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Buerehiesel, Antoine Westermann


cabrales

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I had pleasing dinner at Westermann's Buerehiesel recently. This is an interesting meal experience when taken on the same day as lunch at Auberge de L’Ill (not loaded onto board). Both restaurants seek to showcase, among other things, certain aspects of Alsatian cuisine and both are relatively traditional in cuisine style conception. However, while Auberge was unappealing to me, Buerehiesel offered a traditional cuisine that was attractive and authentic. The differences were cumulative, with many aspects of Buerehiesel pleasing me (despite the kitschy, tasteless decor of the restaurant).

Another raining, slightly cold evening – as I like it. And it turned out I liked this restaurant as well, based on my first visit. The more traditional style of Buerehiesel is not my preferred French cuisine approach, but I was suitably impressed by the flavors. Obviously, Buerehiesel’s cuisine is more along the lines of that of Loiseau (La Cote d’Or) or Lameloise than the cuisine of Bras. However, the allowance of the flavors of the products to show through, with appropriately balanced, pleased.

– ½ Schniederspaetle et cuisses de Grenouille poelees, au Cerfeuil (25 euros) (½ portion of special ravioli-like pasta and pan-fried frogs’ legs, with chervil)

– Poularde de Bresse cuite entiere comme un Baeckeoffe, aux Pommes de terre, Artichauts, Citron confit et au Romarin (106 euros for 2 persons) (Bresse chicken cooked whole in a Baeckeoffe vessel, with potatoes, artichokes, confit lemon and rosemary)

– Chariot de Fruits, Glaces et Entremets (17); Glace a la Biere et Glace Verveine (Cart of Fruits, Ice creams and Entremets)

Glass of House aperitif, champagne flavored with certain red fruits

½ bottle of Batard Montrachet, Louis Jadot 1994 (less than 80 euros)

Carola Red, French sparkling water

It was evident from the amuses that this restaurant was different from Auberge de L’Ill. A well-seasoned piece of lisette (young mackerel with tenderness in the meat) on a little piece of toast was good. The greenish skin of the lisette was attractive-looking as well, with strips of darkened color that ran through the greenish glean of the fish – I had seen gleaming fresh mackerel delivered to Basildog’s restaurant recently. Also, a small piece of deep-fried aubergine – coated with just the right amount of batter and having been fried at the last minute to render it crisp in the way I prefer. Then, a cup of green pea soup – appealing because it was not particularly hot (a slightly warm temperature), and had only a tiny little crouton. The pea flavor was delicate, and enhanced by small slivers of a blush-colored shellfish gelee. The gelee had appropriately limited flavors, but it added texture and I appreciated the slight extent to which it changed the taste of the soup. There were small amounts of the gelee still attached to the bowl towards the bottom of the soup. The final amuse was an unusually (in a good way) flavored rolled strip of zucchini. I sampled the beer-flavored bread, described as being a specialty of the region, and thought it was nothing special.

Like the Bresse chicken entree, the ½ portion of frogs’ legs is a dish for which Buerehiesel is known. Even the ½ portion offered a good sampling of 6-8 little legs, and 2 medium-sized ravioli-like pasta items with curvy rounded edges. (I do not generally order frogs’ legs unless they are a specialty dish, like Loiseau’s jambonettes with garlic and with parsley puree. The Buerehiesel frogs’ legs were much better.)

The meat had been scraped from the portion of the frogs’ legs near the feet (which, of course, were not included) so that it was next to the larger piece of meat from the thigh. This not only facilitated the eating of the item, but also concentrated the meat and facilitated its retention of moisture during cooking, I speculated. The meat was flavorful, moist and was the fattiest (inherent in the meat and not at all separate) frogs’ flesh I remember having eaten. Very high quality frogs’ meat had been used, and the dining room team indicated that it had not been subjected to freezing. A very attractive sauce based on a little bit of cream, but mainly featuring the cooking jus and nicely seasoned. The two pasta-like items were good, without meaningful amounts of accompanying sauce (one had a bit of butter-based reduction, but there was possibly butter utilized for the pasta skin itself). Good use of vinegar seasoning in the inside of the pasta, which contained soft julienne of a vegetable, to confer acidity. A dish in equilibrium, as was the Bresse chicken dish to come.

