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View from our room at
La Côte Saint Jacques |
17 November 2010: 17 November: Our annual visit to Burgundy. We landed this morning and picked up a hired car from CDG Airport. I input Joigny into the SatNav and we found ourselves meandering across the country along charming country roads (departmental roads)…..quite a change from the monotonous autoroutes. I have always found autumnal landscape mesmerizingly enchanting - a palette of rich and warm russet, golden and copper colours, enflaming the lush rolling hills, still green at this time of the year. This natural beauty has a magical power to lighten your heart and free the soul!
We stopped for a coffee-break at the town of Sens where we also bought a just-baked giant gougère from a boulangerie at a street corner. It was just one of those gratifying moments: biting into this warm cheese puff, crispy on the outside and slightly doughy on the inside……with intense cheese flavours……so yummy! It was our lunch! We arrived at Joigny and checked into La Côte Saint Jacques. With only a modest lunch, we are really looking forward to dinner at this 3 Michelin star institution headed by Chef Jean-Michel Lorain (who spoke very good English!).
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| Cocktail canapés |
Wednesday evening - a relatively quiet evening at La Côte Saint Jacques. Only 19 covers in one of the dining rooms. It was quite evident that the restaurant was less well staffed. We started with some canap
és to go with our coupes de champagne. The most interesting one was the chef’s modification on jambon persillé – in a cube, with a soft boiled quail egg in the middle, which softened the sometimes aggressive garlic flavours for this dish. Richard had a glass of 1999 Pommery Cuvée Louise and I had a very refreshing glass of Louis Roederer Rosé Vintage 2006!
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Stuffed partridge, cooked in
a parcel of cabbage |
Once at the table, we were offered a small piece of smoked seabass which was very tasty. I skipped the first course while Richard enjoyed a green salad. For main course, I had a fusion creation: skate wing slowly cooked in a coconut milk and lemon grass emulsion, with some egg noodles underneath. I really enjoyed it - very fresh skate wing, refreshingly lightly-spiced broth, with wilted vegetables topping the fish and mopping up the sauce. My only criticism would be that the noodles were a little over-cooked, not so interesting texturally…….perhaps they could be replaced with courgette or cucumber spaghetti? Richard had the partridge, stuffed with truffle, foie gras and other goodies, cooked in a parcel of savoy cabbage. Perhaps a little undercooked, Richard thought the flavours were really intense and rich. Then we both had a cheese platter: the brillat savarin and the soumaintrain were both chalky but I thought the Brie de Meaux, Maroilles and Tomme de Brebis were all excellent. They served the cheese with these delicious preserved apricots and figs, bilberry jam and walnuts……which served equally well as dessert for me! Richard on the other hand, made a really good effort with the petits fours – I particularly liked the Dagmar – a signature chocolate here, mixed with caramel! Yummy!
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Skate wing in a coconut milk
and lemon grass emulsion |
Our white wine of the evening was a half of 2005 Beaune Clos des Mouches, Joseph Drouhin. It was made in a rich and slightly fat style, lacking the minerality that one would look for in a high quality white burgundy, the acidity level was also on the low side, to give the wine sufficient balance for the richness suggested by its full body and character layered with peach, lanolin, butter, nutty and honey. Almost New World in style. 15.5/20
The 2005 Volnay Taillepieds Marquis d’Angerville was well-made, lighter in style than the Champans or Clos des Ducs, fruit-focused, elegant and refined, without the complexity, fruit concentration and structure of an ageworthy wine. Raspberry, red cherry, hoisin sauce, balsamic, wet leaves and mineral. Very smooth mouthfeel. Middle palate was weak and finish was relatively short. Drinking perfectly well now and for the next 4 – 5 years. 16/20
My comment on La Côte Saint Jacques. Ideally situated along the river, with very well proportioned rooms. The chef, like all chefs in France, is keenly looking for ideas to add elements of innovation and creativity to his cuisine and the results have been quite impressive. Service was professional and reasonably attentive but the entire institution lacked energy and the dining room seemed tired and soulless. The waiters only seemed to be there to do a job, going with the motion - they did not quite carry with them a sense of pride, joy or ownership, hardly letting on a half smile. More disappointingly, we had tried on a few occasions to engage the sommelier in a discussion about the wine selection (or was it because we did not choose an expensive wine from the list??) and his views, without much success. He did not seem interested in discussing anything with us – which really surprised us. When I think about what it is about restaurants that leave a lasting impression on me: certainly the quality of cuisine matters, but it is also our interpretation of the service and ambiance – somehow I think the latter two are even more critical in giving us reasons to go back again and again……
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