266914 Mon Oct 10 13:16:21 -0700 2005 8 26 International 0 1407542 Need restaurant recommendations in Loire - daytripping from Paris and want to have a fabulous lunch. Thanks. Mon Oct 10 13:16:21 -0700 2005 0 klt 1 1407546 Our most fabulous (and most expensive) meal in the Loire Valley was in Tours, at Jean Bardet. It's a Relais & Chateau property with an inn and a truly amazing restaurant. Here's a VERY long excerpt from my 1992 journal entry. Of course, it was 15 years ago, so keep that in mind... Who knows what's on the menu these days - or how high the prices have risen! ******************************* This was the most expensive meal we’ve ever eaten. Bardet had just been recognized as France’s top chef for 1992 and he was a genius in the kitchen. Dinner was beyond heavenly. We each started off with a kir royale and they brought us a little assortment of canapés to enjoy while we studied the menu. These were puff pastries, two each stuffed with foie gras, carrot mousse, rillettes, salmon, and cheese. We made the few choices from the menu that had to be made and the sommelier arrived with the wine list. Since we had both picked lobster dishes for our main course, Jimmy selected a white wine. But the sommelier had other ideas and asked if he could suggest something more appropriate to the meal. Jimmy agreed to go with his suggestions, which certainly added to the total experience, not to mention the total bill. The first wine was white —Cuvée Clos St-Jacques Jasnières (smooth, dry, almost velvety)— and the presentation was quite impressive. The sommelier brought a tray with the wine, an ice bucket, two wine glasses, and a smaller glass into which he poured a tiny taste for himself. Only after he approved it did Jimmy get to try the wine. Once the wine had been poured, we were presented with another dish not on the menu: some sort of white root vegetable, like a radish, shredded and tossed in vinegar, soy sauce, and beer. It was sweet and salty and really good. Our appetizer was a melange of several different types of wild mushrooms, sautéed in butter and a little soy sauce and tossed together with a few fava beans. This was topped with a perfectly poached guinea hen’s egg. A young woman came to the table to break the eggs for us (!) so that the yellow ran gently over and through the beautiful slices of mushroom and then she sprinkled a few grains of coarse sea salt over the dish. It was divine. We’d never tasted anything like it and probably never will again. Next we had a choice of goose liver or scallops and we both picked the scallops: four of them, lightly broiled, served over a small mound of celeri mousse and interspersed with thin slices of black truffle. Our next wine arrived as we finished the scallops — red this time: Château Puygueraud Bordeaux Côtes de Francs (rich, full-bodied, very easy to drink). The sommelier decanted it into a crystal pitcher, over a candle, to make sure no sediment escaped the bottle. We had made different selections for our main course. Jimmy chose the “roasted lobster and small shellfish” with a sauce of white wine with fresh ginger and lime, and he was immensely pleased with it. I picked lobster, too, but with broiled duck gizzards and a red wine sauce. The sommelier presented me with a small glass of very sweet red wine and brought a glass of sauternes for Jimmy, which he said would go perfectly with our sauces because they were the wines used in their preparation. He was right. Thank goodness the portions weren’t too big. Had there been more on my plate, I would certainly have devoured it and then been much too full to enjoy what came next. What came next was the cheese cart. Jimmy had been looking forward to it with great anticipation. On our visit to Lyon, he had fallen in love with St-Marcellin, a strong-flavored, runny cheese. And there it was! I don’t remember what all the rest of them were. He had a few, I had a few — it was an adventure in cholesterol — followed by coffee and several desserts for each of us. There were: mandarin orange sorbet and cookies; fleur d’orange (a pale orange puff of air); crème brulée; chocolate truffles and leaves with chocolate mousse and apple mousse; another, different, chocolate mousse and pistachio mousse; and, finally, hand-dipped chocolate candies! After dinner, we retired to the lounge where small groups of diners and guests had gathered to enjoy a digestif and a smoke. Jimmy puffed on a Cuban panatela and I just enjoyed sitting there with a photo book of the Loire Valley and a snifter of B&B, feeling terribly sophisticated. It was a perfect finish to the evening. Link: http://www.jeanbardet.com/gb/index.html Mon Oct 10 15:52:17 -0700 2005 1407542 0 Deenso 2 1407564 Still considered to be the top restaurant in the Touraine. Tue