The chicken was brought to the table sealed in a large oval ceramic cooking vessel, with dough having been placed around the lid to seal the vessel. The little metallic red/white/blue tag from the Bresse AOC poularde was embedded in the resulting bread-like sealing ring, as was the case for Loraine’s Bresse chicken in champagne sauce. When the vessel was unsealed, Westermann’s resulting chicken dish was glorious-smelling. The first serving was of the breast, with generous amounts of potatoes (cut into longish pieces), softened small onions, very tender artichoked hearts and, wonderfully, tomatoes. The cooking jus of the chicken had infused itself thoroughly in the described vegetables, and the effect was enhanced by the presence of significant amounts of oil from the chicken in the cooking jus. This fatty chicken oil (naturally produced from the cooking) elevated the dish, because it added to the depth of chicken flavor of the dish and rendered the chicken flesh slippery. The cooking jus resembled what might expect from roast chicken or one’s Thanksgiving turkey, with deeper and more developed flavors. I particularly liked the use of tomatoes, which were not over-cooked, for an unknown reason (e.g., placement inside the chicken during cooking, placement on top of the chicken during cooking such that the tomatoes did not touch the sides or bottom of the cooking vessel). The lemon confit was not particularly apparent in the dish, although it likely contributed to the general flavor of the dish. The Bresse chicken was smooth and delicious.

The second serving of the chicken consisted of the thighs and wings and other dark meat areas. The vegetable helpings continued to be generous. This was excellent again. The restaurant insisted on my taking the remaining half of the chicken (which is generally served to two people) with me in a vacuum pack. I initially declined, as appeared appropriate, but the continued insistence of the restaurant was nice. (The next day, I sampled the chicken after placing the pack in hot water. The potatoes had even more flavor, including lemon confit flavor, although the chicken was not as interesting as the night it had been cooked.)

The restaurant offered me both the large dessert trolley and two scoops of ice cream from different menu desserts for the price of the trolley. The trolley had 4-5 different types of fruit (strawberries that looked good, mixed fruit, fresh rhubarb that was an herb green), a tall-looking Alsatian brioche-like item called the Kugelhopf, chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, and many other items. I took the baba au rhum. It was good – and infused everywhere with alcohol. The best part of the dessert was the beer ice cream, which utilized Kronenberg beer and released a beguiling sweetness that blossomed into the persistence of the effects of the beer. I liked the ice cream very much, including relative to the verbena ice cream (heavier in a bad way and somewhat run-of-the-mill in flavor).

Overall, an appealing meal that left me slightly more upbeat about traditional-style French cuisine.

Decor and Service

There are three dining rooms, with the principal dining room being in a white color theme, with many large plants, significant expanses of glass and an Alsatian country feel. There were dark wood beams featured, and hanging from the ceiling of this unusually shaped room were many pieces of glass (apparently) with unusual curved scrawly lines on them. This was an unattractive aspect, together with overly bright lighting, ugly light fixtures, ugly art work and horrific-looking chairs that had silver-colored, metallic curvy legs. I was seated in this main dining room, albeit not in the “outer” section that was closest to the glass-dominated area looking out onto greenery. In this room, there were two tables, each located underneath a sloping edge (akin to an under-the-stairway nook, although no stairway was involved), that offered limited (but more) privacy. The other two dining rooms are smaller, and on the right-hand-side when one enters the restaurant. Both had woodwork on the ceilings; one had a dark rose color scheme, the other featured a color between light and medium blue. The serving plates were ugly, with swipes of gold color featured prominently on most of the plates (some had a white background, others a midnight blue).

