TROISGROS
The glace au Vinaigre de Framboise
Peche, Poire, Verveine
Entre nos mains – Tomato Caramelized with Sesame and Ginger, Puff Pastry with Fresh White Cheese and Hazelnuts, Eggs with Saffron Gellee, Sweet Pepper Crostini with Rhubarb and Florals
Laminated Cornbread, Salted Butter from Normandy
Pain au Cereal
Plis d’artichaut – Artichoke pasta, smoked mackerel, oranges, nut oil
L’escargot de Matisse – Snails, crayfish, parsley, olive oil, mustard
Printemps de sentiments – Fairytale mushrooms, hay cream, curdled milk, fresh almond
Filet de lotte d’une saison a l’autre – Monkfish loin, Japanese flowers, tomatoes, white wine cream sauce with dashi
Homard et <<Coeur de boeuf>>, sauce ardente – Lobster, coriander, carrot and red fruit sauce, Beefheart cabbage
Canette de Challans epicee, navets et pomme – Spiced duck, apple, zucchini, grapefruit, turnip
Bons fromages, beau voyage – fruit bread, tomato jam, orange marmalade
Sable a la rhubarb et a la cardamom – Shortbread, rhubarb, cardamom, celery ice cream
Ali-baba au Coing et Gingembre – Yeast cake, quince, cream, ginger alcohol
Entre vos doigts et Espresso – Strawberry and fennel arlette, meringue with cocoa and ginger, coffee and lemon sesame tart
The recipient of Three Michelin Stars in every issue since 1968, Roanne’s Maison Troisgros is considered by many to represent the pinnacle of modern French gastronomy and under the toque of Michel ever since his father’s retirement the restaurant has only continued to evolve as time marched on, the current iteration influenced by the Chef’s substantial travels throughout Europe as well as the East with a Zen-modern approach and clean lines bathed in natural light as opposed to the rich linens and fine silver usually associated with the top tables of years gone by.
Offering a la carte options alongside an ever changing seasonal menu that allows Troisgras’ staff of twenty-five chefs to reinvent the experience on a continuous basis with a focus on balance, freshness, and technique arrival at the restaurant is met with warm smiles at the Hotel’s front desk, and taking some time to relax in the lounge before being led to ones table a wide range of French wines are offered alongside an intriguing list of cocktails, the non-alcoholic beverages showing a degree of creativity not found at any of the regions other awardees of The Red Guide’s highest rank.
Promptly led to a spacious two-top as soon as one was ready, but treated first to a tour of the gleaming kitchen where Michel quietly tutored a young man at the fish station while I chatted with a server who proved far more personable than any other in such esteemed French environs, it was almost immediately on taking a seat that water as well as a Raspberry ‘shrub’ arrived, the light tinge of vinegar amidst light florals and berries absolutely refreshing on a day that pushed 90F in the sun, though a later mocktail of Peach, Pear and Verbena proved every bit as good.
Undoubtedly in for the tasting, but making a special request for the 60€ ‘for two’ dessert that was instead substituted in as a demi-portion for no additional cost at the suggestion of my server, the meal at Troisgros began even before the menu was closed and as if a glimpse into everything that was due to come without in any way ruining the surprise each of four canapes proved the very definition of elegant imagination, the peeled tomato’s skin replaced with a thin glaze of ginger and sesame while the egg’s yolk was replaced with aromatic gelatin, the crostini and cheese filled crisp each impeccably light with robust flavors that quickly peaked before slowly fading away.
To this point the only person present in the dining room, a few others enjoying the sun on the patio with a glass of champagne in hand, it was not long before bread service alongside smooth butter from Normandy arrived, and as irresistible as the crunchy pain au cereal was both warm and as an accompaniment to the rest of the meal it was a single roll of croissant-styled cornbread that proved the first ‘take your breath away’ moment, a lightness almost unimaginable given the Southern roots of the American iteration yet still rife with all the sweetness associated with the very best versions found back home.
Already swooning even before the first proper course of the meal arrived it really came as no surprise that each of the six plates that followed were the very definition of bold and balanced with creative touches elaborating on unsurpassed technique, and with small tubes of artichoke pasta proving an apt foil to smoked fish alongside citrus to begin the follow-up of snails beneath an artistic assemblage of vegetables, leaves, and aromatics virtually reinvented the profile of the mollusk into a creamy bit of sweet-salinity at once able to ‘blend in’ without ever being questioned as the anchor of the plate.
Building in slow waves, course three was presented as composition of white on white on white, and invited to pierce the veil while taking a deep breath the aromatics of earth and outdoors immediately flooded the surrounding air while flavors of light smoke and fermentation washed over the palate in each delicate bite, the absolutely stark appearing dish actually perhaps the meal’s most complex while a slightly more colorful follow-up of monkfish found itself brought to new heights through the use of eastern techniques imparted to a more traditional sauce of cream and white wine.
Amused by the parade of cutlery, each plate featuring a different knife from a collection that includes over a dozen patterns according to the man serving my table, dish five saw the return of color to the meal and again using an innovative sauce of carrots and currants with spices including coriander to meld butter-poached lobster to similarly prepared cabbage the flavor profile was bold without losing track of its constituents, the final savory of crispy lacquered duck relying far less on its sauce and more on the trio of accoutrements including the pickled layer of radish with its center supplanted by sharp citrus gel.
Taking a break to stretch my legs and explore a bit of the property before returning to find the chariot of cheese in wait, I’m remiss to say that I neglected to detail the seven iteration sampled but with several local variants not seen elsewhere those interested in cheeseboards should find no shortage of intrigue to pair with housemade jams and bread loaded with fruit and nuts, the later largely negating the need of a palate cleanser before progressing to a small shortbread cake that saw traditionally savory flavors turned into something that was both elegant and surprisingly quite sweet.
At this point diverting from the scheduled program for a tableside presentation of Chef Troisgros famous reinterpretation of a traditional Baba au Rhum, June’s menu saw the sizable loaf sliced into quarters before being plated with quince and cream, a housemade ginger spirit drizzled liberally adding a heated topnote without overwhelming the yeasty notes found throughout the exceptionally light cake.
Opting to take mignadises in the adjacent garden, where padded lounge chairs and a soundtrack of American Jazz nearly lulled me to sleep beneath the shadows cast by old trees, it was here that the full impact of the meal finally came to a head, for as good as every bite from start to finish had been it was the overall sum of its parts that made Troisgros the very definition of ‘destination dining,’ the rare meal where one immediately waxes poetic about ‘best of all time’ while simultaneously wondering if they’ll ever have the opportunity to visit once again.
http://www.troisgros.com/