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France's Finest Restaurants

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    One of the finest restaurants in France can be found in a relatively small town in the southern part of Burgundy, just south of Beaune. It's Lameloise, and it's located in a beautiful and charming 15th century house on a small square in Chagny. As you know, the top ranking that any restaurant can receive is 3 Michelin stars. Lameloise is one of the very few restaurants in France that has been given a 3 Michelin star ranking, and every one of those stars is extremely well-deserved.

    It wasn't always that way. After losing his third star a few years ago, Jacques Lameloise and his staff put all their efforts into regaining that lost star as quickly as possible. It didn't take long. Last year, the Michelin people once again gave Lameloise 3 stars and many knowledgeable people now consider it to be one of the top five restaurants in all of France.

    My wife and I had the pleasure of dining at Lameloise on the evening of the twelfth of May, 2008. It was a memorable experience. When you dine in a 3 star restaurant that really has earned its stars (as Lameloise surely has over the past few years) you KNOW you're in a 3 star restaurant. Nothing is left to chance. The table cloths are so clean and white that you won't be able to find a blemish on them. The silverware is spotless. The water glasses are refilled at just the right intervals. The service is impeccable - your every need is taken care of, but the captains and the waiters don't hover over you. They are friendly and informative. Last but not least, the food is an out-of-this-world experience and the wines are exceptional. On the night that we were there, Lameloise scored perfect tens in each of these categories, and more.

    The menu that we chose from can be seen in one of the photos that I've attached below. Each and every dish my wife and I had was incredibly delicious, creatively conceived and beautifully presented. We had two exceptionally good wines with the meal. Each was delightful, but the Corton Grand Cru Cuvee Charlotte Dumay 1998 was SO good that we were on the verge of begging for mercy. Not a drop was left in the bottle when the meal was over.

    Nothing placed before us that magical evening missed its mark. In particular, the two selections of foies gras were, by far, the best we had ever tasted, the ravioli d'escargots were beyond belief and both the lamb and the duck were memorable. The chocolate dessert, which is also pictured below, completed one of the most exceptional dining experiences we have ever had.

    However, our wonderful evening at Lameloise was not over, even after we had left the restaurant. During the meal, Jacques Lameloise himself had come to our table to greet us and to make sure that everything was to our liking. A friendly, modest and sincere man, he walked out with us as we left the restaurant and actually took a few minutes to show us his latest acquisition, an antique Jaguar automobile that he had recently purchased, before bidding us adieu and hurrying back to the kitchen. Looking back, not only did the restaurant Lameloise rate 3 Michelin stars, but so did its owner.

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    Thanks from: Herry Lawford, The Rover
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    DP: Oh that looks nice, thanks for the photo's. I may be off to france this fall if the Gods are good to me. I must say that I am surprised that a true french man would buy anything english (jag). Cute story: I used to be married to a french chef, and I always said my very favorite restaurant was "Cafe 1368" which was our house numbers. Anyway, once we were driving through the Loire Valley and he was considering visiting some chef's place when he heard that this chef/owner lost a Michelin star. So, I said "Are we going to go see him anyway?" and my ex replied, "Of course not. I would never have anything to do with a big loser that can't even keep his stars. What kind of person lets this happen? Nobody I want to be involved with". And that was that. Now, I must say my ex was harsh on people (me included) but isn't that attitude about as french as you can get?

    Thanks from: DonPablo
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    Hi, Nanoose

    If the English can imbibe French wine, I guess that the French can buy Jaguars.

    With respect to the question you posed, I think I'll pass on answering it, as my answer might get me in trouble with my French friends and/or my wife. But I will say, with regard to your story about that chef who lost a Michelin star, that your ex doesn't sound like the type of person that would give people a second chance even though, in fact, some of humanity's greatest triumphs have occurred after previous failures.

    Also, let us not forget the words of another Frenchman, Michel de Montaigne, who once said "Some defeats are more triumphant than victories” or the words of Mike Ditka, the legendary tight end and, later on, coach of the Chicago Bears, who said "Success isn’t permanent and failure isn’t fatal.”

