Howard:
Here is what I posted a few months back:
Beaune – Dinner at Ma Cuisine, on Passage Sainte-Helene. As far as we are concerned, this friendly, casual, boisterous place, always and quickly filled with locals and foodie tourists, never disappoints. We enjoyed two wonderful dinners here on this trip. First night, scallops and mushroom soup were our starters, followed by a veal chop and pigeon, deceptively simple yet perfectly prepared and delicious. A few nights later, I had the scallops again, she had a rocket salad, and then came duck for me and she opted for the côte de veau because she had so admired mine from the previous dinner there. Of course, there also is a great wine list, from which we selected on both nights ’09 Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny. We definitely will return.
Beaune – Each morning’s ritual at la Pâtisserie Wagner & Salon de Thé, on Rue Monge. Here we regularly find our favorite coffee, croissants, and exceptional pastries of our Beaune visits. Small, with just a few tables, you are greeted upon entry by a beautiful display of pâtisseries fines and macarons, and the aromas you’d expect, with every thing (at least every thing that we sampled) as delicious as it looks. The coffee drinks are expertly prepared (and the teas looked just as good). For us, this is one of those unassuming, prototypical “French” places where you sit and savor and recognize your good fortune at being able to spend lazy time in Burgundy. We will return.
Beaune – Afternoon “wine and cheese” at la part des Anges, on Rue d’Alsace. We very much enjoyed dinner here during our 2009 visit. This time we stopped by for a short escape from a small rainstorm. Very nice selection of cheese, along with a glass of their house Burgundy and friendly, helpful service made for the perfect interlude. We would return.
Beaune – Dinner at L’Ecusson, on Rue Lieutenent Dupuis. Another “Restaurant gastronomique.” Burgundian cuisine is often considered “hearty,” “rustic” even, so it was something special to find it so elegantly interpreted. A terrific and creative eight course extravaganza with very friendly service, in a subdued modern room, for 80 Euros. We thought it was an exceptional value given the quality of the meal. Each course was beautifully prepared and presented, and we enjoyed the meal thoroughly as we progressed from a beautiful fall salad with prawns, to a mousse of apples, truffles, escargot and mushrooms, to scallops prepared in citrus and Campari, to wild, local duck, to another fantastic cheese course, and much dessert (they seem to love apples and pears and, at this time of year, who doesn’t?). It all was great (except for an unusual blackberry/potato foam dessert, which we thought missed the mark). It was a wonderful dinner and we definitely would return.
Beaune – Lunch at Le Gourmandin, on Place Carnot. Serendipity and a rain storm led us into this small, very cozy, very friendly, and crowded place essentially in the center of town. Little did we know that we would end up very pleased with our choice, so much so that we ate here two more times. The menu was intriguing, especially when I translated one dish to “stuffed cabbage,” a longtime, home-made favorite of mine, prepared often, long ago and lovingly during my childhood by my Grandmother and Mother. However, this was not the Eastern European beef stuffed in sweet and sour cabbage of my memory. No! With eyes gazing heaven-ward, I then and there apologized to my dear departed Mom and Grandma and declared this the most amazing stuffed cabbage ever. It was made with finely minced chicken infused with an amazing blend of seasonings unknown, plus black truffles, wrapped in cabbage leaves flecked with even more truffles, which were sliced and distributed generously. In all seriousness, this was one of my three best bites of 2012 (the other two, in case you are interested, were a green chile, roasted leg of lamb burrito at Atrisco Café in Santa Fe, and a sugar- dusted, truffle and foie gras filled bao at Xinrongji in Shanghai). Other dishes we enjoyed during our first visit were salmon with potatoes, grilled Barbeau (a freshwater fish, somewhat similar to a carp, I think), and some terrific local mushrooms, along with an ’08 Pavelot Savigny Dominode. On subsequent visits, a chicken was delicious but a tad over-cooked, and a quail dish was very good, and more stuffed cabbage was enjoyed (so many dishes of it were ordered that the owner felt compelled to visit with us). Not only would we return, we did return.
