foie gras terrines, but the crunchy hazelnuts were a delightful adornment.

- Nage de queues d'ecrevisses aux artichauts violet: for some reason I had not had crayfish in a very long time so it was a most welcome renewed acquaintance.

- Rillettes de lapin de Garenne a la puree de chataigne et bouillon aux herbes aromatiques: one subtle taste treat after another in one dish.

- Chapon de pintade roti au choux vert, lard et cepes: hearty and filling, my least favorite dish of the meal, largely because I no longer like dark meat of any "volailles"

- Plateau de fromages (de Jean d'Alos, the great maitre fromager): a varied choice of goat's, cow's and brebis's milk -- I can't remember the English word for the last critter!

- Gelee de grenade aux litchis: nice, refreshing and palate cleansing

- Mont Blanc aux marrons glaces: a desert to die for!

The same evening, a 1200 FRF menu was available, and I decided against it because the main course was "chevreuil" and I am not especially fond of venison; also, there was "oursin" among the first courses (can't think of the English word for that either).

We followed the sommelier's advice on wines, and drank little known 1/2 bottles (less choice of course), but they were of the delightful category, if not of the great category.  No regrets!

As far as I am concerned, Jean-Marie Amat belongs among the great chefs of the world.  We have had dinner there several times, and have always walked away dazzled.  The Jean Nouvel hotel is worth a detour all by itself.

[Bux]

Every dish you describe sounds wonderful to me. Why is it just a one star restaurant? That's a rhetorical question. It appears you agree with me.

How have the guest rooms held up. The last time I was there they showed some deterioration that was going to be hard to fix without destroying some of the character and some of the deterioration was almost built in to the design. For the latter, sliding walls 15 feet long provided access to tiny closets, but the weight of the doors meant they had great inertia when they hit the stop. Eventually the door stops ripped out of the floor and wall tearing pieces with it. The wonderful unpainted plaster with fiberglass threads walls are probably a bad idea at the baths where they absorb water and quickly begin to show mildew. I suppose it's inevitable that these walls will patched and then painted to cover the patch. Perhaps it will look fine and in the end, the original finish will not be missed.

Did you also get to Spain on this trip? I know you asked questions about Spain before you left. It's been my big disappointment with eGullet.com that there's not been any good conversations about Spain and it's food.

[robert brown]

Danielle, welcome back. We missed you. Oursin is sea urchin. It sounds good what you ate. Bux, just this afternoon my brother the hispanist and I were talking about the possibility of journeying across the top of Spain (from Rossas to Santiago) just as you and I discussed the other evening. There are even a few areas he hasn't seen. We look forward to picking your brains. You feel about Spain what I feel about Italy!

[Bux]

Let's do it in public and see if we can draw others into the conversation. This site deserves to have enough threads to support an Italy and a Spain food and travel board.

[robert brown]

Bux, I'm still trying to get a couple of posts out about Italy. Maybe by the end of next week. I actually have something to write from which I will derive some income!

[pcloguda]

 I join those who feel Jean-Marie Amat deserves more than one star. We had a wonderful meal there....and the wines we consumed inspired us to play with all of those buttons in the ultra-modern room. A spotlit canvas [minimalist dots] leaned ags the wall....the bathroom was without door.

 We stayed at and enjoyed the [older section] of Grand Barrail and like an earlier poster, very much enjoyed our dinner there. I still recall the marvelous cepe tartlette which began the meal. A nearby wine prodcuing chateau which will welcome you by appt. is Figeac.

 In St Emilion we enjoyed dining in the restaurant of Hotel Le Plaisance. Ask for a window seat; in nice weather, the shutters are open and you gaze out on hilly countryside and staryy sky.

[Gary Marshall]

A friend has asked me for some recommendations on bordeaux, assuming i am the font of all knowledge of the french restaurant scene and not realising i get it all from here

I see from a search la tupina seems to be an old favourite i think recommendations in a similar vein would be warmly received, simple rustic cooking rather than formal stars me thinks

any thoughts?

thanks

gary

[David Bizer]

two thumbs up for la tupina, especially if you want rustic atmosphere and cuisine.