I took the recommendation of one of our real estate agents and headed right into the center of old Bordeaux not far from our new apartment and found the small Le Loup which has only a dozen or so tables, many of them high tops, but felt cozy and friendly for sure and Ludovic, the manager, was so helpful and made my last meal in Europe a dream.
The amuse was a corn tempura with miso mayo and was fun but such a truly 1/2 bite amuse!
I ordered several different wines by the glass starting with "LEtiquette Gris" a superb 100% Sauvignon Gris from Chateau Carsin in Bordeaux which was ideal with my starter of Les Escargots en Ravioli persillade avec crème de l'ail( parsley raviolis stuffed with escargot in an amazing garlic foam sauce) that was one of the most novel and different pasta dishes and escargot preparations ever! I was in a fish mood (I had steak tartare at a bistro the night prior) and chose La lotte avec sa Bisque, salicornes, lentilles corail( monkfish in its bisque with Samphire and coral lentils) that was a wonderful preparation as well and I needed a spoon to get all the bisque! I switch to a light red recommended by Ludovic: Julienas 2022 from Manoir du Carra which was a Gamay Rouge and indeed it was perfect.
Desserts were tempting, but I could not resist the cheese, after all, I was in France.
The cheeses were all fabulous and came with frozen grapes, nuts and berry jam:
Buche de chevre was creamy and rich
Ossau-Iraty was a nutty sheep from the Basque region to the south
Loupoutou was a super hard cheese also from Pays-Basque that was full of flavor and totally new to me as well.
My red with the cheese was a full-bodied Cadillac from St. Emillion nearby 2020 Baies de Bernateau.
I was thrilled with my new find in our new second home town!
