Wine Tasting in the Côtes du Rhône

One of the advantages of living in Europe and having a French husband who's origins are right next to the Côtes du Rhône wine region is that we get amazing wine (and food).

Côtes du Rhône is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlee (AOC).  That's fancy French speak for this stuff is really from where it says its from. The region is quite expansive as it is fed largely from the Rhône river.  The region is not entireley connected and consists of a northern region that starts from Vienne where one can find Côte- Rotie and continues down to the Côtes du Rhône area of Valence.
Just North of Côtes du Rhône is the Crozes-Hermitage region. It's here that the small village of Tain l'Hermitage is located -- about 10 minutes north of Valence.  Don't be fooled by this small village.  This place is packed with amazing Wineries representing the Crozes-Hermitage region including M. Chapoutier and Cave de Tain.

M. Chapoutier was an interesting visit as the bottles are all covered in braille.  The idea of this came when a friend of Mr. Chapoutier who is blind commented that it would be nice if wine labels were written in braille so that he could identify them.  The other story that is told is that one of the vineyards that belongs to Chapoutier had a blind member of the family who invented a short had version of Braille that is used on the bottles. Did I mention that Chapoutier is represented quite heavily on Maison Pic's wine list?

Wines in this region are grown and steep cliffs surrounding the river which is obviously harder to harvest.  The main grape varietal here is Syrah and Grenache noir.

The other awesome thing about Tain Hermitage is that it is the headquarters for Valrhona chocolate with a little boutique where there is all you can eat taste testing and now houses the Valrhona chocolate museum.  Valrhona is THE chocolate.. think of it as the Bugatti of the chocolate world.

Look behind the chairs! it's the vineyards

Heading south of Valence takes you to the Coteaux Du Tricastin region in Drome where we were staying.  There are plenty of small local wineries here to visit along the countryside.  While we were there, we visited two- one more "upscale" called Les Granges Neuves des Esplades. Wines from this region are usually Grenache Noir, Syrah and Mourvedre

The other- our personal favorite is a small, very local producer that is run by Fred.  Noelle from La Croix du Gres  (see here for blog posting on La Croix du Gres) phoned up Fred who doesn't usually give tours and set up a meeting.  There, Fred took us on a tour of the vineyards and into the winery.  Let me explain something about Val De Berre.  Who works on the vineyard- Fred, a friend and a friend's wife.  Yes three people care after the grapes, test the grapes, harvest the grapes and make the wine. This place is awesome!  Fred has been making wine his whole life.  His father was a wine maker and he spent most of his career working in vineyards in Châteauneuf-du-Pape before ending up at Vale de Berre.  

Val de berre's flour mill

The owner happened to have a big piece of land with a bunch of vines on it but it was never the owner's main enterprise.  Stuff like the flour mill which were already established and decided it would be a good idea to maybe make some wine. 

So that's where Fred came in.  Within two years of running his almost one man show at Val de Berre, Fred won a Gold Medal at the concours general agricole de Paris 2013 for his Chardonnay and a Silver medal for his "Sensation", a blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah.   Our personal favorite though is the Merlot that he produces.
Val de Berre isn't fancy - there isn't a tasting room but we had a fabulous time standing in the parking lot in front of his storage room where he sells his boxes of wines to the locals.  It was wan amazing experience.  Did I mention how affordable the bottles were?  

Fred doesn't do all that fancy lab testing that we see in most of the wineries in California.  He does everything the old fashion way-  with his taste buds.  

I'd like to think that this is what real food is suppose to be.  This is what makes France so special when it comes to great food and wine.  It's people like Fred who are passionate about what they do and just gosh darn good at it. 

Our "tasting room"-the parking lot

Addresses: 
Val de Berre
+33 4 75 98 5134
Le Moulin
26230 Chantermerle les Grignan, France

Les Granges Neuves des Esplanades
+33 4 75 98 5109
Domaine de Grangeneuve
26230 Roussas, France

M. Chapoutier
+33 4 75 08 28 65
18 Avenue Docteur Paul Durand
26600 Tain L'Hermitage, France

Cave de Tain
+33 4 75 08 20 87
22 Route de Larnage
26600 Tain L'Hermitage, France

Valhrona
 +33 4 75 07 90 62
14 venue Du President Roosevelt
26600 Tain L'Hermitage, France

Le Poeme de Grignan

Often when choosing restaurants, you do your research- guide Michelin, TripAdvisor etc.  Sometimes, you think "those reviews totally lied, this place sucks" but sometimes, sometimes you get really lucky and you think "This place totally deserves stars".  La Poeme de Grignan totally deserves stars

On our visit to Drome, we decided we would have one nice meal out.  I had settled on La Poeme based on the raving reviews it received on Tripadvisors.  The website wasn't convincing but the menu online seemed solid and the restaurants was only about 10 minutes away from our Gite in Grignan. 

