Best meals in Côte d’Or: La Grilladine encore!

Posted on May 6, 2014 by rmgtravelsandfood

Frau Grounds has just pointed out that my account of how we spent Tuesday afternoon comprised activities which actually occurred the next day, except for the bit about tasting white wines. Not that one should let the facts get in the way of a good story but I will tidy that up when I add photos next month.

The main omission from that post was our visit to Moutarderie Faillot, just a few doors along from our hotel. We tasted several mustards and bought three different jars, plus an extra one for a friend back home.

Now to what we did on Wednesday. We knew that it was Market day, as is also the case every Saturday. We had vivid memories of visiting the Beaune market while on a coach tour in December 2009; we had been salivating at the prospect of a repeat experience of such things as freshly roasted chicken and ham hocks. But the market must be quieter mid-week and 30 April is a long way from Christmas, so we had to put our palates back in neutral!

After a light breakfast, we decided to visit the remarkable Hotel Dieu, built in 1443 at the behest of the Treasurer to the Duke of Burgundy, to provide nursing care for poor persons who were ill or dying. The entry fee of 7 euros included an excellent audio guide, which led us through this extensive and complex site. Highly recommended!

After a lunch which we can’t recall, we DID stroll around the streets of Beaune. Later in the afternoon, our the subject of dinner made its way into our conversation. Maggie had an olfactory memory of escargots from a neighbouring table the previous evening. So, having established that an alternative was not open, we decided to return to La Grilladine.

Our hosts recognised us and arranged that we receive a different amuse bouche – a sample of the house ham and parsley terrine; this is now a dish we will try to make in our kitchen. For an entree, Maggie had  six escargots, in the traditional style; she was very satisfied. I had a salad of fresh leaves tossed with various grilled small crustaceans and a dressing that played its part with subtlety; delicious, yet deceptively simple.

image  La Grilladine 2b

For a main course, we both chose the braised chicken breasts with a mustard sauce, which appears on numerous menus in Beaune. It was served with some seasonal vegetables and was quite a contrast to the Coq au vin of my first meal at La Grilladine. The breasts had been poached, probably in a stock, and then briefly pan-fried to add some caramelisation. The sauce was an act of, well, sorcery, blending stock, wine, mustard and cream into a lustrous whole. I think we liked this dish!

We chose to leave our palates to savour the chicken and its sauce while we enjoyed the last drops of our wine; this time it was a 2009 white from the Monthelie appellation, another lovely wine. We left La Grilladine on very friendly terms with so many happy palate memories. A bientot!

image  La Grilladine 2a

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Best meals in Côte d’Or: La Grilladine

Posted on May 5, 2014 by rmgtravelsandfood

We returned to Beaune after our lunch at Meursault, parked the car at our hotel, freshened up and headed off to stroll around the old town centre. Exploring Beaune on foot is a pleasant and interesting activity. There several pedestrian-only streets, enticing side streets, various buildings of note and attractive shop windows. There is also a path along the old city ramparts, much favoured by joggers.

Our wanderings were followed by two wine diversions, one to buy two modestly priced reds from the 2009 vintage, the other to taste a couple of whites, by the glass, at different price points. By this time, I was in planning mode – one of my character flaws according to some – on the subject of an evening meal, preferably one that included Coq au vin. I was keen to compare a traditional, Burgundian version with the dish I prepare quite well at home.

We worked our way around the centre of town from menu to menu – the distribution of the alleged 140 restaurants is quite compact – but found only grilled chicken or chicken with a mustard sauce, some with a hefty price tag to boot. Then, just a had begun to believe that Coq au vin is just too last century, and me with it, we found it on the menu for La Grilladine. The menu’s pricing was keen and the presentation of the internal spaces appealing.  So, in we went and soon we were comfortably seated with menu and wine list in hand.

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The meal that ensued was complemented by excellent service, including some guidance on a wine.

