Our friends Lee & Kevin were visiting us from DC and we decided to celebrate Lee's birthday at a nearby (13 min drive) place we had not yet visited in Bordeaux. A couple of months ago I was watching the CNN series Eva Longoria:Searching for France where she seemed to miss many of our favorite places on the Bordeaux segment, but I was impressed with her visit to le Prince Noir. WOW, was it worth the try.
We arrived at 8pm with our dear neighbor Charline in tow and decided to enjoy aperitifs outside on the terrace. The restaurant is a new building in the yard of a small old chateaux turned into a drama school that overlooks the large Garonne suspension bridge below. we had a gorgeous view of the sun as it lowered across the river starting off with a yummy Signature drink made with Lillet, but alas I forgot the rest of the ingredients.
As we toasted in the warm breeze the handsome gent who served us most of the evening brought out a pile of various amuses which were really way more that that!
Tarte fine anchoiade was a anchovy paste salty delight and then another plate was salted marinated beef with zucchini tempura & tuna, salicorne and anchovy. The final piece de resistance was a small iron cast pot revealed tableside to have a novel cassoulet of escargots!
We decided on wines, the menu and more and then moved inside where we were grateful for the air conditioning! The glass enclosed pavilion-like building was attached to an older building where there was an entry area with cute stuff like a juke box, old cash register filled with candy for your departure after the meal as well as the main kitchen. Blond wood tables were modern with very modern art, funny photos of all of the staff, chandeliers hanging from their Michelin Star metal plaques medallion and super comfy swivel chairs which I fell in love with. As in most Michelin restaurants, flatware was delivered before each course.
The first wine was brought and was a vineyard suggested by Charlen from her home Jurancon. Clos Larrouyate 2023 Comete was indeed a comet of a wine full of mineral and so dry it went perfectly with the first two vegetable courses. Le Prince Noir, incidentally, will do an entire vegetarian menu if you like and we promised that we must bring Sam here in the fall!
We were soon invited to join Chef Vivien in the kitchen, who deserves a star just for being himself. He has ONE restaurant and while, well-known as a character larger than life, he sticks to his clients at Le Prince Noir using locally sourced and sustainable ingredients that were indeed some of the best dishes we have had here. He prepared the next "cucumber course" before us which I captured much of on video and we ate it while in the kitchen as he told stories and we told him our stories--all of us conversing wildly in French, with Charline explaining how her father was a chef in Ireland and the southwest for many years before retiring.
Back at the table bread arrived in three forms: focaccia was really just wonderfully frilled white bread; pleurot pain (grain) and pain au mais(corn, this is not what you folks in the US call cornbread, it is a tasty BREAD that uses corn and has the consistency of real bread). A sauce bourguignon accompanied the breads as well as a spicy pepper olive oil.
The next course was "TOMATO" and easily is one of the best veggie dishes ever. It was sliced thin like sushi and topped with crispy black garlic over a mirroir of red wine like a thick gazpacho, but way better made with sarrazin and anchovy. I could have eaten multiples of this!
HOMARD was prepared at a large roll in tableside (videos again) where the tail shells were used to make a sauce with cognac and then the tails were served with large arancini stuffed with lobster over the sauce and also with a sauce soubise. I did manage to get one small shell, but that did not mar this delicate and delicious dish at all. By now we had switched to our second white which I chose as I love Viognier and adore its very vineyard specific Condrieu. We had Andre Perrett 2022 which was loaded with Rhone Valley minerals and so unctuous and creamy all of us were oohing and aahing for quite some time. After this we moved on to an amazing red which I chose from Saint-Emilion as we had visited there earlier in the day with Lee & Kevin. Chateau Dassant 2015 Grand Cru Classe was a divine Bordeaux that frank perfectly and we all agreed again, a perfect wine for our meat and cheese courses.
Speaking of meat next was Ris de veau or sweetbreads with two sauces: mustard & blanquette de veau with a crust polenta that was divine. I am a sweetbread lover, and this dish was a true treat as the preparation was indeed superb and the tastes, sauces, and just everything made it the ideal main course.
Cheeses followed and there were many to taste and share and enjoy with the breads and wine. On the side was a small croustillant like a charcoal cracker or crunchy wafer topped with some romaine hearts and vinaigrette.
The first dessert was right up my alley and was called Abricots which brough fresh apricots roasted with the famous local piment d'espalette (Espalette pepper) paired with BBQ apricots and apricot gel. The crust on the pastry was sublime and the whole thing sitting in apricot verjus was just heavenly.
The final dessert was a simple sorbet of nectarines with sirop d'agrumes (citrus syrup) again with the wonderfully spicy piment d'espalette that made this almost a savory dish, but not quite. A perfect end to a perfect meal.
Since it was Lee's birthday we did sing Happy Birthday, but the staff brought out a small package at the end for him to take home of a Gateau Basque (small cheesecake if you must) which we ended up eating at home this week and I have to say it was moist and creamy and delicious indeed and a great reminder of our meal the week before. What fun we had.
