Robuchon’s Bordeaux bites
The multiple Michelin-star-winning chef gives Andrew Purvis a taste for a region that is best known for its wines
NO map reflects a region’s gastronomy quite like that of Aquitaine. On its western seaboard, close to where the Garonne River flows into the Atlantic, the alluvial plain is studded with some of the most famous names in wine: Margaux, Médoc, Pauillac, Pomerol, Saint-Émilion.
Inland to the north lies Périgueux, capital of the Dordogne, surrounded by the Périgord region famous for its black truffles, foie gras, confit de canard (cured duck leg), Chaumes cheese and celebrated wines, including Bergerac and Monbazillac. Nowhere is Aquitaine’s bounty more evident than the Parc Naturel Régional Périgord-Limousin, where exotic orchids grow next to plump boletus mushrooms, sweet chestnuts, walnuts and wild mint; or its beauty more vivid than in the Dordogne Valley with its gorges, cliffs and fastflowing water spanned by high bridges and flanked by fairytale castles.
The jewel in the region’s crown is Bordeaux, a port city distinguished by its 18th-century quayside buildings.
It is here, in the historic centre of wine trading, that French chef Joël Robuchon last year opened La Grande Maison ( lagrandemaison-bordeaux.com ), an elegant mansion with six opulent guest rooms and a gourmet restaurant, which he hopes will one day be awarded three Michelin stars.
If anyone can do it, Robuchon can. Named “chef of the century” by the GaultMillau guide in 1989, he has been awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (“Best Craftsman of France”) for his cuisine, which has won him a total of 25 Michelin stars at 11 restaurants worldwide — the most of any chef. Here is his guide to Bordeaux and the surrounding region.
What makes the cuisine special?
It’s the geographic situation, with the Garonne River and the harbour, the salt marshes and the dunes to the west, and the Gironde estuary to the north. Bordeaux has produce that is world-famous: oysters from the Bay of Arcachon; milk-fed Pauillac lamb; and cèpes de Bordeaux, in my opinion the best mushrooms in France. They grow superb raspberries just a few kilometres from here; they rear ducks; and the asparagus is wonderful.
What dish sums it up?
Lamproie à la bordelaise, an eel-like fish from the Gironde estuary — Europe’s widest, where the Garonne and Dordogne rivers meet. It’s slow-cooked in red wine, with seasonal vegetables, veal bone and Bayonne bacon from the Basque country, then traditionally served the following day.
What else should I look out for?
There’s crépinette , like a small sausage, served with oysters — a contrast of hot and cold. Red wine sauce is another speciality. The most famous product is the canelé, a small, sweet cake shaped like a castle. Then there is sarment, the wood from the vines. In the winter, the vines are pruned and the branches are dried and used for barbecues; it gives the food a smoky, distinctive taste. If you do lamb this way, the smell and the flavour are completely different. The perfect accompaniment would be a vintage wine from the same vineyard.
Where Joël Robuchon would enjoy …
A TYPICAL BRUNCH The Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux ( ghbordeaux.com ), right in the centre of town, has beautiful architecture evoking the Belle Époque of the 19th century. It’s the best place to pick up l’âme de
Bordeaux , the special atmosphere of the city. There’s a brasserie [recently renamed Le Bordeaux], which does a good buffet breakfast, and Gordon Ramsay will shortly take over Le Pressoir d’Argent, its finedining restaurant. The hotel looks out on the Place de la Comédie and you can sit outside when it’s sunny. I might have a coffee and a croissant or just a little canelé pastry. In Bordeaux, there’s an English legacy — so brunch might be eggs, omelette or a savoury pancake.
Then, on the Garonne each Sunday morning from 7am til 1pm, there’s the Marché des Quais right on the quayside. It’s a meeting place for all the Bordelais people. There’s a big farmers’ market with fruits, vegetables and other regional produce, but also furniture, books and crafts. It’s the place to go on a Sunday for
oysters and a glass of white wine at 11am, or bread with cold meats, cheeses, seafood or foie gras.
LUNCH In the historic centre of Bordeaux is La Tupina ( latupina.com/en ), where the food is cooked in a huge fireplace. The chef is Jean-Pierre Xiradakis; he’s Bordelais, but he has a Greek name. He does mostly meat — chicken, duck, goose, beef and lamb — but also lamprey, sturgeon and caviar d’Aquitaine. The lamb is served with unpeeled garlic and mogettes (white beans) with bacon. This chef occupies the whole street, because he has a little hotel, a produce shop and a bar. When a president visits — Sarkozy or Chirac, say — or Queen Elizabeth, they have lunch here. It’s an institution.
Le Noailles ( lenoailles.fr ) is a typical Bordelais brasserie where the waiters are dressed in black and white. You can have oysters, or a dish called tricandilles — pig’s tripe, which is only ever cooked on the grill. It’s a really old speciality of Bordeaux, and Le Noailles is the best place to try it.
For lunch with a view, La Corniche ( lacoorniche-pyla.com ) is a beautiful spot. It’s up on La Dune du Pilat (Europe’s highest dune) — a ’30s hunting lodge in the Basque style, redesigned by Philippe Starck. They serve oysters, fish and other seafood from the Arcachon Basin. It’s very fashionable but you go there for the view, not the food. I’d just have an apéritif — seafood carpaccio, say, with a glass of wine or champagne.
FINE DINING Apart from La Grande Maison, the only fine-dining restaurant is in the north of Médoc — Château Cordeillan-Bages ( jmcazes.com/en/chateau-cordeillan
bages ), set in the Château Lynch-Bages vineyards in Pauillac, between the Garonne and the Atlantic. As you might expect, there are 1 500 wines in the cellar, including all the Bordeaux grands crus. The chef is Jean-Luc Rocha and the place has two Michelin stars. Dishes might include warm foie gras in a cereal crust with port reduction and melon sorbet, king crab ravioli with Aquitaine caviar, and crispy suckling pig with piquillos (a type of chilli) and watermelon.
About 100km south of Bordeaux is Les Prés d’Eugénie ( michelguerard.com ), Michel Guérard’s acclaimed restaurant, with three Michelin stars. It’s a beautiful place with wonderful, creative food: spider crab and grapefruit water madras, with crunchy fritters of tangy sorrel leaves; silky blinis of black and white truffles; or beautiful scampi grilled on the embers with marsala duck consommé. There’s a more affordable menu, too, featuring things like home-made foie gras, truffles, ceps, white asparagus, pig’s trotter and smoked eel.
AN APÉRITIF The place to go for a drink and a beautiful view in summer is the rooftop bar at the Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux (see above). Famous in the region is an apéritif called Lillet, made with white wine, sugar, sweet and sour oranges, and spices. It’s made by an old family from south of Bordeaux.
Dinner
There’s a little place in the old centre of Bordeaux, called Miles Restaurant ( en.restaurantmiles.com ), with four young chefs — one Korean, one Danish, one Indian, and one English. They do only one menu with six or seven dishes and it’s very original, world cuisine with different influences: smoked fish with Indian flavours, for example. The restaurant itself is modern and well designed. —