For starters, we received an amuse bouche of gazpacho in a shot glass; the tomato base was good but a little dominant compared to what I like to make at home in the heat of summer (see my earlier post on warm-weather soups). Maggie chose a rabbit terrine as her entree. “It was really beautiful”, she has just reiterated. I ate a plate of finely sliced raw salmon, marinaded with an almost imperceptible mix of herbs, seasoning and, possibly some verjuice or citrus, served with a quenelle of iced tomato and basil purée. This light, fine and elegant dish was out of my league!

Maggie chose Maigret du Canard for her main, duck being one of her favourite foods, even more so in France. For this dish, a duck breast is seared on both sides, leaving the flesh deep pink, then sliced and served with a sauce of raspberry and vinegar. A lot of fat to be removed but quite tasty.

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Meanwhile, I tucked into my Coq au vin. There were some nice vegetables on the plate but my palate has forgotten them – this was all about the Coq! First point of difference: the bird in this dish was, indeed, a rooster; well, two pieces of one. So, the meat was still firm despite a long period of cooking. Secondly, there were no solids in the sauce, other than some pearl onions from a tin which had been added when plating. Any mushrooms or cured pork had been removed, possibly used just to flavour the original stock. Overall, it was a superior rendition, giving me much food for thought!

For desserts, Maggie had Creme brûlée, another firm favourite, and I had some wedges of pear, deeply coloured and flavoured from prolonged poaching in red wine and spices, yet still al dente.

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Our wine was an excellent 2009 red from the Monthelie appellation; it was a perfect partner for the for food.

By the time we departed, La Grilladine was crowded with customers who looked just as content as we were.

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Best meals in Côte d’Or: Hotel du Centre, Meursault

Posted on May 3, 2014 by rmgtravelsandfood

Tuesday dawned with the promise of a cool but mostly dry day, ideal for touring. After a satisfactory breakfast at our hotel, we took the N974 south to explore the Côte de Beaune. We hoped for experiences that would make up for the stresses and disappointments of the previous afternoon and evening.

With the aid of our wine atlas pages, we first took ourselves to the locale of the Grand Cru vineyards that produce the fruit that is used to make some of the world’s most famous white wines. We even took a copycat photo of ourselves in front of the gateway of Montrachet, as Julian and Sara had done in 2011.

By now, we were badly in need of a bottle of water, so we drove up to the village of Meursault, which looked attractive and substantial from below. So it proved to be! A barrow-load of money was being spent on renovating the town square, local shops looked prosperous and there was no shortage of luxury cars in the main street. We began to settle in.

After some hesitation – us being Côte d’Or neophytes – we visited the retail premises of a wine producer, Domaine Jean Monnier & Fils. The manager showed himself to be, how shall I put this delicately, a WANKER. Once he had spent a few minutes explaining the inferior qualities of Australian wine – oh how I wished Julian was by my side – and the glories of his company’s wines, noting that we probably could not afford to ship any of his wines back home, he had something more important to do and left. An employee took us through a tasting of two whites and two reds. To me, the first three wines were too austere but we were both happy with the fourth, a Pommard Premier Cru from the favoured 2009 vintage. It is safely packed at the bottom of the suitcase.

Midday was approaching and my tummy was giving me instructions. Fill me! Soon!

We took a short wander, taking in two menus and more of the village’s attractive edifices, before returning to the cafe at which had enjoyed coffee earlier. Through an adjoining door was a restaurant and the menu appealed.  Soon we were seated and being waited on by an agreeable and confident young woman.

While we studied the menu, we received a simple plate of pieces of a light olive bread and slices of a tasty cured pork sausage. Maggie chose a main of veal tongue with a bearnaise sauce (photo next month). I chose a main of salmon and a dessert of tarte tatin. Our waitress helped us select a glass of white each, Maconnais as I recall, which was very enjoyable.