    In summary, Nanoose, from my perspective - a perspective evidently not shared by your ex - having lost a Michelin star and then having worked hard to regain it, Jacques Lameloise's story is even more glorious than if he had kept his 3 stars all along.

    I hope that you make it to France in the fall!

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    After our wonderful dining experience at Lameloise in May of 2008 (see my comments above) my wife, Donna Elena, and I continued our travels through France and eventually returned to the Hotel Meurice, where we had stayed for a few days earlier that month, before embarking for Burgundy. Since we knew that we were going to be staying at the Meurice for yet another four days before continuing on to Portugal, we had previously made a reservation to have lunch one afternoon at the hotel’s famous in-house 3 Michelin star restaurant, Le Meurice, which, under the leadership of the world-renowned head Chef Yannick Alléno, had obtained its 3rd Michelin star in 2007.

    When we entered the dining room of Le Meurice that day, we were looking forward to a wonderful meal, and I must say that we certainly were not disappointed. Clearly, when a restaurant (in particular, a restaurant in France) achieves 3 Michelin stars, it is approaching perfection in its pursuit of providing its customers, in every way, with an extraordinary dining experience. As was the case with Lameloise, the service was friendly and efficient, the food creative and incredibly delicious, and the presentations ever so beautiful. Not one of our courses missed their mark. An additional element that added to the experience was the 17th century “grand siècle”-style dining room itself, with its marble walls and elegant, gold chandeliers, inspired by the Salon de la Paix at the Chateau de Versailles. Attached below, you’ll find some photographs we took when we dined at Le Meurice, including pictures of some of the dishes we sampled, the dining room and the menu describing the delicious meal that we had.

    The experience was even more enjoyable because we knew Le Meurice’s maître d'hôtel, Sébastian Rival, who made sure that everything was taken care of for us and, in fact, personally delivered some of our dishes to our table. Sébastian and his colleagues couldn’t have been more friendly or more attentive. We truly felt like royalty as we dined there that afternoon. But, as we were finishing our meal, we found that we were in for one last surprise. Sebastian had arranged for Yannick Alléno, himself, to come to our table and to meet with us. He was utterly charming and we enjoyed our conversation with him immensely. It was the fitting end to a delightful and exciting meal.

    In summary, upon leaving Le Meurice that afternoon, we could see why this famous, elegant establishment has the excellent reputation it enjoys as one of the world’s truly great restaurants.

    Thanks from: Herry Lawford, The Rover
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    Don Pablo - thanks very much for telling us about your visits to Lameloise and Le Meurice.

    It might also be of interest to readers to know that, if you are dining in Le Meurice and if you look out the windows that you showed in one of your pictures, you'll have an excellent view of the Tuileries Gardens. If you click on the following link, you can also see some very nice photographs of the hotel, the gardens, the restaurant Le Meurice and the other fine restaurant at the hotel - Le Dali - which I believe is also under the direction of chef Yannick Alléno:

    http://www.lemeurice.com/pdf/english.pdf

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    A few hours ago, in connection with the Extravigator.com discussion entitled "Best Restaurant Experience," I provided a link to a recent article by Mimi Sheraton which discussed a number of restaurants that she felt were so extraordinary that they were worth getting into an airplane and flying to, just to have a meal there.

    One of those restaurants, interestingly enough, was Le Meurice. In this regard, here is what Ms. Sheraton said:

    "NOTHING in Paris could be in greater contrast to L’Ami Louis than the quiet, luxuriously formal, three-star Le Meurice in the equally posh hotel of the same name, where dishes are presented in a silver and white dining room aglow with mirrors, marble and crystal chandeliers. The fun is in seeing — and tasting — what the chef Yannick Alléno is up to as he reinterprets the best traditions of French cuisine in supple innovations, creating 100 dishes each year, none to be repeated when each seasonal menu expires."

    "That means one can only recall past triumphs, like the pigeon breast encrusted with dark chocolate or poached in a spicy cabernet, or the sweetbreads dramatically garnished with saffron-perfumed ravioli in a foamy licorice cream or foie gras accented with melon."

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