We got a bit lost looking for the restaurant-- but we ended up taking a little stroll in old Grignan to find the restaurant which was extremely quaint and totally adorable.  The old stone buildings and blue window frames gave that totally romantic, relaxing, French Provencal feeling. 

I read online that the restaurant was small. I wasn't prepared for exactly how small it is.  It has 8 tables. That's it.  We were greeted by Valerie who is the hostess, server, bus boy-- well the only person who works the front of the house for the restaurant. The restaurant is decorated with old antiques- cosy and comfortable- a lot like La Croix du Gres, the Gite we were staying at.

The menus are incredibly well priced- a three course menu is 31 Euros and a 5 course 48 Euros.  We all had a hard time choosing because A. I was doing a horrible translation job and B. We all wanted everything on the menu.

the Amuse Bouche was an avocado mousse with rehydrated sun dried tomato and some whipped creme fraiche.  It was with the Amuse Bouche that it became clear. Chef Herve knows how to work his flavors.  Every bite was rich, round and full.  An amazing precursor to the plates that would follow.

My starter was Foie Gras Poele with mangoes.  While the food is rustic and simply presented, the flavors were just mind blowing.  The mango was sweet and succulent, the sauce with a tinge of red berry fruitiness and the Foie Gras rich and cooked to perfection with it's perfectly sauteed crust.  I still dream about this dish to this day.

My main dish was a pigeon dish with fresh vegetables.  The flavors were once again harmonious, round and rich.  I'm not sure how chef Herve does it, but the moment the food is in your mouth, the thought "This is exactly what perfect food tastes like" comes to mind. 

I'm a bad person and didn't take notes on the cheese. I think the one to the left is a munster cheese from Alsace. Sorry!

This dessert wasn't actually mine. but it was so fluffy that I had to take a picture of it. A Grand Marnier souffle with raspberry sorbet. I was told that it was silky smooth and delicious

This medley of chocolate- cake, ice cream and mousse accompanied by a raspberry espuma.  I'm not a big fan of espumas but I remember it having a really raspberry flavor.  The chocolate desserts were not to sweet but by this time I was struggling to finish all the food on my plate.

Near the end of dinner, Chef Herve came out to greet diners, serve tea and help clean up the last of the tables.  He heard from Valerie that we were looking for a cab.

Not only had we just enjoyed a perfect meal at La Poeme, Chef Herve offered to take us back to the Gite instead of calling a cab.  He was under the impression that we didn't have a car at all, and with 6 people, he was going to make 2 trips to take us all home.  That level of service blew us away.

If you ever get the chance to go to this absolute gem of a restaurant, I highly highly recommend it.  It's clear that Chef Herve has a clear command of his flavors and cooking technique.  On top of all of this, he puts in soul and heart into his cuisine and it shows and tastes like it.  I'm sure Chef Herve could open a larger restaurant- people would come but I don't think that is his motivation.  While Chef Herve drove us back to the Gite, I asked him about La Poeme.  For him, he's from here, he loves using the local ingredients because they are so amazing. He has no desire to move from here-- and no desire to expand. He cooks because he enjoys it, and he gets immense joy from seeing people enjoy his food.  I hope one day, you can experience and enjoy his food as well.

Address:
La Poeme de Grignan
04 75 91 10 90
Rue Saint Louis 27230 Grignan

*Warning* Genius, at work~

yeah yeah, So I've been busy over winter break ok? I went back to my English home kitchen, then to Porto, then back to my family in California- Manresa. I do miss the kitchen terribly. The warmth of the bonnet.... so comforting! The way everything flows in and out of the kitchen- people COMMUNICATING with each other... why can't all life function this way?

One of the greatest things about coming home was being around Chef Kinch. An artist, a teacher, a mentor and an incredible confident. Thank you Manresa for a wonderful Winter break and letting me come back! Miss you all terribly.