Before our mains arrived, we were given an amuse bouche of creamed cauliflower soup, with hints of bay leaf and some other herbs. The flavours and textures were remarkable; something to try chez nous. Maggie, something of an offal aficionado, was very happy with her choice. As for me, this was the best salmon dish of my life – soft, a lovely colour throughout and delicious, accompanied by a delicate sauce and velvety mashed potato.

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But the best was yet to come! We ate tarte tatin for the first time in 2009, at a busy cafe in Place des Voges. It was such a pleasure that we bought a scanpan of the right size and began to make an acceptable version at home. None of this prepared me for the sublime experience I had at Meursault – melt-in-the-mouth, delicate pastry and apple in sinful harmony.

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What a meal! We had begun to fall in love with Burgundy.

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Best meals in Côte d’Or: un petit surpris en Epinac

Posted on May 3, 2014 by rmgtravelsandfood

During our three days in and around Beaune we had five happy dining experiences.

The simplest of these was in the village of Epinac, just off the main road from Autun back to Beaune; I chose it on a whim from our Michelin map of Burgundy (Maggie was driving).  Epinac has a patisserie, a pharmacy, a few basic service trades and a bar/cafe, Cafe Restaurant de la Place. (If you Google Epinac, you might find a different story but it seems that the village is on a path that is commonplace in the world’s older agricultural regions.)

Our arrival, at about 1pm took the number of customers to five. Soon after the male proprietor gave us the menu, a female chef appeared. She invited us to choose an aperitif then made sure we chose a pitcher of Chardonnay; it was an attractive but cheap wine. She, Aline actually, returned to the kitchen to prepare a plate of the traditional ham and parsley terrine and other forms of cured pork; it was truly delicious and of superior quality. We ate a second tasty, if more modest, dish. Then Aline’s husband, Jean brought short black coffees to complete a fine meal. We dearly hope that this competent and lovely couple will stay in business but I fear for their future.

Epinac 1   Epinac 3

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Burgundy travel miscellany

Posted on May 3, 2014 by rmgtravelsandfood

Here are some miscellaneous experiences and observations about visiting the Côte d’Or region.

Grand Cru, Premier Cru and all that jargon

A meaningful part of our experience was to drive through the wine districts on secondary roads that traversed the precious vine-cloaked slopes and through the series of villages that share their names with some seriously famous appellations.

We had photocopied some pages from the wine atlas my son gave us; these showed precisely which vineyards were Grand Cru, which were Premier Cru, etc; this was both educational and entertaining. Thank you Julian.

Driving in France

This was the first time that we had driven in a country other than Australia. We had made this out-of-comfort-decision because we wanted to explore the region, which involves mostly short trips, and we knew that we were not in the target up-market for organised wine tours in Côte d’Or.

As previously posted, and as an Aussie friend had warned us, the first hour or two was quite stressful but, by the next morning, we were confident enough to use minor roads. Perhaps North Americans and Asians would cope better but you would still have to adjust to different signage systems, etc. So, start slowly and be kind to each other!

(We used Europcar, one of four car rental companies operating at Dijon railway station.)

English and French

Tourism is a big industry in France and even more important in Beaune. So, in most businesses that cater for visitors, somebody will be able to communicate with you in English. I studied French at school and we are on our third visit to France, so my ‘travel French’ is quite useful. If you don’t speak French at all, you should at least learn to say “bonjour”, “merci” and “au revoir”. We also have a visual phrase book – when all else fails, I can ‘pick and point’! (But watch this space for how much use I got from our German visual phrase book.)

Choosing a restaurant

According to Trip Advisor, there are 141 restaurants in Beaune. How to choose?

Well, don’t book on the basis of what it says on any website. Use these to get some background but you really need to see menus and premises with your own eyes. You also need to be aware of what you want. Is it a taste of all the Burgundian classics, with quality less important? Easily done! 100 restaurants offer these at a variety of price points and you will have the company of like-minded souls.

