Here you can ride a zebra very safely
Those spice flavoured tuiles were a wonderful start to the meal
Equally masterful was this tartelette shrimp/tomato chutney, wonder of balance, truly apetising, waking up all senses
Foie gras aux cerises et myrtilles, cuit sous la cendre -- the blueberry toast turns this into an excellent dish
Highlight of that meal -- the “drunk lobster” is put alive in armagnac where he dies a sweet death and is then served raw. Obviously the leg flesh is served en croustillant on the side, which is sheer brilliance. The carpaccio of tail is an Armagnac gelée. Perfect salad, well seasoned and all. The lobster quality is not paramount but the dish is brilliant enough and can take it.
“Sublimes pommes de terre à la truffe”. This is not a humble name and of course truffles in late May aren't fresh, as you can see. But it was a pretty excellent dish, impressive mostly by its use of sourness. I'm still not sure I approve of such un-seasonality but I have to say yum.
L'oeille moelleux aux mousserons... an all-time Guérard classic that was not well executed enough to be impressive, mostly because it's been copied so much. I felt I'd want Pacaud to cook that dish -- it was very good, it probably could have been wonderful.
Le bar en vapeur d'algues -- the whole seabass was presented whole and raw at the beginning of our meal, and it was pretty fresh. That with perfect cooking resulted in a wonderful piece of fish, without any dryness whatsoever. Sorrel sauce works also very well (felt like time travel to the 80s but totally worth it) and the potatoes with seaweed on the other side are pointless
Granité of a local sweet wine grown by the Guérard and citron confit -- again, does its job, pretty impeccable
Feuilleté de pigeon, foie gras et ris de veau
The two remarkable things in that dish are the puff pastry...
... and the “al dente” cooking of the cabbage and other vegs on the side
When it is well made, slightly cooking good strawberries can enhance their flavours...
... but it NEVER makes them look good
The food is good, with hints of a distant genius...
... but it is not what makes that place truly unique and, possibly...
?“worth a detour”