Manresa
320 Village Lane
Los Gatos, CA 95030-7218
(408) 354-4330
Closed Monday and Tuesday

Le Perolles P.A. Ayer

Starter: Pumkin soup, creme fraiche, bacon, foie gras gele and foie gras feuillantine (delicious)

Yes yes, It's just another tease... but it takes time to write these things ok? I gotta pour over my notes, remember what I ate.. yada yada yada. Hayley and I got to go to this INCREDIBLE one michelin star in Fribourg, the next town over. Le Perolles is one of the two michelin restaurants in Fribourg Simple decor- very modern and very reasonably priced. The food was fabulous.. which will be discussed in further blogs.. in the mean time. Just a little teaser.




and of course the cheese trolley. Ok So I said that Steireck has a pretty crazy cheese trolley.. but this one.. was AMAZING. really. I would go back just for the cheese....

Le Perolles
BD de Perolles 18a
1700 Fribourg
Tel:41.026.347.40.30
ayeramey@leperolles.ch
Ferme le dimanche et lundi

Ca Matilde: Ristorante Locanda

I know I owe you guys about four michelin reviews... but ok.. I owe you guys one more. I had the enormous pleasure of going to Cinque Terra to visit my foodie, amazing, fun, intelligent friend John who lives in Lerici Italy (well temporarily). Although we didn't make it to the Agritourismo that we so desperately wanted to, we did make it to Ca Matilde: Ristorante Locanda, 1 Michelin star. Located in the middle of no where in Rubbianino - Quattro Castella- Reggio Emilia (past Parma) in an old house, we were expecting a rustic italian dining experience. Instead what we got was an incredible, rustic- with definite innovative ideas (especially in the dessert department!) meal.

The review will go up sooner or later. In the meantime, here are some pictures to drool over.


Parma Ham.. ham ham ham!


The cheese plate, Parmigiano-Reggiano!!!! Deliciouso!!!


and of course, no meal of mine is complete without a bottle of bubbly- Prosecco in this case.

Ca Matilde
Ristorante Locanda
Via della Polita 14,
42020 Loc. Rubbianino
Quattro Castella (Reggio Emilia)
Telefono 0522.889560
Cell. 339.7874556

Le Perolles- 1 Michelin Star, Fribourg

So.. I guess this blog is a dual post. The first thing I should do is apologize for not writing sooner. With all the traveling, school work and turning into an asian popsicle as the weather has take a turn for the worst, I haven't gone to think about what to do next.
Haley and I decided to take a mini Vacay - to Fribourg- yes it's only 30 minutes away and I already go there at least once a week but.. after starving a whole week on dorm food, blowing our entire week's budget on what would have been dorm food on a Michelin experience seemed quite fitting.
The second part of my post is to introduce a new series of photos that I will be taking- food art- the art of what's left on the plate after someone has consumed what they like, dislike and don't want to consume any more of.

Keep posted.. I promise ill get around to all those michelin reviews sooner or later...

4 Michelin stars, 1 week

Preview on some restaurants I visited this week...

Motto De Gallo, 1 Michelin Star, Lugano, Switzerland, Executive Chef: Jose De La Iglesa



Mraz & Sohn, 1 Michelin Star, Wien, Osterreich, Executive Chef: Markus Mraz


Steirereck im Stadtpark, 2 Michelin Star, Wien, Austria, Executive Chef: Heinz Reitbauer


Motto De Gallo
Via Bicentenario 16
CH-6807 Taverne
Ticino
Tel:0041-919452871

Mraz & Sohn
Wallensteinstrasse 59
1200 Wien
Osterreich
Tel:00431-3304594

Steirereck im Stadtpark
Am Heumarkt 2A
im Stadtpark
A-1030 Wien
Osterreich
Tel:0043-17133168

My FAVORITE restaurant

Can you blame a girl for wanting simple, traditional, really well cooked food? St. JOHN has never disappointed me. Small tapas style plates, beautifully executed dishes. The food is not fussy- it's just TASTY. We frequent the Spitafields location for its more casual atmosphere. The menu is split up into times- when the food will be ready. Main entrees usually are ready around 1, small plates around noon. Pay special attention to the chalkboard where specials are written. Once they are gone, THEY ARE GONE!
My favorite dish was the Black Pudding with prunes and bacon. The residual sauce was sopped up with St. John's fresh baked bread. The prunes, bacon and perfectly seasoned blood cake was so rich, so full of flavor- I realized how depressed I was to have to go back to Switzerland that day.
The Beet Salad with Goat Curd and Sorrel- classic flavors, light refreshing and of course seasoned well.

