Chapel's statue in his garden. Too. Many. Jokes.
There are many little courtyards...
...and the place is very green...
Amuses are unnecessarily sweet. I don't understand why chefs do that. In any case, mousse de foies blonds in the cornet, parmesan in the madeleine, curry and fresh goat cheese in the macaron.
Much better second start with this "velouté de primeurs, quenelle de mascarpone". Actually, it perfectly gives the tone of a cooking that has very clear tastes but also is very civilised and gentle, never agressive, easy to digest... exquisite more than sublime, it no doubt deserves to be called "classical" because of its balance and moderation.
On the side of the soup, mussels and herb, on tomato, on a zucchini cream, on a homemade fougasse. Incredibly yummy, though always in that same discreet, refined way. There's a real chef in this kitchen, it is at that point official.
Extraordinary tomato soup, barely blended, with tomato seeds, barely cooked tuna and sesame, and an invisible mussel gelée in the bottom (zucchini flower on top).
The miss of the day looked rather good (don't you think?) and smelled even butter. Sorry: better. Unfortunately, frog legs were chewy, the melting potato somewhat overcooked, and there was no alchemy between the different parts of the dish. The sauce in the middle is based on frog's fumet, and the one on the side on chive and truffle.
A history lesson and a Chapel specialty: poulette de Bresse en vessie, petits légumes, sauce foie gras
As Amador says, there is a show-business component in traditional cooking too.
The poulette is in two services, with cooking perfect both times. Even the carving is remarkable as the parts that stay on the carcasse are the ones that are not well cooked (I know, I asked that they leave the carcasse on the table).
In the end, it is a true Bresse chicken, not even a fat poularde, so its taste really is like the white page on which each vegetable expresses its originality and strength (fennel, navel, artichoke in particular had very strong tastes), with the mediation of a foie gras sauce so good that you are happy to finish it like a soup.
Vanilla poached peer, sabayon, strawberry ice-cream -- just wonderful, quite light, not to sweet, like a big hug.
"comme un mille-feuilles": strawberries, crêpes,verveine (verbena) cream, yoghurt ice cream. Gentle explosion of taste, if I dare say so. Yum too.
Mignardises are only correct, but they look good, like this raspberry and white chocolate on lemon tart.
They have treacherous long chairs for napping in the garden after lunch. The coffee side mignardises are the low point of the meal, worse than the initial amuses. But coffee is delicious.
I really like the big living room they have in the back, across the very 70s bar.
