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Ken Fox
Oct 5, 2007 10:50 PM
For a relatively inexpensive meal, Ma Cuisine cannot be beat. It is my favorite restaurant in Beaune, in fact the only one I regularly eat at (3 meals upcoming shortly). They have an incredible wine list with the wine prices not much higher than you'd find in a Beaune wine store. The maitre d'hotel and chef own the place (they are a couple). The chef speaks very good English and will take your order if you don't speak French.
Lameloise, not far away in Chagny, is the standout fine dining establishment in the region. They had 3 stars for 27 years, then le guide rouge made a terrible mistake and downgraded them to 2 stars a couple of years ago. They regained their third star with this year's guide. I have been eating there between 10 and 15 times every year for many years, with my first time there close to 30 years ago with my parents. There was no justification whatsoever for the loss of the 3rd star, and the food and service remained stellar during the 2 years of demotion. I can't understand why anyone would find the place too formal or stuffy. It is anything but that. Relax and smile when you interact with the staff, and I promise you that what you are perceiving as stuffyness will disappear.
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re: Ken Fox
PhilD
Oct 6, 2007 12:51 AM
Ken - I don't think I said "too formal or stuffy". I was simply noting it is quite a formal restaurant, especially when compared with some of the restaurants in surrounding villages.
I would rank it as one of the more formal 2/3 star restaurants I have tried - nothing wrong with that I enjoy formal as much as casual (although I don't like stuffy). And yes we do smile, relax and interact with staff (we are Australian) and we usually have a lot of fun with the staff even in restaurants noted for their tradition i.e. Tailivent.
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re: mdietrich
Ken Fox
Sep 20, 2008 09:44 PM
Lameloise serves lunch, but not as many days a week as in the past. Neither the French nor tourists eat big lunches very often anymore. They do have a cheaper prix fix lunch than the menus offered at dinner, and they were offering a lunch that was combined with a glass or glasses of wine, but you'll have to look to the website to see what they are doing at the moment:
There is an English version you can click to see.
Sunday lunch IS the one day where lunch is a big deal in France, so that is a day you probably can not get a cheap prix fix menu, and also a day where a reservation far in advance would be necessary.
As to recently eating at Lameloise, I eat there about 15 times a year, 7 of which were this past April and early May. I'm headed back there in 2.5 weeks for the another round of 7 meals or so, spread out over a month.
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I would have to give an enthusiastic recommendation for Le Charlemagne! We had a very nice dinner there about a month ago, which is reviewed on the previous Beaune thread. It was a very nice surprise. If your more interested in country/vineyard atmosphere than food, it may not fit the bill, but the contemporary asian design doesnt in anyway take away from what the chef is doing..... and he seems to be having fun.
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It's been a few years since we've bben there, but Ma Cuisine was terrific as was L'Hostelleerie de la viex Moulin in Boilland, a hamlet just West of Savigny-les-beaunes. The chef there has moved on to a new place in Grasse since we were there, but I heard that it was still good. ther was another veery nice small place that I've forgotten the name of that was just off the place towards the SW and just across from the Hotel dieu. I think it had a woman's name. It was small fairly inexpensive and excellent food. Sorry the name has slipped my mind. I think I have it written down in my journal, so I may be able to find it if you're real interested.
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PhilD
Aug 17, 2007 09:55 AM
There is a nice restaurant in the village of Puligny Montrachet, in the hotel 'Le Montrachet". It has a very nice sunny terrace on the main square where we had a very nice lunch late last October.
That evening we ate at "Lameloise" in Chagny just south of Beaune. As Souphie says it is high end, and I think recently received it's 3rd Michelin star. The food is great and whilst expensive it is cheap compared to Paris. I found the service to be quite formal and thus on balance I think I enjoyed the lunch better - sunshine, ambiance, and a good bottle of the local "plonk".
Another interesting option in Puligny Montrachet is to visit the cellars of Olivier Leflaive. They do a lunch and tasting package, and whilst it is a bit of a tourist production it is actually low key, and quite good. They taste quite a lot of the wines - Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault etc. and have very well informed hosts to talk you through the wines and discuss the region. We visited after a lunch session and simply tasted wines but there was definitely a good atmosphere - the tastings were generous and we bought some good Premier Cru's.
I do tend to find that many of the vineyards aren't open to the public, especially the top end Premier and Grand Cru estates in the famous villages so Olivier Leflaive is a pleasant change (and it is so much better to taste with the maker in situ rather than a Cave in Beaune).
Another idea is to head slightly further south to Mercurey, the wines don't have quite the cachet of Nuit St George but there are some good ones, and the added bonus is that there are between 10 to 20 cellar doors that welcome visitors for tasting. Some are great, others run of the mill - we stocked up with a case of wine and were not disappointed in any of our choices especially the Aloxe-Corton from Domaine Michel Juillot
We stayed at the "Hotellerie du Val d'Or" which has a Michelin one star restaurant. It is a good solid country hotel with an unpretentious menu. Food was good especially the burgundian specialties, and the prices very reasonable.
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We loved Ma Cuisine which is in a little alleyway off the main square -- right in Beaune. There is also (or was, anyway) a place whose name I cannot remember that was down about 5 flights of stairs in a wine cave. Souphie, do you know that place? We had a lovely lunch there, with about 5 different wines.
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souphie
Aug 17, 2007 03:01 AM
We discussed Beaune some in this thread: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/422251
It included in particular Loiseau des Vignes, Le Charlemagne, and a few others. In high-end, Lameloise is near, Loiseau is worth the hour drive it takes. There are also Beaune classics like l'Hostellerie de Levernois, le jardin des remparts, ma cuisine. And don't miss the patisserie Bouché, place Monge.