English tomatoes, Lovage and shallots. The marinated tomaotes with the shallots and freshness of the lovage made for an irresistible first plate. The tomatoes sweetness were enhanced by the lovage and marinated shallots. So simple yet so good. This is what food is SUPPOSE to be.
Deep had been talking about this one for ages! Foie Gras and Duck Liver toast, cornichons and sea salt. Rich, creamy.. who doesn't like Foie Gras?? Calories?? BRING IT ON. I ate ALL OF IT.

Dessert commenced with a Brown Bread Ice Cream. A creamy creme anglais base, slightly nutty with chunks of Brown bread spread throughout. I thought it would be interesting- the hardness of the crusty bread and the creamyness of the ice cream. I couldn't stop myself.. This was incredible!
Rice pudding with strawberry jam and a hunka butter. The Strawberry jam lent sweetness, the rice pudding creamy.

And of course, half a dozen freshly baked, just came out of the oven, crusty on the outside, moist on the inside St John's Madelines. No meal is every complete at St. JOHN without them.

St. JOHN has never disappointed me. From the bread to the small plates and of course the desserts ( here is a secret, their desserts are better then the main courses so SAVE ROOM FOR IT!!)

If you only have time for one meal in London, this is hand down, the one to go to.

St. JOHN Bread & Wine Spitafields
Reservations HIGHLY recommended
94-95 Commercial Street
London E16LZ
Tel: 0272510848

Ladies Who Lunch

I was fortunate enough to be able to go back to my old kitchen to have lunch. Starting with some bubbly in the Fumoir room, the atmosphere was relaxing (ok maybe a bit pretentious.. it is Gordon Ramsay @ Claridges after all darling!) leisurely lunch.

After being greeted by some more Ayala, Brut Majeur, NV, Britt and I settled on our menu.
Then the non stop food ensued for the next 4 hours. First up were canapes with truffled cream cheese and taramasalata. After that came special canapes- truffled asparagus balls, quail eggs on mini potato pancakes and courgette rolls. The caramelized onion bread and olive bread after that and then finally the amuse! Pumpkin soup with sour cream foam and BACON!
I opted for the hot smoked Cornish mackerel, baby gem,white grape and caper dressing. The smoked mackerel was just smoked (not overcooked like I've seen done soooo many times last year...)
Britt went for the salad of marinated Enligsh tomatoes, goat's cheese cream, fennel beignets, Noir de Bigorre Ham. She said that it was absolutely delicious (why yes, the food is SEASONED well for a change.. unlike what we get back in Bulle... )

We were then treated to Roasted Scottish Scallops, Panch Phoran Shallots with a sweetcorn veloute (Courtesy of Tucker's hot starter section.. you did good Tuckers)

For the main, both of us had the Sauteed fillets of Rye Bay Plaice, Razor Clams, pickled baby carrots, coriander veloute ( not shown, picture was blurry.. hey I was on my 4th glass of creamy champagne.. can you blame a girl???) Rouge picked out beautiful pieces of Plaice for us- the texture light and flakey, delicate and gorgeous with the coriander veloute.

We then got to take a little breather with a kitchen tour.

Upon returning, we were greated with New Season English Strawberry Bavarois, olive oil and black pepper ice cream- light, not too heavy and LOVED the black pepper ice cream.
Britt opted for the English plum tart, mirabelle and lemon ice cream
While chocolate loving me, went for the Bitter Chocolate Parfait, pink grapefruit sorbet. The best part was the crumb on the bottom of the parfait. The tartness of the grapefruit went beautifully with the bitterness of the chocolate.

We finished off with tiramsu and brandy truffles petite fours

and, another kitchen tour ( and of course I finally got to see Pete!)

It was a wonderful afternoon, beautifully executed food. Thank you so much!!

Gordon Ramsay @ Claridges

Reservations Mandatory

Best Deal in London: 3 course set lunch

40 Brook Street
London W1K 4HR
Tel: 02074990099
reservations@gordonramsay.com

The most amazing thing I've ever eaten.. EVER.