An excellently priced wine list (as good as the Georges Blanc level) with respect to old champagnes and white Burgundies. For example, a Bollinger 1982 R.D. and a Salon 1985 were each priced at under 1000 FF, which, in the case of the Salon, is just very slightly above or below the Fauchon retail price in Paris. Good representation of regional wines. Reds not checked (I am also in a poorer position to evaluate the quality of red wines).

The service was very good, including with respect to the food and the wine. The sommelier was knowledgeable, and, when I asked about the two more expensive bottles of old champagne relative to the ½ bottle of Batard Montrachet, he urged the ½ bottle. Viviane Westermann, the chef’s wife, was continually in the main dining room. She also contributed to the service of the Bresse chicken. At one point in time, there were two people helping to serve and cut the chicken. Antoine Westermann was on hand to greet selected diners after the service. He was very humble, and personable.

Other Menu Items (Rough Translations)

– Foie gras d’oie frais des Landes fait maison, compote de figue aux epices, gellee au porto, et pain de campagne grille (43 euros) (Fresh goose liver from the Landes region in Southern France, spiced fig compote, port gelee and grilled country bread)

– Pate en croute de Pigeon et Poularde au foie gras de Canard truffee (49) (Pigeon and Bresse chicken in pastry with truffled duck foie gras)

– Legumes printaniers en vinaigrette a l’huile de Truffe, sandwich de boudin blanc truffe (45) (Vegetables with vinegarette of truffle oil, sandwich of boudin blanc with truffles)

– Le filet de brochet aux aromates, poireaux vinaigrette et oeuf poche (44) (Pike filet with various herbs?, leeks vinaigrette with poached egg)

– Grosses langoustines poelees, gelee de crustace, asperges vertes et creme d’asperge froide (49) (Pan-fried large langoustines, shellfish gelee, green asparagus and cold cream of asparagus)

– Turbot poele aux artichauts poivrade, feves et fenouil, jus de legumes acidules (57) (Pan-fried turbot with artichokes, broad beans and fennel, vegetable jus)

–Anguille rotie, jus de volaille a la coriandre fraiche, gateau de pomme de terre au chou blanc (49) (Roasted eel, poultry jus with fresh coriander, potato cake with white cabbage)

– Escalope de bar rotie, asperges vertes et gnocchis, coulis d’asperges (54) (Roasted escalope of bass, green asparagus and gnocchis, a coulis of asparagus)

– Troncon de sole aux morilles fraiches et petits-pois (52) (Sole with fresh morels and peas)

– Homard bleu rotie, pates fraiches a la poudre d’orange, asperges vertes et jus de crustace (67) (Roasted lobster, green asparagus and shellfish jus)

– Carre et plate de cote de cochon fermie eleve en plein air roties, blettes et morilles fraiches, gnocchis a la ciboulette (98 euros for 2 persons) (Rack and [side] of farm-raised pig, fresh morels, gnocchis with chives)

– Poitrine de pigeon d’alsace rotie, cuisses et ailes farcies, migotee de legumes (52) (Roasted breast of Alsatian pigeon, thighs and another part stuffed, with vegetables)

– Foie de veau de lait fermier poele, oignons caramelises au vieux vinaigre et frites de celeri-rave (49) (Pan-fried liver of milk-fed veal, caramelised onions with old vinegar and celeriac fries)

– Agneau des Pyrenees roti aux feves et a la tomate confite, hachis parmentier d’agneau au fenouil (49) (Roasted lamb from the Pyrenees with broad beans and confit tomatoes, parmentier of lamb with fennel)

– Fraises au jus de fraise reduit, creme battue et glace verveine (Strasberries with reduced strawberry jus, whipped cream? and verbena ice cream)

– Pomme confite au four, creme legere au romarin et sorbet Granny Smith (Oven-confit apple, light cream with rosemary and a Granny Smith sorbet)

– Creme renversee a la Chicoree, fruits aux epices et granite au café (Reversed cream? with chicory, fruits with spices and with a coffee granite)

– Ananas frais roti a la vanille, jus au gingembre, sorbet a l’ananas et sables au citron (Roasted fresh pineapple with vanilla, ginger jus and a pineapple sorbet with lemon sables)

– Tarte fine a la rhubarbe, confiture de fraise et glace vanille (Rhubarb tart, strawberry jam and vanilla ice cream)

– Brioche caramelisee a la Biere, glace a la Biere et poire rotie (Caramelised brioche with beer, beer ice cream and roasted pear)

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My mouth is watering.

