Jules Verne Restaurant

Dinner at Jules Verne

This was to be a dinner paid for by the unexpected redundancy payment put on the table by my boss when I suggested I resign. Mind you, I was going to resign anyway, as we had already booked our holiday in France for much longer than the 5 weeks leave I had officially applied for. The redundancy was a bonus that allowed us some extravagances which would otherwise not have been possible.

To get into this restaurant you need to book about three months in advance. You apply through a fairly impersonal on-line process, but we did send an email later, asking for a table with a view as we had several things to celebrate; my 60^th, retirement and the end (almost) of the French holiday.

So we set off, all dolled up, to the Eiffel Tower. We were greeted and our reservation checked at the bottom of the private leg of the tower and whisked up to just above the second stage in a lift with a view: two views actually, one on the metalwork and one out to the vistas of Paris. We were greeted by about twenty waiters all in dark suits as we were led through the restaurant to a beautiful corner table with a view out onto Trocadero and the river with its cruise boats. We sat just above the second observation deck of the tower.

The restaurant is in rich chocolate colours with russet trim, cantilevered russet chairs, or banquettes in chocolate leather, white table cloths and napkins in neutral linen about the size of a small bed-sheet. The table was set with unusual ceramic plates in white with irregular hexagons on the bottom, which they turned over to reveal a white show plate. The knife and fork on the table when we arrived looked suitable for keyhole surgery, but they were removed and more suitable cutlery was provided for each course. All in the name of showmanship.

The menu was not extensive but almost anyone could have eaten well, perhaps vegetarians excluded. The emphasis was on quality ingredients sourced from the best places in France. I ordered asparagus and poached egg, followed by rack of milk fed lamb. Nick ordered pea soup with spider crab and Bresse chicken with crayfish. That is bare bones description and of course the presentation was exceptional.

While ordering we were offered little cheese puffs, light and delicate. After ordering we were brought an oval glass with tiny cubes of ham, cucumber, melon, tomato and crisp croutons, each cube about the size of dice cut in four. The waiter poured a little jug of tomato gazpacho over this. It was most refreshing. Three types of bread rolls were offered. We ordered a bottle of Chablis to drink with the meal, but not the wine that cost E4000. We thought we would give that a miss this time.

My asparagus and poached egg also included several crayfish tails and avocado as well as little slices of veal sweetbreads. It was delicious but perhaps overly fussy and had a few too many flavours. Nick’s pea soup was a shallow soup plate with some tiny salad leaves topped with spider crab and peas and surrounded with a foam. The soup was poured around this. Nick finished everything, including the salad which is something for him.

The lamb was tiny and the waiter was at pains to point out that it had been roasted on a turning skewer and was therefore very juicy, which it was. There were tiny little rib cutlets and then a roll of boneless loin. It was served with a transparent rectangle about half A4 size standing upright. This turned out to be strips of potato somehow fused together to make the biggest crisp. Fun, pretty and yummy! Nick’s Bresse chicken was rolled and roasted and presented with several crayfish tails and the crustacean sauce poured around it. He was a good boy and left the skin, as did I, but everything else was eaten with relish, though he couldn’t quite finish all the sauce.

We were content by this time to sit and look at the view as the sun set

and also watch the amazing number of people who brought young children to the restaurant. A great way to see Paris and the kids were really well behaved but the cost obviously didn’t faze them. I heard one waiter saying that one family party owned a large hotel in Paris, so that may explain things.

Having been prompted to look for the dessert that appears like a rusty bolt, I ordered that and Nick the deconstructed Black Forest Cake. This came in a martini glass, a layer of choc mousse, topped with macerated cherries, whole cherries and Chantilly. On the side was a perfect looking choc macaroon which held cherry confiture and ice cream. All the ingredients, just arranged differently. Mine was in two parts as well. On the plate was not a bolt but a large industrial nut to screw onto a bolt, a play on the idea of it having come off the tower itself which is actually a brownish colour up close and personal. The “bolt” looked metallic and the centre was filled with dark chocolate sauce. Under the metallic coat was a chocolate ganache on a hazelnut praline base. Incredibly rich and yummy. On the side, a dish of hazelnut icecream and some caramelised nuts, basically to cut the richness of the choc “bolt”. I was determined that the metallic look of the covering needed to be explained. Finally I had it confirmed that gold leaf is mixed through to give the sheen of metal. Very clever!

