France Provinces Formal Dining

Troisgros - I’ve had four meals at Troisgros over the last year and a half and I have come to know Michel Troisgros’ cuisine fairly well. It isn’t the best cuisine in France, nor is Michel anywhere the chef that Bras, Gagnaire, Passard, and Pacaud are. But there is a long-held tradition of pleasing their customers that the Troisgros family has adhered to for the last 40 years, and in my opinion that's what sets this restaurant apart. Somehow Michel Troisgros has been able to combine his passion for serving his “cuisine acidulee” with an ability to please his customers. At a recent meal composed of a seven-course tasting menu, five courses easily passed the three-star threshold, including chestnut “snowflakes” with truffles, oysters and cumin wrapped in sorrel leaves, and frogs’ legs with thinly sliced cauliflower. The place evokes the spirit of three-star dining in the least pretentious way imaginable. Phenomenal wine list that is very well priced. I would stay there for a week if I could. A+

Sweetbreads with Endives, Grapes, Mustard, Capers, Citrus, and Thinly Sliced Lemon from Michel Troisgros

Michel Bras - The greatest physical plant of any restaurant anywhere. Smack in the middle of the picturesque Auvergnat countryside, this supermodern hotel restaurant hangs over the side of a cliff, as if a spaceship dropped it there from outer space. And the modern approach to the cuisine, all done in the most natural of ways, befits the surroundings. You don’t get many meals where you could say that that not only were you served the single greatest vegetable dish you ever had (gargouillou), but the best foie gras dish as well. Too bad not everything is perfect here. The famed Auvergne beef was a bore, and the even more famous aligot didn’t move me as much as it moves others. There is also something a bit mass market about the place as well—maybe it’s the size of the dining room which is fairly large for a three-star restaurant. But on the whole, this is a trip that everyone should take at least once in their gastronomic lifetime as it is a true temple of cuisine. A

Jacques Decoret - You will find a contender for the most modern cuisine in France at this Vichy hole-in-the-wall. Decoret is a member of a club of chefs that include Adoni Aduriz, Pascal Barbot, Wylie Dufresne, and Grant Achatz. But while Decoret's cuisine has the requisite smoke and mirrors that one associates with modern cuisine, he can cook a pigeon with the best of them, and he served us a gorgeous specimen in a date consommé that was among the best dishes I ate on my recent trip. And his potato dessert is “dynamite.” A chef to watch and one with enough talent to get three stars one day. B

Pigeon in a Date Consommé Mixed with Beef and Lemongrass Bouillon, Served with Crystallized Dates and Manioc Flour Wrapped in Sliced Yuca from Jacques Decoret

Michel Trama (Les Loges d'Aubergade) - Sometimes you travel a long way to go to a three-star restaurant, and when you get there you can't quite figure out what the Michelin inspectors were thinking. And so that's how it went when we traveled to Michel Trama’s quaint country inn last May. Neither the cuisine nor the execution were all that inspired. It was sort of surprising as I had read a number of very good reports about the food there. For me, this is two stars at best. And considering the location and how difficult it is to get there, it certainly wasn't worth the trip. B 

Corn Blini with Osetra Caviar from Michel Trama

Maison Borie - A few years back, Manuel Viron got tired of cooking in the sleepy town of Ampuis and found himself an angel who backed him in a posh restaurant in the Southern part of Lyon. The restaurant, certainly a beautiful space, serves a pretty good version of French cuisine, and it definitely deserves it single Michelin star. But I used to enjoy Manuel's cooking more at the Cote Rotie—it was heartier and more casual there and lacked the pretension of fine dining. Even the wine list was better in Ampuis. B-

La Beaugraviere - You don't go for the food. It's the wine list, stupid. This is clearly the most glorious list of well-priced Rhone wines anywhere and not a bad list of white Burgundies to boot. On the food front the restaurant serves classic Provencal cuisine, and in season they specialize in truffles. And while neither the food nor the truffles are the very best quality, combined with the wine it's good enough to make it a dining experience I can recommend. But don't go unless you go for the wine. Got that now? C+

Moulin de Mougins - Maybe it isn't fair to review a restaurant a week after a new chef takes over. But I dined on Alain Llorca's cuisine when he was at Les Peintres in Cagnes-sur-Mer and that gave me a bit of insight into his cooking. Llorca's big thing these days is a 13-course tapas menu, which is what I sampled at the Moulin. Except there was nothing tapas about it. It was just a tasting menu of French dishes served in smaller portions. At least if the taste was exceptional I might have something positive to say. I was hoping that Llorca was going to rejuvenate the Moulin and raise it back to the same high standard that it had when Roger Verge owned the place. But alas, I don't think he has it in him. C

Ithurria - Lovely inn/restaurant that is deep in the Basque region. In fact it's an easy walk to the Spanish border. Unfortunately, the food here could have been better. I had a reasonably good piperade with some nice scrambled eggs and some good Bayonne ham served in a pool of red peppers that were cooked until they were supersoft. But my blood sausage was so gamey I had trouble eating it. Too bad, I always dream that my meals in these types of French country regional restaurants will be terrific. The truth is they are often ordinary. C-

                                Restaurants Reviewed in Prior Years

Bacon - Chic fish restaurant in Cap d'Antibes. I always found it a bit sterile, though some of the food was quite tasty. Nice view. B-

Jerome - I hear raves about Jerome's market cuisine, but my one meal in this La Turbie restaurant was average. Plus the place is terribly old-fashioned in feel. B-

La Feniere - Classic Provencal in the southern Luberon. Too formal for the one-star food. Pleasant hotel. B-

Jacques Maximin - Dreadful. And from someone who used to be one of my favorite chefs when he was at Chantecler. D

Comments

[Jane]

When we ate at Troisgros I thought it the worst GM 19 meal I'd ever eaten. Service was snooty - we had children with us so they moved us from a good table to a poor one - and the food was only good, never great. Dreary setting and dull little rooms.

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A chef to watch and one with enough talent to get three stars one day