I'm not sure about lunch, but at dinner, there is a separate vegetarian tasting menu. Some of the items on it made me look more at my wife's food (the vegetarian) than my own because of the supreme excellence.

I love that place!

beachfan

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I'm delighted to read Cabrales' favorable response to one of my favorite restaurants. Here's my much less detailed report from five years ago:

######################

September 1997

Here’s today’s set meal from Buerehiesel in Strasbourg, a Michelin listing that’s worth every one of its three stars. This was like California cooking at its best - not a single heavy sauce, everything prepared in such a manner as to underscore the perfection of the ingredients. Spread out over three hours it left us satisfied but not stuffed. The pigeon breast was the high point, barely cooked but almost fork-tender.

I can’t get very excited about frogs’ legs, particularly considering how most of them are obtained these days. These were as good as I’ve eaten, but by application of a pleasure/ principle equation (How good does it taste? How uncomfortable does it make me feel?), I will probably stay away from them in the future. Otherwise, ten out of ten!

To go with the progression of courses I chose a Hugel Gewurtztraminer, which the sommelier attempted to guide me away from on the grounds that it was too sweet. But I am among those who find that its distinctive fruity flavor goes well with a great variety of courses and cuisines – even Oriental – and so I persisted. It is well in accord with 19th century tastes in food/wine compatibility; i.e. the wine should be approximately as sweet as the sauce. Victorian wine experts were every bit as dogmatic on this as their modern counterparts, and so, since I do not believe that progress is inevitable, I feel free to follow my whim of the moment.

#################################

La marinade de Thon, mousseline de Cabillaud et legumes printaniers a l'huile de Basilic

Les Schniederspaetle et les cuisses de Grenouille poelees

au Cerfeuil

Le Saint-Pierre, les Moules et Haricots Tarbais, a l'Aneth et au Citron confit

Les tartines grillees au foie de Canard, fleur de Sel et Poivre,

petite salade de Roquette et Artichaut cru

La poitrine de Pigeon au Chou vert, echalotes confites et champignons des bois

La tarte fine aux Figues, glace aux epices

Les De1ices Buerehiesel (i.e., the “sweet trolly”, with a preponderance of fresh fruit “soups” of various sorts.)

########################

It must be the healthiest gourmet extravaganza I’ve eaten since Chez Panisse.

John Whiting, London

Whitings Writings

Top Google/MSN hit for Paris Bistros

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La marinade de Thon, mousseline de Cabillaud et legumes printaniers a l'huile de Basilic

Les Schniederspaetle et les cuisses de Grenouille poelees

au Cerfeuil

Le Saint-Pierre, les Moules et Haricots Tarbais, a l'Aneth et au Citron confit

Les tartines grillees au foie de Canard, fleur de Sel et Poivre,

petite salade de Roquette et Artichaut cru

La poitrine de Pigeon au Chou vert, echalotes confites et champignons des bois

La tarte fine aux Figues, glace aux epices

Les De1ices Buerehiesel (i.e., the “sweet trolly”, with a preponderance of fresh fruit “soups” of various sorts.)