If you are seeking refinement in food and wine, as well as ambience, you need to look closer at the menu in the window, followed by the prices. If the price of all the main courses start with a 2 or a 3, walk away. Toute de suite! If the prices are better than that and the menu includes a good range of fixed-price menus, then you should decide on the basis of dishes that appeal to you. However, if it is one hour after opening time and the place is occupied by a handful of white-faced tourists, look elsewhere.

Following our own advice led us to four of the best meals of our lives at less than 50 euros per head each time, including excellent wine. Ignoring our advice got us an expensive disappointment.

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Enjoying wine in the Cote D’Or

Posted on May 2, 2014 by rmgtravelsandfood

It was bound to happen! If you over-indulge on the riches of Burgundy, you run the risk of an upset tummy. So, while Maggie rests, I have the iPad to myself, giving me the opportunity to share some of our experiences of buying and consuming wine in the Côte d’Or.

We purchased wine in four different ways: at a bar; at a restaurant; at a wine shop; and at caveau or premises of a wine producer.

There are many bars in Beaune. I recommend that you spend a little time seeking one that has an ambience that suits you and evidence that it will match your interest in wine, eg the display board of wines by the glass. We settled on Bar Route 66, one of several at Place Carnot. Over three days we tried several wines by the glass and, lastly, a bottle of Rose to enjoy in the afternoon sun. We found that less than 6 euros bought a wine below our desires, whereas 7.5 euros bought a wine that fulfilled our aspirations.

We bought wine at a restaurant six times. On the first occasion we were led like lambs to the slaughter to a bottle of red that cost 54 euros; it was our waiter’s “favourite”. A lesson learned! Thereafter, we received more sincere and better-informed advice, within a price range of about 30 to 40 euros, for a bottle. Five wonderful experiences ensued. (We also picked up that 2009 was a very good vintage, especially for red wine, information that we used repeatedly, to the advantage of our palates!)

Mainly for budgetary reasons, we were not looking for wine to buy for consumption back home. So, we bought just three bottles – two reds at a small shop run by a helpful woman,  who also gives wine tasting classes (Sensation Vin) and another red at a producer’s shop in Meursault. We intend to take the latter home to share with … tba; the other two have been consumed as night caps.

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Beaune & Cote D’Or

Posted on May 2, 2014 by rmgtravelsandfood

As I begin this post we are having some quiet time in our Dijon hotel; this is wise after spending a sinful amount of money on food and wine since we arrived in Burgundy!

This part of our adventure began with a 95-minute TGV trip from Gare du Lyon to Dijon, a  thrilling new experience. Unfortunately, by the time we collected our hire car – Maggie at the wheel, me in charge of navigation – showery weather had set in; not ideal for our first attempt to drive ourselves somewhere in Europe.

The degree of difficulty only got worse: I struggled with the scale of the maps we had; the GPS didn’t work in English; I let our enthusiasm put us on the narrow Grand Cru tourist road, which writhed like a snake in each village we came to; the route was lightly and ambiguously signposted; and Maggie was so anxious that she kept mounting curbs and doing the opposite of every direction I gave her. It was a harrowing hour but, somehow, we made it safely to our hotel with our marriage intact!

So, we had made it to Beaune and we were in Cote d’Or, the revered part of the Burgundy wine region. Our hotel, La Belle Époque, was located very conveniently for both exploring the region and for easy access to the old town centre. Over the following 72 hours, we had a varied and, with only one exception, thoroughly satisfying time.

The exception was dinner on our first night; an overpriced, underwhelming meal at Restaurant Le Fleury. It was a Monday evening and, knowing that most restaurants would be closed, we were pleased that an employee of our hotel knew of somewhere that would be both open and able to serve us quality food. We should have done some exploration by foot instead of taking the easy option. I will spare you the details but they will be recorded on Trip Advisor.

