Stéphanie Gombert together with Stéphane Andrieux have been fantastic. Her for the impeccable hospitality and him for the gourmet. We have briefly listed here why the voters and our staff have selected it. First of all the best main dish which was: "Quercy" roasted saddle of lamb with Kaffir lime, baby crispy and melting tartlet with young garden peas, olive powder. The dish was paired with a superb Malbec of "Chateau Lagrezette" 2008.
Then the breakfast, surely the best along the whole France press trip, served in the magnificent ambiance of the Chateau with an excellent view of the river.
Finally for the impeccable welcome in the suite where local incredible products were served directly on the main table of our beautiful room.
Chateau de la Treyne, a Relais Chateaux, is the best address you can stay, at this time, on the banks of Dordogne river and is really complete in everything you might expect from it.
We would define it as the heaven of the "Foie Gras" because they have a great variety of it and they produce it themselves also hosting guests at their tasting tables.
The products are local and natural with an excellent price considering their quality.
La Table du Producteur by Michel Monteil is a must stop visit in this beautiful small village. It's not only a boutique gourmand but also a food cultural place were to acknowledge you about the true "terroir products" of this unique part of France.
Chemin de Alage from Cabrerets to Saint-Cirque-Lapopie
Another wonderful locations is a bit north west at about less then one hour from it and its name is Loubressac.
It's also very well known because, like the previous one, it's another of "one of the most beautiful and charming villages of France".
Loubressac has a stunning view over the Dordogne river valley. When we were there there was a fantastic T-storm and the sky became orange and yellow.
We finally decided to eat and sleep at "Logis Hotel Lou Cantou" located in the center of the village and we had a local meal made with fresh products, meanwhile we were admiring the amazing colors over the Dordogne valley.
"La Table du Producteur"
Rue du Sombral | Rue descendant à l'eglise, 46330 Saint-Cirq Lapopie, France
This article is going to be different from the previous ones because we will introduce three places in the department of Aude in South of France. We will start with the restaurant "L'Antre-Temps" (which translated would be "in the meanwhile") owned by the chef Lucie Robin Manfield. It is located in Rennes-le-Chateau a very small village on which have been published hundreds of books worldwide because of its famous mysteries. In these few lines we want just to highlight this unique restaurant which propose "every single day" a different menu. Lucie has been working in Michelin starred restaurants and so, in her simplicity, she is absolutely a great chef of his own. Meanwhile her husband is a super nice guy who serves at the tables and occasionally entertain the guests.
Chef Lucie Robin Mansfield
We had a wonderful dinner experience about the menu of that day which included a truffle cocotte, a well pan seared duck breast and Floating Island for dessert, all paired with a nice house and local wine.
Not far from Rennes-le-Chateau there is another place where the truffle is king. We are talking of the "Atelier Barrière Truffes" in Carcassonne, the famous medieval town in the middle of the Aude.
Philippe Barrière is the owner of this Truffle heaven and he will delight you with (actually he will spoil you) which his wonderful seasonal truffle creations. Before that he will introduce you to the free tasting of several local wines (we found this practice amazing) until you will find your favorites. Rather then comment here we definitively prefer give the words to the images we made and to the short introduction of the nice and funny Philippe, who is among the biggest expert of truffles worldwide.
It was a full dinner all with truffle and local wines. We absolutely recommend it if you are in the town of Carcassonne which is always magic as a fairy tail is.
Last but not least there is a final place that we want to highlight for another famous dish of this region. We are talking of the "Cassoulet" made with local Tarbes beans, Duck and Goose confits, Toulose sausage, Ventréche (a sort of local pork belly) and other ingredients. The town of Castelnaudary is the capital of this ancient recipe and we have tested one on the best in town: the restaurant "la Belle Epoque".
To end up this typical local meal we were served a Floating Island which was very nice as well
The Aude is a great destination for the history, the food and of course the wine and it's definitively worths a visit.