John -- I hope you consider it appropriate for me to translate, very roughly, your menu at Buerehiesel for other members: :raz:

A marinade of tuna, cod mousseline and vegetables with basil oil

Schniederspaetle and frogs' legs dish I recently sampled

John-Dory, mussels and beans Tarbias (?), with dill and lemon confit

Roast (?) tartines with ducks' liver, fleur de sel, pepper, little salad of rocket and raw artichokes

Breast of pigeon with cabbage, confit shallots and wild mushrooms

Fig tart, spice ice cream

Sweet trolly

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Cabrales, I hope you will attribute my lack of a translation, not to snobbish elitism, but to chronic insoucience. :biggrin:

John -- I'm relieved you are not contemplating an "in" group consisting of members who read French menus. :raz:

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We spent a pleasant four days in the Strasbourg, Colmar area several years ago. These included a dinner at Auberge d'Ill and one at Maison Kammerzeller. I am almost ashamed to say that I have more vivid and mouthwatering memories of the gigantic platter of Choucroute Royale at Kammerzeller than I do of our meal at Haeberlie's place.

I could probably reconstruct the meal at the three star place, if I dig out the bill and the carte, which my brother-in-law always manages to cadge at these places. I'll try to do so. I do recall an incident that accompanied the meal. We asked the manager of the mountain inn we stayed at the night before to call the Auberge d'Ill to recomnfirm our reservation for a party of six on the appointed night. Arriving at the restaurant we discovered our booking cancelled due to no call to reconfirm. Obviously the place was full.

The Maitre 'd listened to our pleas and was convinced to call the hotel in the Jura. He discovered the fault was theirs (telephone service had been disrupted) and promptly (and graciously) created a smallish table for our party in the little remaining space in the dining room. We did have an enjoyable meal.

A post script on the meal at Kammerzeller. That night, a fete was held in the cathedral, which is right next door to Kammerzeller. While we ate, the gargoyles spouted flames and colored smoke from fireworks while an amplified voice from within intoned medievil warnings about Satan and the the horrors of hell. This did not deter us.

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  • 3 months later...

Buerehiesel is located in the Strasbourg zoo. It is a beautiful restaurant reminiscent of an aviary. The wood ceiling is high with a large, etched rectangular glass sculpture hung horizontally. Tiny spotlights on the ceiling illuminate the room and reflect off the glass--it gives the room a fairy-tale look.

Unfortunately, there are good tables and bad at Buerehiesel - 4 tops dominate. Madame Westermann tours the room regularly with an eagle eye and mentioned my fax confirmation, at least twice, verbatim. Unfortunately, that was it for "personal" interest.

Even though we were not particularly hungry (we had lunch at L'Arnsbourg just 5 hours prior) we ordered the tasting menu at 130 euros because it seemed to make sense and a la carte would have been 50% more.

Amuse--feuillete topped with tomato, thickly sliced veal with a mustard sauce and 1/16" toasted croutons. This was accompanied by a very fishy, unidentifiable soup in a demi-tasse cup.

It is hard to give complete descriptions of each dish as our succession of servers (we never had the same one twice) did a terrible job of presenting the food.

This is the underlying problem with Buerehiesel. It is an institution with good food, but with a strangely diffident, removed staff with no real pride in service or food.

My husband described it this way, "Everyone is serving everyone while no one is truly serving anyone!"

1st course-gelee et langoustines aux legumees croquants. The langouostines were perfectly prepared, the gelee nice, but the raw 1/16" diced mixture of vegetables was totally un-interesting.

2nd course--Schniederspaetle et cuisses de grenouille oelees.

This is the signature dish - a tour de force. The frogs legs are served like drummettes in a perfect parsley, garlic sauce. On the side is a pasta ravioli, cut with a cookie cutter, filled with sliced onions, cooked in butter until translucent, but not brown. A fantastic dish.

3rd course--rouget poele aux coquillages. This was absolutely awful. The rouget was so fishy tasting that it was barely edible. It was placed on some sort of al dente barley with a parsley, butter sauce and ringed by mussels--what a mess.

4th course--sole roasted on the bone with a balsamic reduction sauce and a salad with 2 thickly sliced large cepes and one cepe cooked with garlic and butter. This was another excellent dish. The sole was well prepared, perfectly cooked and flavored.

