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)
(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)
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 !
