When we spent an afternoon at Montpoupon back in 2012, we started by having lunch in the restaurant next door, which is called L'Auberge du Château. We were the only customers on that Sunday, so we had not only good food but very good service and a pleasant meal. Not surprisingly, the restaurant didn't stay in business very long, but now I understand that it has re-opened under new management.
Here's what the interior looked like. I think it has a new look these days. We were a party of four, as our friends Peter and Jill were visiting from California.
The meal started with two little amuse-bouche dishes, which we all enjoyed with some local Sauvignon blanc wine as we waited for the first courses to come out of the kitchen. An amuse-bouche is a small plate of food designed to whet your appetite and "amuse your mouth" (Fr. bouche). The two that we had were a dollop of pureed sun-dried tomatoes on a cracker...
Jill, Walt, and I chose a starter course of lightly smoked salmon. Chef Hammani said the salmon was cured in salt and sugar for four days, and then smoked for only three minutes. Whatever the process, it was excellent — mild, tender, moelleux, only slightly salty, and hardly smokey at all. It was served with a couple of little blinis, a quenelle ("dumpling") of crème fraîche, and a little glass of ice-cold, citrus-flavored vodka. It was, as they say, très fin — very refined. Peter had foie gras as his entrée, but I haven't yet found a photo of that.
Three of us had this épaule d'agneau confite — "pulled" slow-cooked lamb shoulder — with potatoes and wide, flat "Romano" green beans (cocos plats in French) as our main course. Peter chose sweetbreads (ris de veau) as his main course.
As you can see, it was a very fine and very refined lunch. With our main courses, we had some red Bourgueil (Cabernet Franc) wine. Bourgueil is near Tours on the north or "right" bank of the Loire — 45 miles west of Montpoupon.
Yes, a very fine lunch indeed! The decor is very nice also. I hope they don't change it much.
ReplyDeleteEvelyn, and Ken, it looks like the new incarnation is called L'Auberge de Montpoupon. I had read about it from a link from a blog post from France with Véro, when she blogged about Montpoupon, so she had a link to the restaurant. L'Auberge de Montpoupon
DeleteI looked at that web site for the Auberge de Montpoupon a few days ago. I hope the restaurant is doing well. The people running the place back in 2012 couldn't make a go of it, even though the food was really good.
DeleteThe web site is appealing. The restaurant is closed three days of the week- MTW.
DeleteA very fine lunch in a beautiful setting.
ReplyDeleteBettyAnn
On that beautiful July day in 2012, We were the only people in the restaurant. That was kind of sad.
DeleteLooks like a great meal and a nice locale. No doubt those sun dried tomatoes were tasty.
ReplyDeleteI remember that roasted lamb shoulder being very good, as all the food was.
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