Hotel Restaurant le Bon Laboureur à Chenonceaux – bizarre Michelin decision

Le Bon Laboureur, Chenonceaux

Founded back in 1786 as a coaching inn Le Bon Laboureur has long been indisputably the best hotel and restaurant in Chenonceaux, whose famous château (Chenonceau) draws visitors from all over the world. Henry James dined there and mentioned the hotel in his A Little Tour of France published in 1884. James was impressed: the cuisine was not only excellent, but the service was graceful. When we are in Touraine this is our nearest fine restaurant.

Recently we have been taken to lunching there during the week when their 32€ lunch menu is available. What a bargain it is! Nominally three courses, you get fine nibbles with your apéro followed by a mise en bouche and then your first course – choice of two dishes. Next up main course – choice of fish or 72-hour cooked shoulder of lamb. A pre-dessert precedes dessert. The bargain lunch menu concludes with a choice of mignardises. My choice is invariably the cherries steeped in kirsch. With the exception of the vegetarian option, the other menus are considerably more expensive.

We have never had a bad experience at the Bon Laboureur the food  – prepared by owner chef Antoine Jeudi – is excellent , the wine list has plenty of interesting bottles  – in early this January we enjoyed a bottle of François Pinon's 1997 Vouvray Sec – reasonably priced and delicious. Fabrice Dagaut and his team offer impeccable service in the restaurant.

Given this quality it came as a great surprise to learn that Le Bon Laboureur lost its Michelin star early this year. Certainly there was nothing from our visits – around three a year – to suggest that its étoile was threatened. From our experiences Guide Michelin's decision to strip Le Bon Laboureur of its star appears bizarre.

In any case we will continue to eat at Le Bon Laboureur. 

Bon Laboureur@Chenonceaux – another fine lunch

2014 Négrette, Le Rocher des Violettes, Xavier Weisskopf

We enjoyed another excellent lunch today at Le Bon Laboureur in Chenonceaux – again taking the 32€ menu – three course but lots of extras – making it really excellent value. To drink we had as an apéro Xavier Weisskopf's lovely 2014 Montlouis Négrette, which comes from a parcel of vines that are at least 80 years old. Négrette here is the parcel of vines not the grape variety that is found in Fronton as well as the Fiefs Vendéens. The 2014 is wonderfully clean with a touch of roundness to it. 

With the first course we opted for the stylish 2015 Menetou-Salon from Isabelle and Pierre Clément – nicely ripe, crisp citric Sauvignon Blanc. For the mains we stayed in the Central Vineyards taking the 2014 Sancerre Rouge from Domaine Vacheron, which worked well with both the fish and the lamb: delicate enough for the sea bream while having sufficient body for the lamb.       

Fricassé of cèpes 

 

Salad of white beans and rillons

Vegetable tart

2015 Menetou-Salon, Isabelle et Pierre Clément, Châtenoy

72-hour slow cooked lamb 

Sea bream

2014 Sancerre, Domaine Vacheron 

Pre-dessert mandarins on a chocolate biscuit

 

Chocolate mousse

Three of our favourite Loire restaurants have Michelin stars in 2017

La Table de la Bergerie, Domaine de la Bergerie 

Champs-sur-Layon  

David Guitton's restaurant – first Michelin star 2017 

David Guitton (on the phone at the entrance to the restaurant)

David at the Salon des Vins de Loire – February 2015

The 2017 edition of the Michelin Red Guide lists three of our favourite Loire restaurants: one new – La Table de la Bergerie – and two well established: La Promenade in Le Petit Pressigny and Le Bon Laboureur in Chenonceaux.

Many congratulations to all three restaurants and their staff with particular congratulations to David Guitton on La Table de la Bergerie's first Michelin étoile! David is married to Anne Guegniard, who runs Domaine de la Bergerie with her father Yves. The restaurant is attached to the Domaine and in the middle of the countryside.  

Although it is commonplace in other parts of the world, such as California and Australia, to have restaurants attached to wine estates, it is fairly rare in France. I don't know of any other Loire restaurant like this. The closest I can think of is La Côte des Monts Damnés in Chavignol run by Jean-Marc and Karine Bourgeois in the same village as Domaine Henri Bourgeois. 

Le Bon Laboureur, Chenonceaux

La Promenade, Le Petit Pressigny

Le Bon Laboureur (Chenonceaux): un vrai régal !

Last week we had an excellent and very enjoyable dinner at Le Bon Laboureur in Chenonceaux. This is a long-established hotel restaurant. It was mentioned by Henry James in His Little Tour in France, first published as a book in 1884 but serialised in The Atlantic Monthly in 1883-84. 

I chose the Menu Decouverte (48€) – the only menu on that night, while CRM and our friend, Anita, went à la carte. 

 

2013 La Négrette, AC Montlouis, Le Rocher des Violettes,  

Xavier Weisskopf

Xavier Weisskopf

We kicked off with the 2013 La Négrette, Montlouis, from Xavier Weisskopf. Its attractive mid-weight and purity impressed CRM and Anita, neither of whom had ever tasted Xavier's wines before. The Montlouis was accompanied by some delicious nibbles and an oyster each. Then, just before the first course and to ensure that our palates were properly attuned, there was an amuse bouche.    

CRM and Anita's first course: langoustine juste saisie

Note that the langoustine are carefully 

arranged in descending size.
Well matched with 2013 La Négrette

My very tasty fish soup with a piece of lobster 
Consommé de crevettes grises et homard
(crevettes, pétoncles, lotte et champignons)

2005 Alcofribas Bourgueil, Domaine de la Chevalerie 

(Pierre, Stéphane and Emmanuel Caslot)

The 2005 Alcofribas Bourgueil was an unexpected delight. Unexpected as I had ordered the 2006 Chevalerie. However, as that was now out of stock, Fabrice, the maître d', offered us either the 2008 Chevalerie or 2005 Alcofribas Bourgueil. Pas photo! It had to be the 2005, which proved to be voluptuously excellent. Sadly it was Le Laboureur's last bottle. Alcofribas is the first part of François Rabelais' pseudonym Alcofribas Nasier – an anagram of the author's name. To date 2005 is only vintage in which the Caslots have made this cuvée, so we were privleged indeed!   

Pierre Caslot who died in October 2014

Photo taken June 2014

Main course: my skate dish

Conjugaison de ris et tête de veau 

– the most spectacular of our main courses

Selle d'agneau en croute d'herbes 

Table decoration with the Alcofribas 

Omelette Norvegienne a spectacular end to Anita's meal 

CRM: dacquoise praliné, glace "Guanaja"

My Gratin d'ananas et orange, sorbet pomelo

2012 Pointe de Doux Brochet Sauvignon Blanc (Ampelidae)

Frédéric Brochet

For our desserts Fabrice kindly offered us a glass of Frédéric Brochet's delicately sweet 2012 Pointe de Doux Brochet Sauvignon Blanc. While it was a counterpoint to our desserts, I'm not convinced that it was a fully successful match. 

The food at the Bon Laboureur is consistently excellent and as sterling is stronger for the moment against the euro eating and drinking there is now more affordable and a vrai régal !