5th course--roasted venison with a sauce of reduced stock and red wine, served with green cabbage and a mousseline of celery and mushrooms. Nicely done.

We skipped the cheese and had one bite of the first dessert. There wasn't anything wrong with it, we were just plain full.

Again for Robert Brown -there was a 3 tier dessert cart.

Wines:

The sommelier was a disinterested, older type who seemed to be going through the motions.

98 Trimbach Riesling, Cuvee Frederic Emile--nice, dry and a good example of what we were seeing as basic Alsatian white - well matched to the food.

98 Cote Rotie, Jamet - the sommelier recommended this--nice but not great--Rhone was a good choice with the game, but just not dazzling.

Obviously, we were disappointed with our meal at Buerehiesel. It could have been that we were so "blown away" by our meal at l'Arnsbourg that Buerehiesel suffered in comparison. (I would never recommend eating 6*s in one day, but it was the only place to fit L'Arnsbourg into this trip.) Also, the service was so indifferent, that it took the pleasure out of dining. All in all, this was not a three star experience, particularly in comparison to L'Arnsbourg and Illhaeusern.

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the ½ portion of frogs’ legs is a dish for which Buerehiesel is known. Even the ½ portion offered a good sampling of 6-8 little legs, and 2 medium-sized ravioli-like pasta items with curvy rounded edges. (I do not generally order frogs’ legs unless they are a specialty dish, like Loiseau’s jambonettes with garlic and with parsley puree. The Buerehiesel frogs’ legs were much better.)

The meat had been scraped from the portion of the frogs’ legs near the feet (which, of course, were not included) so that it was next to the larger piece of meat from the thigh. This not only facilitated the eating of the item, but also concentrated the meat and facilitated its retention of moisture during cooking, I speculated. The meat was flavorful, moist and was the fattiest (inherent in the meat and not at all separate) frogs’ flesh I remember having eaten.  Very high quality frogs’ meat had been used, and the dining room team indicated that it had not been subjected to freezing. A very attractive sauce based on a little bit of cream, but mainly featuring the cooking jus and nicely seasoned.  The two pasta-like items were good, without meaningful amounts of accompanying sauce (one had a bit of butter-based reduction, but there was possibly butter utilized for the pasta skin itself).  Good use of vinegar seasoning in the inside of the pasta, which contained soft julienne of a vegetable, to confer acidity.

lizziee -- While my assessment of Buerehiesel (based on only one visit to date) was more favorable than yours, I agree the frogs' legs dish is very good. What did you think of the textural effecst of the accumulation of the flesh of the frogs near the thigh, through scraping of the areas closer to the "feet"?

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Cabrales,

That is why I described it as drummettes - if you ever eat chicken drummettes, it is very similar - scraping etc. That is why I was so taken with this dish. I absolutely agree with you that this was the moistest, most flavorable way I have ever had frogs legs. A masterful way of preparing a classic dish.

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Well, one thing I've learned from E gullet. There isn't any restaurant that someone hasn't had a bad meal at.

Buerehiesel was one of my all time great meals, where I had a fish tasting menu, and my wife had a vegetarian menu. The rouget was fabulous, among many others. The vegetarian food was even better.

beachfan

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Well, one thing I've learned from E gullet.  There isn't any restaurant that someone hasn't had a bad meal at.

Beachfan,

That is one of the reasons we try to eat at the "great" Michelin restaurants more than once on this kind of a trip. This is hard to do at a free-standing restaurant as opposed to an inn-attached restaurant.

Also, as the prices have escalated and the euro relative to the dollar is so strong, you feel the "sting" greater on the misses.

Have you posted your notes on Buerehiesel? I would love to read them.

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  • 1 year later...

I am a great fan of Buerehiesel. I have been there tens of times and

really loved it every single time. I have recently moved out of Alsace

(about 1 1/2 years ago) and did not have a chance to visit it since.

I have been there a couple of days ago and, somehow, the magic

was not there.

