The Man’s ideal weekend getaway..

often involves wine and food.  We had grand plans for another snowboarding trip to the mountains for our second last weekend in Geneva but I got really sick so the Man decided that it should be a weekend filled with good food and wine then.  He booked us a last minute stay at Chateau de Gilly.  Our BEST friends loaned us their car and some 2.5 hours later, we arrived at Burgundy.

I later learned that Château de Gilly is a former residence of 14th-century monks.  It’s location was ideal for it was situated between Dijon and Beaune. The hotel has preserved its authentic 14th and 16th-century character, reflected in its moats, French-style gardens and a dining room with a magnificent vaulted ceiling.

After checking in the hotel, we decided to drive to the nearby Gevrey Chambertin village to do a little wine tasting.  But we were disappointed with the wine offerings.  So off to Nuits-Saint Georges it was to try and buy up some bottles of wine.  The Man was pleased with his haul.  Among his buys, I guess one of the most unique bottles that we purchased was a 1977 bottle of Gevrey Chambertin.  Definitely took a risk with the buy but I’m hoping that it would be memorable when we do get to taste it. 

Took a rest in the hotel before heading off to dinner at the Le Clos Prieur, which was conveniently situated within the hotel premises.  Despite feeling extremely sick, I was still pretty excited about the dinner for the Le Clos Prieur restaurant has 3 stars in the Gault & Milau 2010 guide, furthermore, it is set in a former 14th-century wine cellar with an extraordinary architectural design.

We took the degustation (5-course meal) menu.  It was generally pretty good but the below dishes really left a striking impression on my taste-buds.

The foie gras terrain that’s coated with dark hazelnut chocolate.  It sounded a little queer but taste-wise, it was absolutely divine!

The restaurant’s signature dessert – Tirmaisu.  Although I thought it was more of a deconstructed tiramisu.  The Man didn’t really think too highly of the dessert but I loved the crunchy hazelnut biscuit part.  I’m hardly a chocolate or sweets kind of gal but the crunchy bits kinda sealed the deal for me.

I wished I was feeling a lot better to fully enjoy the dinner.  In between the courses, try as I might but I simply couldn’t stop the coughing spell.  It gotten so bad that I thought I was probably a nuisance to the other patrons for the evening. 

All in all, it was a relaxing weekend getaway in one of our favourite regions in France.

Chapeau Rouge

We love French food very much and the Burgundy region remained a firm favourite of ours when it comes to French dining.  Our weekend getaway to Beaune was a tad-bit last-minute so I scrambled to find 2 restaurants that we could visit on the Saturday that we were there.

While doing my research on Burgundy Eye, I short-listed the 1-Michelin star restaurant – Hostellerie du Chapeau Rouge which was located in middle of old Dijon and housed in a lovely 16th century building.

The skies were grey as we drove from Geneva towards Dijon and we were ravished, in need of some great food.  Thankfully, the place was relatively easy to find and we like what we saw when the menu was presented to us.  Like delicate pieces of Petite Fours, the Amuse Bouche was served.  I especially loved sugar-coated tomato ball served on a lollipop stick where the juice of the bite-sized tomato literally burst as I bit into its sugar crust.

For about 41 Eur, this meal was really quite a memorable one from the start to the finish.  Not too many surprises from Chef William Frachot for he stuck to the basics of French cooking but with a twist.  Take for instance, the starter was a mussel hidden under the sweet pepper cream, coriander ice and curried sable biscuit.  The salad was nothing too over-the-top, just as parboiled asparagus green with quail eggs and jamon ham.  For the main course, it was no surprises to be offered duck for it’s a rather common poultry offered in most French cuisine.  We’ve had our fair share of good ducks and bad ducks.  But this duck served with brandied cherry sauce is one of the best that we’ve eaten so far.  The meat was pink with every bite being soft and chewy.