We were also given mignadises, little cakes, macaroons, marshmallows and choc cubes. We stretched our time out nibbling occasionally as the tower lit up with a million stars flickering, then went a deep blue.

On Bastille day, our last in France, there was a parade in the street and fireworks at Trocadero, opposite the tower. What a fabulous finale to the French part of our holiday and what a great way that dinner was to celebrate several milestones in my life. It was nicely ironic that the redundancy paid for it all.

Sarlat to St Cirq-Lapopie

Sarlat and around

The apartment was very stylish, built into an old building almost in the centre of town. It had a spa and fitness room in the basement which we didn’t use and a circular staircase going up three floors. Luckily we were on the first floor, so only 20 stairs. I felt a bit sorry for the other residents as this had not been explained on the website. A kitchen and a bathroom with a washing machine, such luxury.

Unlike St Emillion which seems to be exclusively for tourists, Sarlat is a real working town with excellent markets, though the old centre still is rather touristy. There are just so many shops selling foie gras and canned duck, or restaurants with foie gras and duck gizzard salads and confit duck on the menu that a body can stand. We ate a lot of duck!

Shop with duck and geese products

In the end, after a rather bad meal at one restaurant early in the piece, we shopped at the covered market or the real market and bought our own vegetables, raspberries and fraises du bois and duck magrets, smoked magrets, lovely country terrines, gorgeous bread. Yum!

Sarlat window

Sarlat markets

Sarlat bronze geese

We had several excursions to the countryside. We visited the reproduction of Lascaux caves which is moulded from the original and has all the paintings exactly reproduced using original techniques. I expected it to be second rate but it was truly inspiring and we had a great English speaking guide. We ventured into several “Plus Belles Villages” even though it was wet, including St Armand de Coly which is dominated by a fortress church and remains a formidable bastion.

St Armand de Coly

Interior

Another was Domme, high on a ridge with pretty squares and charming side streets when you got away from the tourist shops. Rocamadour, that vertical village with town on one level, church in the rock next up and crowned by the chateau, was also an appealing place to spend a day, even in the wet.
 

Rocamadour

The troglodyte “chateau” of La Maison Forte de Reignac was also an experience, part original cave, part defensive house with only a front to defend. Lots of stairs and levels and views forever across the river and forests.

View from La Maison Forte
( Correction: View from the belvedere in Domme)

For a formal chateau it was hard to beat privately owned Hautefort with its exquisitely sculpted gardens and huge domed towers, while the tiny town of St Genies on the way had beautiful mellow stone buildings, a chateau restaurant which we did not visit, and roses covering every wall.

Hautefort

Hautefort dome interior

St Genies’ roses

We were fortunate to obtain a booking at La Recreation in the tiny town of Les Arques. This restaurant was documented charmingly in the book “From here you can’t see Paris” by Michael Sanders. The restaurant is housed in the old school house of the village and has old teaching posters interspersed with other pictures on the walls. The E32 menu with choices was delicious. First a creamy, buttery white asparagus soup served in a tureen at each table. I followed with lobster ravioli arranged like a flower with a smooth coral sauce poured over while Nick had St Jaques in katafi pastry with a passionfruit sauce. Given that he has conservative tastes and ate every scrap, I am assuming it was an acceptable combination of flavours. Nick had a steak with wine jus while I enjoyed a boned quail piled onto a galette spread with foie gras, the whole topped with a peppery and grapey jus. A cabecou of goat cheese with honey next, then desserts of choc fondant and a nougat glace with raspberry sauce. Well replete we headed home.

