There are hardly any words for what we experienced tonight at this wonderful place. The chef greeted us at the door and showed us to a table. He immediately put us at ease even though we may have been slightly underdressed. This is no stuffy place but most patrons were in business attire.
We started with rabbit terrine (Terrine du lapin) and beef marrow (I don't know the French). The terrine was earthy, salty and only slightly gamey. Truly spectacular. I don't have a lot of experience with marrow but the taste was very subtle. I spread it on the toast squares for a saltier experience. Perhaps the thing with marrow is less about taste and more about experience because after a few bites I felt a stirring, a strengthening within myself. This was most welcome as we were exhausted from a very long day of travel on the heels of a week of touring through the Loire valley. Nevertheless, the marrow woke me up, and its subtle flavors revealed themselves as I continued on, fortifying me for the rest of the meal.
I chose a main dish of cabbage stuffed with pork in a tomato sauce with carrots. Soft, divine, filling, substantial, peasant type food, but not a hint of greasiness or the sulphuric flavors of poorly cooked cabbage. A dying man could eat this dish and revive. After a few glasses of a wonderful Loire valley red and that cabbage, I felt as though I could think about building a railway.
My partner had the pan fried duck on a bed of potatoes and greens. He practically melted in his chair and, although I've never been able to enjoy 'le canard', I had to admit that it wasn't very offensive at all. The potato cubes in the dish were light, with just the slightest hint of a crispy surface. Wow!
We ended the meal with dessert, not because we were hungry, but because we still had some wine left in the bottle. That was the second best decision of the night. My partner had the chocolate mousse. He loved it. I had the caramel cream something or other but it was basically a big bowl piled high with huge chunks of the creamiest, dreamiest flan you've ever imagined. The caramelized bits of crust scattered around were the perfect counter to the flan juice. Surely there is a name for this but I don't know it. If you love flan you know what I'm referring to: the sweet, golden, syrupy nectar that flows in the bottom of the pan around the finished flan, all melted sugar and smoke.
Now as I lie in bed, clean, refreshed and full, I'm tremendously happy. What started out as a simple quest for sustenance became one of the best meals of the trip, and on our last night here. Mon dieu! read more