We were very well welcomed as most of the staff remembered us from

our frequent visits. I appreciated that they also remembered small details

like the place where we like to sit, for instance.

We chose the fish menu (details later) and then came the sommelier.

The wine list is magnificent, it's got everything you expect from a 3 Michelin

stars restaurant. Clearly, non-French wines were inexistent (about 0.5 % of

the list) but the French selection is at excellent prices, you almost feel like

you steal them when you choose "Meursault Clos de la Barre 1995 - Domaine

des Comtes Lafon" at EUR 105, for instance.

The sommelier also recommended a Riesling Kaefferkopf from Maurice Schoech

2001 which was very nice. I'd love to describe these wines but this is a food list :wink:

So, it started with "Langoustines, Palourdes, Amandes et Moules, jus iodé et

coriandre fraîche". My English is not good enough to translate that properly

so I left it in French.

That was very good, the coriander was not present enough for my taste

but the tastes was clean, precise and the "langoustine" was of a perfect consistency.

Globally a very nice dish but I was not "hit" as I expected.

We then had the so much expected frog legs with schniederspatle and chervil.

This dish used to blow me away.

This time, even though they were very good, I found the sauce just had

too much butter in it, I felt like I was eating butter with a slight chervil taste.

The frog legs themselves were perfect. So were the schniederspatle, which

had the prefect amount of cream and onions.

After the first serving, the staff remembered this was my favourite dish

and offered us a second serving. That was very kind of them and I really

appreciated this.

Then came the magic. For one dish, we were in heaven. "Scallops, chanterelles

with white truffle cream, gnocchis and arugula". Mind blowing. The juice, a mix

from the chanterelles and the scallops just shut us silent. Every single item

in the plate was amazing. Cooked to perfection, beautifully presented.

All items in this plate "communicated" with the others somehow. A truly

great association. I wanted the moment to never stop.

But it had to. The "Saint-Pierre, coulis of parsley with ginger, walnuts and nuts"

was kind of refreshing after the fantastic but too demanding scallops (my

emotions needed to rest a little :smile: )

The freshness of the ginger/parsley mix was welcome but overall, I found

it just very good, not outstanding.

The "Blue lobster with orange powder, pasta, girolles and "jus de crustace""

was a slight disappointment. The orange powder was overwhelming, present

even in the pasta and we just found the whole dish was around that orange

powder. Sure, the "crustace" juice was great, very concentrated and the

girolles were very nice too but the lobster and the pasta with that orange

powder just let me wondering what it was about...

The "Bar roti with red wine sauce, fricassee of vegetables" was very nice.

Extraordinary concentration in the red wine sauce, fish cooked to perfection

and with a fantastic taste and texture. Very good indeed.

We then had the cheeses. The munster, Mont d'Or and camembert I chose

were very good but not that impressive either. I remember having had

better cheeses in many other places.

The dessert, a "Confite apple with automn fruits and vanilla ice-cream" was

just too much. Too heavy. I could not eat the half of it. The vanilla ice cream

is still the best I have ever had (Pacaud and Loiseau are not even close)

but all in all, a dessert which left me with an strange impression. Did they

want us to be really stuffed ? Did it have to be there because it's winter time?

Then came the "mignardises", coffee and it was over.

Service was excellent. Very friendly, no useless formalism. The setting (in the

winter garden) is magnificent and the timing between the dishes was perfect.

I have an overall very good impression of my meal but was not blown away

with anything except the "scallops and chanterelles".

I will try to try it again soon to confirm my impressions.

Maybe I was expecting too much from the place, having "idealised" it while

away from Alsace. I hope this is the case and that the magic is not gone.

"Je préfère le vin d'ici à l'au-delà"

Francis Blanche

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Hey! You can talk about the wines here

Errm, I then realise I still have a lot of vocabulary to learn in English.

But briefly, the Riesling was very flattering, ripe fruits but still refreshing.

And still this light "petroleum" at the end. A fair finish.