Interior La Recreation, Les Arques

The Sarlat market on Saturdays is big, very big. Because we could not park close to the apartment, we parked in a tree lined square just outside the old town. Came time to leave for our next stay and oops! This huge market had surrounded our car and we couldn’t get out. The signs were small advising of the market, but they were there. We paid a fine and killed time till about 4pm when the crowds had thinned and some market vans had left.

Cheese seller, Sarlat

Then the people with market sites nearby helped us to edge the car out and get on our way. Luckily not too far to go to St Cirq-Lapopie and a charming hotel made up of a series of village houses which had been remodelled. We had the tanners shop where he had cured leather in the back and sold it in the front window, now a lovely room with four poster bed, table and chairs and a modern bathroom. Most comfortable, with a lovely breakfast in front of the antique fireplace in the main building.

St Cirq street, our accommodation

St Cirq-Lapopie is another vertical village, crowned by a church and the ruins of a chateau, smothered with arches of roses everywhere, pretty little tourist shops and a scattering of restaurants. Not many places to stay at night so it tends to be visited by people on day trips. It is quite some hike up the hill to the village proper along cobbled streets past medieval houses and the ateliers of artists and artisans.

St Cirq

We had a sinful meal at the Gourmet Quercynoise, with variations on foie gras for me (deglazed duck liver, foie gras with flowers of salt and fig conserve, foie gras with truffles and carpaccio of foie gras) and another foie gras dish for Nick. We followed with a magret of duck with jus and truffles and a pork with honey and spices, finishing with pears poached in red wine with poire William sorbet. The decor of the restaurant was very much a country inn and quite delightful. I could kid myself that all the walking up and down hill assisted in working it off!

Interior Gourmet Quercynoise

Roses behind the church with view to river

Cordeillan Bages: Eating in a two star restaurant

Cordeillan Bages The extravagance

OK, so we decided to have a look at this place with molecular gastronomy and all sorts of different food. We came across ahead of a big storm on a ferry from one side of the Gironde estuary to the Medoc region of winegrowers. We had to wait as fishing fleets were blocking the ports to protest about the cost of diesel fuel.

The hotel was nice enough, the room with a large bed with red velvet headboard and walls covered with the same beige linen as the curtains. What was in the fridge was also included in the price, which it should be considering that price...

Dinner was from 7.30pm. We glammed it up a bit and went along to the dining room. I neglected to take a camera as I thought it might be a bit rude, though I did take copious notes. I lost my reluctance with the camera later in the trip. We were subverted into a comfy lounge, offered an aperitif and given the menu, one of which we could keep as a souvenir. The wait staff were very well briefed in what each course consisted of, and they needed to be because this was not usual food. While we considered, a little tasting plate was brought for us, to be eaten from left to right. First a cube of what looked like tuna but turned out to be tomato jelly, then a little covered dish of melon soup with tiny cucumber dice (the glass dish with the Cordelian Bages logo on the bottom), then a round of creamy cheese rolled in lemon pepper. These were miniscule I should add, but delicious. A preview...

We ordered, for both food and wine, in consultation with a waitress and the sommelier, then went into the restaurant. Large, well spaced tables covered with white cloths, a decoration of a glass object and a few pebbles and a delightfully squished water glass. As we sat the table was constructed around us, first the napkin served with silver service but fish knife and fork used instead of spoons. Then cutlery was added, wine glasses, the butter trolley with four butters came, sweet, salted, whipped and another which I could not grasp but which turned out to be a white, soft, creamy butter.

Then the bread trolley: a roll, a tomato fougasse, a curl of black olive and anchovy, a loaf of pain levain, some nut bread to go with the cheeses. Up to you to choose.

Another amuse bouche from the chef to be eaten in order from left to right, a salmon or possibly tuna tartare in teeny cubes, a rabbit jelly with a soft, luscious maize cream and an “egg” of sweet potato and a white fluff whose composition I could not determine. Pretty and definitely tasty. Then a spoon with an acid green oval boule on it, to be eaten in one mouthful. It squidged in the mouth to fill it with granny smith flavours.