By Tuesday morning, the showers had disappeared and we set off to explore the southern end of Cote d’Or, including the Montrachet appellation, famous for its wines made from Chardonnay. We then drove to Meursault, the largest of the region’s small towns. It is very attractive, evidently prosperous and the town’s administrative and commercial heart was undergoing a substantial makeover. Here we discovered an unassuming gem of a restaurant – Hotel du Centre – where we had a remarkable lunch.

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After lunch, we returned to Beaune and went shopping for mustard at Moutarderie Fallot, just a few doors along from our hotel. We bought three jars, including one with some horseradish, one of Maggie’s favourite ingredients!

image   E 3

After a comfort stop at the hotel, we strolled around some of the delightful streets in the heart of Beaune; it all confirmed the favourable impression we had taken home from a morning visit during a coach tour in 2009. Then we went looking for a restaurant that served Coq au vin – a long-standing favourite of mine – and our quest led us to La Grilladine, where the food, wine and value was so good that we returned the next evening.

On Wednesday morning, we drove through the lush Burgundian countryside to the large town of Autun, renowned for its fresh food and also home to some relics of its Roman origins. The latter were a bit ho-hum, leaving us puzzled as to how they rated a mention in our guide book. However, we did have a lovely visit to a ‘Salon du the’, including freshly made crepes. On our way back to Beaune, I navigated a route up a sidetrack to the small village of Epinac, where we stumbled upon a simple but enjoyable lunch.

In the afternoon, we visited the justly famous Hotel Dieu, assisted by an excellent and free audio guide. The wonderful story of how this hospice for the poor was created in the 15th century is easily found on the internet. It has been thoroughly restored to something close to its original state; lots to wow about!

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Thursday was the first day of May; May Day, when locals take to the streets in the morning to sell fresh bunches of lily of the valley for as little as 2 euros; International Labour Day, when thousands of left-leaning people all over Europe take to the streets to protest and advocate; and a public holiday, meaning lots of festivities and lots of closed restaurants!

We took one last stroll to the centre of Beaune, bought a bunch of the dainty flowers and found a cafe that was open and serving a good French breakfast. Then it was time to check out of La Belle Epoque and wend our way back to Dijon. We returned to the Grand Cru route – amazing how much easier it was to follow it on a fine day and with a little local knowledge under our belt. We stopped at one small town where the main festivity was an annual half-marathon race; the runners were receiving encouragement from a brightly-dressed band of drummers. And we enjoyed a refreshing cuppa at the local Salon du the.

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As we continued in the direction of Dijon, we had all but given up on finding somewhere for lunch but, a combination of luck and instinct, took us to Chez Jeannette in Fixin, where we sat down to a wonderful 3-course meal.

 

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Dinner chez Pramil

Posted on May 1, 2014 by rmgtravelsandfood

We first dined at Pramil restaurant in December 2009. The meal was excellent but the experience was muted by the fact that none of the staff spoke English and I was only half a day into refreshing my schoolboy French.

Last year, a colleague of Maggie’s dined there on our recommendation, twice!

When we arrived for dinner, it was clear that we were in for a happy time. The menu was tantalisingly beyond our experience and my Frenglish was not out of place.

Here is a summary of our meals.

Maggie chose:

  • Pan-fried suckling lamb livers with baby courgette flesh and flowers, mushrooms and jus
  • Scallops in a cream and white wine sauce with morels, potato slices and wilted spinach
  • Frozen nougat

I chose:

  • Creamed white asparagus with foie gras ice cream
  • Grilled Iberico pork chop with braised beetroot, carrot and a whole small onion
  • Strawberries with cucumber sorbet and olive oil

Our waiter guided us to a red wine from Rully AOC in the Côte d’Or. It was light and its flavours worked with all of the savoury dishes.

This was one of the great meals of our lives, all for 122 euros ($190).

Alas, I have only one photo of the food to share with you – taken outside the restaurant a few hours before our meal. We switched to taking indoor photos with the iPad after we viewed the disappointing results from using our camera at Pramil. We’ll get some more food pics next time we are in Paris and dine at Pramil! (Well, we can dream can’t we?)