As I have become obsessed with finding the perfect Donut, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the best thing I've ever eaten in my entire life is a.. Donut!

Stan's Donut is located off of Homestead and San Tomas Expressway in San Clara, California. It all started when my brother and his fiance were going to come down and visit me for a quick breakfast. I yelped Donut shops and found.. Stan's! After consulting my executive chef (whose eyes lit up like a kid in a candy shop when I mentioned thinking about going to Stan's), I knew I found the right place to go get these delectable morning treats. I also knew that I had to wake up bright and early in the morning to get a fresh, just fried morsel.
I drove by the plaza 3 times before finding the tucked away shop. Pulling up at 7am, I saw the old Donut master, dressed as he does everyday in all white, with a white cap at his work bench through the window.
The smell of fried goodness covered in a crispy thin sweet coating of sugar wafted through the air as I got out of my car. I opened the door to the store and the smell hit me like a brick wall. Instantly my mouth began to water. Beautiful, fluffy piles of yeast dough rest on his work bench as he punched out buttermilk donuts. Looking at how elastic the dough was, I could see that these were going to be really fluffy donuts.. but would it be a pocket of air or real fluffiness?

I patiently waited as a batch of yeast Donuts were just being turned over to finish frying. I sat down at the counter and ordered a hot chocolate. The fried beauties came out of the fryer and onto the glazing station. A minute to cool and a quick glaze and the Donuts were ready to go. A piping hot Donut was placed in front of me. I quickly ripped into the Donut and found.. Heaven.
The Donut was so crisp on the outside by so fluffy in the middle. Steam billowed out of the donut as the soft, cotton candy like dough melted in my mouth. It was bliss. I instantly took another piece and and let it melt in my mouth.
I understood. I understood why when I asked JP if anything else in San Francisco was a must go eat like Stan's Donut's were and he said no. This was more then amazing. This was the best thing I've ever eaten. I bought a dozen more.

I have a confession. I bought a dozen +1. I had to have another in the car on the way home..Shhh don't tell anyone!!!

The best Donut EVER:
Stan's Donut
2628 Homestead Rd
Santa Clara, CA 95051, United States
Hours are 6am to 3pm.

Get there early. Chocolate donuts can be called in and ordered ahead of time. You will never see them sitting out on the rack. Expect to wait for yeast donuts. It is worth it it wait 15 minutes for a fresh batch up just fried donuts- I promise your expectations will not be failed.

*sigh* I want Stan's now!!!

Michelin Ratings

What does the Michelin Star rating mean? The oldest restaurant rating system was originally created for hotel restaurants as a guide for travelers . 3 stars represents a restaurant that has exceptional cuisine and worth a detour, 2 stars represents a restaurant that has excellent cuisine and worth a detour and 1 star a restaurant that is interesting. After some research, I found it really hard to find the criteria in which the ratings are determined.
Based on the rating system, the assumption would be that a two star restaurant would have superior food to a one star restaurant. I had the opportunity to eat at restaurant Michael Mina in San Francisco ( 2 michelin stars).
Although the food was good (we had the taster menu) I can't say that the food was "excellent in cuisine". Although the food was seasoned well, nothing about the food screamed in my mouth.
One of the dishes that we had was a soft shell crab with heirloom tomatoes. Although the food was seasoned (a little too salty)for my liking- compared to Benares( one michelin star) in London's soft shell crab dish- Michael Mina's could not stand up. Course after course, the food was cooked well and seasoned well but there was nothing spectacular about the food. When paying that much for a meal, I expect the food to dance on my tongue and play with my senses.

The decor of the restaurant was wonderful. Soft sea foam green colors with circle patterns being subtly repeated in the carpeting, napkins, table settings etc. The service was impeccable (I even got a 30 second tour of the kitchen during dinner rush). The most impressive thing about the restaurant was that they did two full turns on a Sunday night! Deep did remind me that the 2008 Michelin star rating did just come out which always helps with reservations!
So how is it that Michael Mina's restaurant gets two stars and Benares gets one if the food in my opinion at Benares was just as good if not better (the service definitely was not.. in my opinion, the maitre d' at Benares should not be in his position that he was in)? Is it the difference in service and decor? If so, then the criteria by which michelin rates should be adjusted to note this. Has Michelin ratings become a money making machine? One must remember ultimately that the michelin star rating guide is some one's opinion and merely that- an opinion.