At this point in time, we were already stuffed BUT there is always room for desert.  I’m usually quite picky when it comes to dessert.  If it’s really good, then I will bother wasting my calories on it, otherwise, forget it!  This dessert that we had hit all the right notes!  You guessed it… tangy with a tinge of sweetness.. just the way I like it – Peach tart with framboise sorbet.

This was truly a great meal that we had for lunch and it had set the bar with our fingers crossed for a better experience at another 1-Michelin star restaurant that I had booked for dinner.  If you are around the area, then here are a couple of other great Michelin-star restaurants in the Burgundy region that you can check out:

• Loisea des Vignes 
• Le Benaton

Chapeau Rouge

Address: 5, Rue Michelet, Dijon 21000, France

Tel: +31 (0)3 80 50 88 88

Michelin-Star: *

Come to the Château

Our trip to wine county saw us meeting wine-makers of sorts, from the small ones to the large ones. Located at Chateau de Chassagne Montrachet, we had the pleasure of visiting the vineyard of Maison Michel Picard.

Laurent brought us on a tour around the cellars of Michel Picard but our senses awoke when it was time for wine tasting! From Pommard to Mersault to Montrachet, I really lost count of what I had after a while. As our schedule was rather tight, Laurent quickly whisked us for our luncheon at the tasting table. What this actually means is that we get to sample a selection of 12 wines along with our meal. When I heard this, I knew I was going to be mighty drunk before lunch was over.

Our starters comprised of these fluffy creamed puffs that were served hot minutes after we sat down. Warm and buttery, the puffs were a great way to kick-start our meal. This was followed by a platter of cold meats which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The main was this creamed chicken served with a buttered pilaf rice. B finished his entire dish, as for me, the lure of a diet was far more enticing then the attempt to finish the meal, so as usual, I left mine half-eaten. This was a picture taken of B whilst he was deep in thought (over which wines to purchase). Notice how I captured the ‘Toi” bubble sign in the picture. Hehe….

We tasted 6 of the 12 bottles over lunch. I get to throw away those that I don’t like to stop myself from getting too drunk! But alas, I was still a little flighty high after the lunch.

Happy times!

Next stop: Bourgogne

When B told me that we were trainbound for Dijion and Burgundy, I honestly had no expectations. I knew that there wasn’t going to be shopping for sure (or not the type that I have been accustomed to) and I knew it was going to be one hell of a drunken journey from day to night.. wine tasting from vineyard to vineyard.

From Paris, we took a train up to Dijon, land of the Mustard, where we stayed for one night. The next day, we met up with our personal tour guide- Laurent, who brought us on wine escape throught the streets of Bourgogne.

We hadn’t realise that lunch was a cosy affair and specially prepared by the good people at Domaine Drouhin-Laroze. We were brought on a tour of the vineyard and Laurent showed me the first signs of the baby grapes that would be made into fine 2009 Burgundy wine.

The picturesque view of the vineyard formed the backdrop of our lunch. Our lovely hostess prepared home-styled French fair. Our appetiser was a traditional sweet onion flan followed by our main course of quich lorraine with garlic filled button mushrooms. Oh, I must add that the home-made terrain was also lip-smackingly yummy. I had to stop myself from having seconds and thirds. Christin Drouhin then brought out a huge platter of cheese. My personal favourite was the hazelnut-coated goat cheese. Just imagine soft cheese with crunchy nuts as you bite unto it. Delicious!

The French take their food seriously and the meal would not be complete without the dessert! It was hard to resist the chocolate mousse which was sitting prettily as I took its picture for the blog. I decided to let myself enjoy this special treat and I’m glad that I did. The mousse was a bittersweet chocolate topped with a fresh strawberry and sugar biscuit. As I write, I am still thinking of this sweet treat.

After lunch, we were brought on a tour around the cellar by Christin. It’s pretty amazing to see how wine is lovingly processed. Now everytime I have my glass of Burgundy, I definitely think of the wonderful time I had there.