Beaune – Dinner at Bistro de L’Hotel, on Rue Samuel Legay. This highly anticipated dinner, at which we were finally to experience the renowned and pricey Poulard de Bresse, in a restaurant highly regarded and highly rated, proved utterly underwhelming. Service is definitely not warm and certainly is not helpful concerning any questions one might have, even simple ones like, “Can you tell us the place of origin of the wonderful oysters devoured by my wife?” While her inadequately described oysters actually were very good, my scallops were merely okay (and in Beaune, for some reason, it seems quite difficult to get anything other than fantastic scallops). And the 100 Euro Chicken? Overcooked, yet tasty; but in no way the special, life-altering experience for which we had been prepared. In addition, attitude issues abounded, from a chef who thought he should hang out at a few tables rather than stay in his kitchen and actually check to see that very expensive birds were not cooked entirely too well, to a captain who acted as if his mission was to prove singlehandedly that French service truly can be officious and condescending by acting as if we were intruding on his time, to a bottle of wine poured entirely by myself. The evening was just off. I know that I have friends, whose tastes in fine dining I admire and trust, that love this place. We, on the other hand, would not return even if someone else were buying.
Beaune – Dinner at Caves Madeleine, on Rue Faubourg Madeleine. We have been hearing about this place for years, and during this visit it again was highly recommended to us by some of our local wine merchant pals (as an aside, please check out Adrien at “Wine Connection”). All I can say is I am sorry it took us so long to go there, as it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. A wall of bottles of wine, some rare and hard to find, and all fairly priced, which you can buy and take away or enjoy with your dinner. (Another ’09 Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny gave its all at our little table. Yes, I indeed am a creature of habit.) If you don’t see the wine you seek, ask the wonderfully friendly and knowledgeable owner, Laurent (apparently also known as Lo Lo), and he’ll most likely be able to find it among the additional thousands of bottles downstairs. The food was terrific, just perfectly prepared, lovingly sourced, rustic, homemade and delicious Burgundian classics, as well as some specials, all described on a small chalkboard and enthusiastically explained by Laurent. That night we happily discovered he sometimes brings in from Spain some amazing and hard to find, very high quality Jamón ibérico, which really hit the spot as a starter, as did some shaved porcini mushrooms. We also really enjoyed our fish and beef dishes. We definitely will return.
Chambolle-Musigny – Lunch at Le Millésime, on Rue Traversière. I believe there are only two restaurants in this, our favorite village, and our little tradition of lunch here continues. This is an elegant, sleek place, and you will not find simple, rustic Burgundian fare here. Starting with the glassware and then the breads, you know you are in for something a bit finer. An amazing amuse bouche of a soft egg in mushroom foam inside the shell inspired me to select another egg dish, with two poached eggs in red wine sauce, followed by a terrific pork shoulder dish. My wife’s fish was a bit over-breaded, but still tasty. One issue to keep in mind: if you have a tasting appointment after lunch, do not cut it too tight, this place paces slowly. We will return.
Beaune – Dinner at Loiseau des Vignes, on Rue Maufoux, right next door to Hotel Le Cep. On our final night of this trip to Beaune, a one star extravaganza, the only dinner where we went ahead with the wine pairing, since the restaurant has a truly amazing selection of wines by the glass. The evening was a marathon with somewhat slow but warm service. The dining rooms are colorful, but feel slightly cold because the tables are placed relatively far apart. The sommelier was quite good, gently offering however much information you indicated you wanted about the seven different wines we were served. The dishes were beautifully presented and boldly flavored: “heart of salmon” with pickled radish; poached eggs (with bacon!); poached pike in eel bouillon foam; pigeon breast in cassis with fois gras; a truly fantastic cheese course; and a very nice pear dessert. A rather rich meal, from which we waddled homeward. We probably would return.
Hope this is useful.
Cheers,
Andrew