But it was completely wiped out by this monster which is the Meursault

Clos de la Barre 1995 from Comtes Lafon. Very typical from this winemaker,

there is a lot of depth, presence. It has a finish which just would not stop.

Notes of toast, slight vanilla, nutty, a lot of oak but what a complexity as well !!

We then had the Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 1993 from Comtes Lafon which, in

few words, is a bit like the Clos de la Barre but still better. More complex,

cleaner taste. Still young, no way to guess it's ten years old (ok, it's not very much for great white Burgundy) but still chardonnay at its peak. For my taste.

Wine service was perfect, right temperatures all the time. Never an empty glass.

Maybe they had an off night

I do sincerely hope so...

"Je préfère le vin d'ici à l'au-delà"

Francis Blanche

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Mike,

the clos de barre usually attracts a slight touch of botytris, which explains the darker colour and fuller palate, but with an ever so slight loss of fineness to the wine. Whereas the charmes does not, likely explaining the 'cleaner' character you refer to.

I certainly agree though, that 105 euro for the 1995 is a steal in a 3* restaurant.

A meal without wine is... well, erm, what is that like?

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Maybe they had an off night

I have been there again yesterday.

The magic is back. It was a fabulous meal.

I have chosen "a la carte", and went for the frog legs

and the Ris de Veau.

The too buttery frog legs were magnificent this time.

Onctuous sauce, perfect schniederspatle. Everything was perfect.

The Ris de Veau was perfect too. Texture (I think this dish is

pretty much about texture) was perfect. Almost melting, the

croutons on which they are served emphasised that "melting" feeling

and I found the dish a real "dish for the hungry".

Westermann's food is food for the heart. Food that tastes great

and that is not just about impressing people by using "tools" that

look like they come straight out from a chemical lab.

Yesterday was a true great experience.

My previous experience is completely forgotten, the Buerehiesel

is still one of my very favourite places.

Mike.

"Je préfère le vin d'ici à l'au-delà"

Francis Blanche

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  • 3 years later...

As the German food magazine "Der Feinschmecker" reports, Antoine Westermann has handed back his three Michelin stars in a similar way as Alain Senderens did at Lucas Carton. The restaurant Buerehiesel in Strasbourg will be taken over by Westermann's son, allowing him to make a "fresh start".

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Indeed. This was announced in December. Effective 1st of February, Eric Westermann will be heading Buerehiesel. Antoine will "retire" in Paris, as far as I've understood and will be involved in his two parisians places: Mon Vieil Ami and Drouant.

I don't know how Eric will change Buerehiesel but there will be at least some changes, all smooth apparently. Several dishes (including the frog legs) will remain on the menu.

"Je préfère le vin d'ici à l'au-delà"

Francis Blanche

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  • 2 years later...

Back in Oct 08 I had the pleasure of dining at Le Buerehiesel. I wish I had been able to go back when Antoine was chef but I think Eric's food is showing some promise as well. I believe he currently has one star awarded just prior to my visit.

I didn't have time to sit for dinner but I did have the menu affairs which I thought was a bargain at 35 euros. I wish I had taken better notes as I only can name all the ingredients in the first and last course but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

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Wild salmon and local whitefish and potato "terrine" with olive. I don't recall what the saucing was unfortunately. I thought the delicate flavour of the whitefish stood up quite well to the treatment of the salmon. And I was again wowed by just how tasty potatos are in France and Switzerland! I don't quite know what it was but the potatoes were just magnificent on this whole trip!

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Braised rabbit stuffed with rabbit innards. I thought the rabbit and innards were cooked perfectly and the sauce was heavenly but the mashed potatoes were way too salty. My girlfriend's potatoes were the same.

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The lemon meringue was pretty standard but the lemon "chip" was quite tart and tasty. Wished there were more of them!

Overall not something I swooned over but for about $110 in food for two people with taxes and tips in (not including wine) I thought it was a bargain. To get this kind of food in Toronto would require a lot more spending.

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