Chateau de Locguenole

[cabrales]

I'd appreciate available member input on the cuisine at Chateau de Locguenole in Hennebont, near Lorient.

The restaurant in the chateau is a Michelin one-star and member of Relais Gourmand (the facility is rated a "yellow" intermediate classification with respect to the accommodations by Relais & Chateaux).

[Fat Guy]

My outdated notes follow (the chef is no longer the same). The accommodations, by the way, were in my opinion superb. The ambivalent ranking probably has to do with the variety of rooms available, some of which are quite ordinary. But if you get yourself a nice room (I don't remember which ours was, unfortunately), you'll be very happy -- and the grounds are just fantastic. Also nearby is l'Amphitryon, where I thought the food was lovely even though I had a poor service experience. I'm the only one I know who has had service problems there, so I'm willing to say it was an anomaly. Still it ain't a two star restaurant; sorry Michelin.

Any New York restaurateur would kill for this dining room, in the cellar of an exquisite gray stone chateau, with rough stone walls, muted brown-and-yellow tiled floors, a man-sized fireplace and an exposed-beam ceiling. During the summer, the crowd fills the room and spills over into two other dining areas, but on this Tuesday night in March there are only three couples in the restaurant. The Maitre d' displays great affection for the food, recommending a mix of classic Breton dishes ("the same as my grandmother made for me--except we never had truffles, of course") and contemporary Asian-influenced creations.

A waiter arrives with a tray of hors d'oeuvres, which he holds before each of us as we make a selection. Much to our surprise, the whole tray is for us and he leaves it on the table. The chef has a love affair with simple ingredients like eggs (!!!!!!!) and potatoes, and this theme begins at once with the little snacks, including pastry cups filled with egg. Next, a salad of white beans, ham and foie gras (also not part of our official order) gets our palates even more excited. We begin the official meal with an egg baked in a mashed potato crust with a black truffle sauce. Breton langoustines are lightly breaded and served with a small salad. Filet of beef with little balls of fried, pureed cauliflower is topped with a generous helping of truffles. A whole, small, shelled Breton lobster comes with chanterelles & fingerling potatoes. Both are very good, particularly in their skillful preparation, but we are slowly learning that the best American beef and lobster are more to our liking than the French versions.

You can hear the metal cheese cart coming from a mile away as it clanks along the ancient tile floor. In addition to the very nice selection of ripe cheeses, you can get a fantastic brie with truffles, which you must order at the beginning of the meal. The Chef simply splits a wedge of brie and inserts thin slices of black truffle. A couple of hours later, when you are up to the cheese course, the truffle flavor has infused the entire cheese. Accompanied by outstanding house-baked seaweed bread, it is a unique cheese experience. The Maitre d' recommends the Chef's new dessert: Slices of candied sweet potato with black pepper ice cream and a salad of watercress. We are skeptical, but our first bite wins us over.

A particularly nice touch was the great help we received with the wine list. I decided as an experiment to order Crochet's Sancerre and his Loire red (both 1995), for comparison. The Maitre d' approved of the Sancerre but noted that the red was probably too light for the steak and brie. He recommended a bottle that cost half as much, something that no sommelier has ever done for me. In addition, although we did not indulge, there are several bottles on the list from odd years in the 1950s and 1960s, some of which are priced at under $100--a great way to sample some old wines without paying $1000 at a New York restaurant.

[Bux]

I don't know much about the current food. Over the years the cuisine has had it's ups and downs. It's a beautiful property. The public spaces and grounds are very nice as I image the guest rooms are as well. It's not far from where our daughter's in-laws live. Last year when were in Brittany for a wedding, we stayed at a nearby simpler property under the same managment. It suited us fine as we spent most of our waking hours with relatives and would not have had time to enjoy the chateau's facilities. We had thought about going over a for a meal, but learned that there had been a recent and abrupt change of chefs.

We ate in Lorient at the newly two star l'Amphytryon which was good, but not in a class with Roellinger.

[rozrapp]

Oh, Cabrales, you have asked about a place that was one of THE highlights of our trip to France 3 years ago. We were not slated to stay at Locguenole, but certain events occurred (I won't explain them unless you want me to), and we were able to get in there for a one-night stay on a Saturday. Lucky us! We had Suite #2 -- huge, gorgeous and super-comfortable. As for the cuisine, I see that FG indicates that the chef who was there when we were there is no longer there. Quel dommage! Our one dinner there was superb. We chose the Menu de Gustation. I was able to find the few notes I made about what we had: Pate de foie gras, Langoustines, Lamb Pre Sale, Fromages, and 2 desserts, Fraises and Chocolat. I'm sorry that I can't tell you anything about the preparations. Suffice it to say that my husband and I reminisce about it often as one of the most perfect meals we have ever had. To quote the words spoken by the gentleman sitting at a table adjacent to ours as he rose to leave: "This meal was stunning!"

[cabrales]

Lamb Pre Sale

rozapp -- Thanks for your input. I have been thinking about lamb pre-sale, in the context of the region at issue:

http://forums.egullet.org/ibf/index.php?s=...=10&t=4990&st=0

[JJS]

Cabrales

I am new to this forum but stayed at the Chateau de Locguenole last summer. The hotel is lovely and our room ( a superior) was very nice and spacious. However I booked this hotel on the strength of the Gault Millau very positive report on the restaurant but the chef (Phillipe Peudenier or something) who earned that assessment left that year and was replaced by a former chef at Marc Meneau's L'Esperance. I found the meals at the hotel good but nothing special and overpriced for what it was. Gault Millau rated it as a 17 before the departure of the chef, but my assessment of the new chef would be something closer to 14 or 15. Main courses were generally good but for Britanny the seafood seemed to lack freshness and flavour while starters were only average and deserts very variable. The wine list was fine and service nice but this was in many ways a dissapointment.

However the hotel is great and what I ended up doing was spending a lot of time visiting other restaurants nearby. Of which L'Amphytrion was definitely the most impressive. Wonderful service, the head waiter used to work at Chez Nico, and the design and decor was extremely nice for such an unpromising exterior. My advice is to maybe stay in the hotel which is lovely but only eat there when you have to as there are much better and better value meals to be head nearby.

[cabrales]

JJS -- Welcome, and thanks for your detailed input l'Amphytryon is closed for the day I am considering. Is Lorient worth a visit as a town?

[JJS]

Not really no - in fact its a pretty depressing place. Its a very industrial port - built on the decline of one of the neighbouring towns whose name I have momentarily forgotten. That said Gault Millau awarded one of their annual awards to one of the simple brasseries in the town which should be good for a simple lunch or something. The name again escapes me but I will post with the details when I can. There are some very nice restaurants not too far away - such as La Taupiniere in Pont Aven which is extremely good. More of a lunch destination than dinner but very impressive use of local produce and reasonably good value.