Oct 11 02:11:25 -0700 2005 1407546 0 Moshulu 1 1407547 The Loire valley is the heart of France, with restaurants that match the splendor of the chateaux. BUT it's not really a great day trip, even with the excellent French freeways and the high-speed French driving. If you want to see something besides the restaurant and the road, you had better plan on staying overnight. Don't forget that the Loire stretches from above Sancerre all the way to Angers and the Atlantic, so be realistic. Unlike Paris, you can (and should) trust the guidebooks for this area (except the Michelin which is wothless everywhere). Get the Gault Millau or, better yet, the Bottin Gourmand. You will have a hundred choices. But just to recommend something here, try the Moulin Fleuri in Montbazon or Au Plaisir Gourmand in Chinon. Speaking of Chinon, the Loire wines are affordable and go exceptionally well with food, especially the local delicacy: goat cheeses of various kinds. Another regional treat is sandre - pike perch from the river. Try it with a Saumur Champigny (if you are an American, this is your chance to discover the pleasures of light reds). Hunting season has started, and you will be able to enjoy venison, boar, hare, chevreuil, pheasant, etc. Here's a secret. Most people believe that you always have to drink the Loire reds young - this is false. If you go to a really good restaurant, try an older Chinon or Bourgueil or Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil (but not more than 25 years old to be safe). These wines can be fantatstic, and you will have some money left over for other things. Don't neglect the dessert wines either. Consider splurging on an old Quart de Chaume or Vouvray, or something more affordable like a 2003 Montlouis. Don't worry if you are not so familiar with the Loire wines. As always in France, just ask the staff for advice. People in the Loire are much friendlier than Parisians, and justly proud of their wines. Mon Oct 10 16:06:53 -0700 2005 1407542 0 Moshulu 2 1407550 Wow! this guy's post is right on the money! If you go to Monbazon (south of Tours) try staying overnight at the Chateau d'Artigny in that town - not inexpensive, but a beautiful setting. But I agree that this is not a day-trip visit, what with all the magnificent chateaux to see and wines to taste. Vouvray is a favorite stop of ours: restaurant in the town of Vouvray, Le Grand Vefour, is excellent in food and service, but not very expensive. While there, go to the Chateau Moncontour winery to sample their Vouvrays: try both still and sparkling varieties. Their Tête de Cuvée (sparkling) is wonderful and less than $9.00 per bottle. Mon Oct 10 17:41:13 -0700 2005 1407547 0 CJ 3 1407567 Excellent advice. A really interesting weekend would be to stay two nights in Montbazon - one in the chateau and one in the moulin. The food is superb in both, but the atmosphere (and the prices!) very different. The owner of the moulin is a great expert on the local wines. If you chat him up, he may propose some pre-WWII bottles that were hidden from the Germans. Two things I should have mentioned: food aside (pace, net police!) the Loire is not at its best between the dreary months of November through March. Also, if in Tours, don't miss the Musee des Beaux Arts and the fabulous ceramics of the 19th century Palissy school. This is the best collection in France. Tue Oct 11 04:47:09 -0700 2005 1407550 0 Moshulu 4 1407582 I did a jaunt through the Loire, Berry and Northern Limousin in fall 2003. The Green Michelin guides were on the money as far as resto recs were concerned. You will not be dissappointed by anything they have marked as a "valeur sure". As a matter of fact, that may make buying the guides worthwhile even if you can't read much more French than the resto addresses. Tue Oct 11 15:06:40 -0700 2005 1407567 0 Busk 1 1407595 My favourite place is the Chateau de Pray where you can stay too and there is an outdoor swimming pool. Food is absolutely fabulous with of course wines from the Val de la Loire. It is so lovely to dine in such a historical place...if only walls could speak! Wed Oct 12 09:17:43 -0700 2005 1407542 0 Dr. Michael Lim The Travelling Gourmet 1 1407601 L' Cheval Blanc (a one star)in Blere is great. (Blere is a small town but near to Amboise.) My husband and I came across it by accident three years ago. This year on a trip to France we planned our trip around it. Same great food, same hostess, same waitress. Very reasonably priced for a one star. It is located in a simple hotel (by the same name, I think) and the guests are pretty casual. This is very good food in a relatively informal atmosphere but treated seriously by the kitchen and the staff. Please report back if you go. Wed Oct 12 12:15:17 -0700 2005 1407542 0 Joni