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Our weekend in Paris

Posted on April 28, 2014 by rmgtravelsandfood

As I begin this post, it is late afternoon on Sunday. This evening we will conclude our visit with dinner at Pramil, a fine restaurant close to our hotel. The menu looks very interesting!

The weekend got off to a wonderful start with breakfast at Cafe Trocadero (pictured), overlooking the Eiffel Tower. The meal was all delicious, including some Dijon mustard that was quite superior to what is generally available in Australia.

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Next, we crossed the street and went looking for the entrance to Cimitiere du Passy. The weather was showery but not unpleasant; just as well, as we took an unscheduled but interesting tour of the neighbourhood before finding our way into the cemetery. Passy is the last resting place of wealthy and locally-famous citizens, dating back to the first half of the 19th Century, with hundreds of elaborate or expensive sepulchres. We also saw many instances of tragedy in the graves of persons who died in the 15-25 age range. All in all, an education. (We have visited two better-known, celebrity-packed cemeteries on previous visits.)

Other highlights of our weekend included: an exhibition of C20 fashion photographs at Musee Galliera; shopping for perfume at Fragonard; local dining & wining in the Marais district; an audio-assisted visit to the stunning Saint Chappelle; a guide-book assisted exploration of the area around the Pompidou Centre; and the fine gardens of the National Archives complex.

Here are photos of the modern fountain in Place Igor Stravinsky, adjacent to the Pompidou Centre; perfumes at Fragonard; a rainbow over our hotel; fresh asparagus at the Avenue President Wilson street market; and the glorious stained glass of Saint Chappelle.

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Lots of pepper on a last supper

Posted on April 23, 2014 by rmgtravelsandfood

What will we eat on the last evening on which we will be have time to cook a meal from scratch?  (Thursday’s pre-flight dinner will comprise various leftovers, delish but dullish.)

Well, there were two pieces of rump steak in the freezer, some cream in the door of the fridge, some green beans and Dutch Carrots in the crisper and a large Dutch Cream potato in the pantry.  So, it’s going to be pepper steak, with mash, boiled sliced beans and honeyed carrots for dinner tonight.

I moved to Perth in December 1974.  A few months later I was introduced to a small French restaurant just off the highway between Perth and Fremantle. The menu didn’t change much during the year and ‘filet au poivre’ was a constant. I rarely ordered anything else, it was that good and I was that un-adventurous!

Many years later, friends gave me a copy of a modest but authentic French cookbook, where I soon found the pepper steak recipe. This is our version, only slightly modified from the original.

Ingredients

4 x 2cm-thick 150-180g steaks (good quality rump is ideal)
peppercorns (we use a medley of black, white, green and red)
20ml olive oil
15g butter
3 tbsp brandy
3 tbsp cooking cream
salt

Method

  1. Allow ½-1 tsp of coarsely ground pepper for each steak, according to your taste. Place steaks on a large plate and grind pepper over both sides of each steak. Sprinkle each steak with a little olive oil and leave for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to be absorbed.
  2. Heat the butter in a heavy-based pan over medium to high heat; when sizzling, add the steaks and seal them quickly on both sides. Reduce the heat and cook the steaks to just under your liking, allowing for the fact that the steaks will cook a little more while resting.
  3. Remove the steaks from the pan and sprinkle them with a little salt.
  4. Add brandy and cream to the pan and cook, stirring gently, until warm and thick. Add any juices from the resting meat and adjust seasoning for salt.
  5. When the sauce is ready, remove pan from heat, add the steaks to coat them in the sauce and serve.
  6. You can vary this recipe by cooking some thin slices of mushroom or spring onion in the pan before adding the brandy and cream.

PS.  When we ate this last night, the sauce seemed to lack some punch.  I will add one or two teaspoons of tinned green peppercorns next time.

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