Entrees arrived. For me a soufflé of oyster and cauliflower, a small round of soft things onto which the waiter poured some cauliflower soup from a jug. One took a bit of the soufflé and soup, then ate a bit of a white wafer which tasted of the sea. There was even one green leaf which tasted of sea water and was called an oyster leaf. Hands up for those who think cauliflower boring? Not in this combination and with this chef in charge. Ambrosia!

Nick had a slim slice of a pate de foie topped with a smoked eel and beautiful thin wafers on which to put it. Presented on a long rectangular platter with lines of dressing across it, it was quite a work of art and an absolutely unctuous dish. The wafers were presented in a glass rectangular vessel. Art to eat!

Then a little extra something from the chef to keep us amused. A glass dish, hollowed out to contain a fluff of oyster with crisp vegetable grains in the bottom, flavours of parmesan and truffle and eaten with a spoon containing a drop of white truffle oil. Really a deconstructed risotto with Italian flavours and soya beans chopped small to imitate the rice grains. Both cute and delicious.

For mains I had ordered quail with middle eastern flavours. What I got was a cone of quail breast stuffed with couscous type filling, covered with a bright green powder. It was accompanied on the presentation plate by a cube of jelly embedded with tiny, peeled broad beans. The waiter poured a warm stock over it and the jelly melted to provide broad beans as a side to the quail. He then spooned couscous and raisins into the dish.

Nick’s dish was sooo spectacular. Smoked beef and confit potatoes sounds easy. What came to the table was gift wrapped in cellophane containing the smoke over the plate of beef roundels. This was dished out onto the potato plate, lovely, tall standing columns of golden confit potato and a few stripes of accompaniments such as a mustard and a balsamic glaze. The flavour was superb. Elsewhere we saw bricks of clay being broken to reveal other foods or an apparent sausage being pierced to reveal a melange of meat and sauce, a “virtual” sauscisson. Really spectacular but with purpose for the food’s taste.

The cheese trolley was too tempting for me to refuse, so I opted for a St Nectaire, a softish rather farmyard tasting cheese; a Cantal and a Reblochon. They used a different knife to cut each, different shape and length for each, and the choices of knife made sense for the type and hardness of the cheese as well as stopping cross flavours in the cheeses. A little dried fig and apricot was nice too, but I declined bread.

Dessert coming up? Then of course you need a preparatory gift or two from the chef. A plate of petit fours to contemplate and pick at. What is that liquid centre inside a tiny sugar cone? I couldn’t work it out. Have a sable sandwich or a chocolate cup with coffee cream. All about a centimetre across. Then he sent a chocolate capsule that melted in the mouth, along with a green apple mousse with a lemony centre and a white chocolate and ice cream chuppa chup type stick. Then a star anise cream with pastry leaves, a basil ice cream and a basilic slick of glaze.

Dessert then followed, for Nick a fragile hollow tube of biscuit filled with iced meringue, over a glass bowl of chocolaty stuff that he really loved. I had “dynamite” strawberries, which turned out to be strawberries that fizzed in the mouth, along with lime flavoured frozen meringue, sweet basil sauce and a ribbon of spun sugar and olive oil biscuit surmounting it like a ferris wheel.

Now totally full, we were approached by the chocolate trolley. Whatever takes your fancy here. Little dark chocs with gold leaf (real gold), slabs of choc with nuts, macaroons with choc filling etc, etc. Room for coffee or a tisane? Another chocolate? Help!!!

I heard another customer say that it was nice but she didn’t get the point of all the work. We got the point. This was food that enticed, surprised, challenged, delighted and enchanted the diner. The accompaniments supported the food and were chosen to work with them to enhance flavours. The courses we ordered were small but sufficient. With the extras they were more than sufficient. We had three hours of new experiences and great tastes. What a fabulous way to spend an evening!!!