Loire Hotel/Restaurant Le Cheval Blanc [Report]
Thanks Ron. (as usual) We returned from the Cher area a few days ago it is wonderful, isn't it but really not many areas I dislike. I don't rhapsodize for Alsace because I dislike the heavy Germanic food but there are great restos, like the Ille Hausen, miam. miam, and the flowers are enchanting.. The Dordogne is too grey and rains alot or is damp. Love Brittany and Normandy but wish they were wine growing, hey you can't have everything, and the list goes on!!
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Le Cheval Blanc.
RonZ: welcome to Bonjour Paris (encore)
You are bringing back such wonderful memories. I haven't eaten there for ages but did when I was visiting a friend who has a home and a B&B near the restaurant.
As if the food weren't a good enough reason to go, the area is beautiful...and then there are the chateaux.
Thank you for reminding me!
Ron,
Thanks for letting us know about what is clearly a great place. On the list it goes!
Thanks for letting us know about what is clearly a great place. On the list it goes!
You’re sipping the last of the wine as the crumbs are being brushed from the tablecloth and the utensils are being placed for dessert. There is a feeling of satisfaction and of wonderment as you reflect back on the meal you have just enjoyed.
First the appetizer with your kir royale. Four, actually, each in their little dish or cup--a puree of cauliflower, tiny escargots in a buttery sauce, a carpaccio of salmon and a little foie gras. Along with this a delicious cheese puff. Then the entree, langoustines in a dreamy sauce of lemon and butter...generous portion with a vegetable and a little starch. The main course was medallions of veal.
Rich sauce with mushrooms, accompanied by potatoes, vegetables and a kind of frittata. Portions again generous and the cheese cart not sampled.
Throwing all dietary restraint to the winds, you have ordered the assiette gourmand, the assemblage of desserts you noticed being served at the next table when you dined here the previous year. The large plate is placed before you, covered with a dome comprised of strands of caramelized sugar. There are approximately seven items--mousse of chocolate, another of raspberry, a creme brulle and a nougat glace [shape of a heart]; a cookie in the shape of a flower and a couple of little sorbets. This calls for a coulis of some kind, and there are three separate ones in little cups on a side dish--apricot, strawberry and raspberry; also a creme anglaise.
Of comparative wonder is the fact that you are not at Boyer Les Crayeres nor a similar altar of gastromomy, but at a two star hotel in the little town of Blere in the valley of the Loire, Le Cheval Blanc. This has been the 38 euro menu in the famed Michelin star restaurant.
This is a very friendly and welcoming hotel with an utterly charming staff, and I was probably the first person to call for a three night reservation on the day they reopened earlier in the year. Eighteen rooms upstairs, dining inside or in the narrow garden leading in from the back entrance. A car park and a swimming pool across the street. The rate for the room was 60€, total for three days with breakfast and dinner our bill came to 585€.
Blere is on the River Cher just down from Chenonceaux [due south of Amboise a little ways] and well located for getting around. This time we made a point of revisiting our favorite chateau--Valencay.
First the appetizer with your kir royale. Four, actually, each in their little dish or cup--a puree of cauliflower, tiny escargots in a buttery sauce, a carpaccio of salmon and a little foie gras. Along with this a delicious cheese puff. Then the entree, langoustines in a dreamy sauce of lemon and butter...generous portion with a vegetable and a little starch. The main course was medallions of veal.
Rich sauce with mushrooms, accompanied by potatoes, vegetables and a kind of frittata. Portions again generous and the cheese cart not sampled.
Throwing all dietary restraint to the winds, you have ordered the assiette gourmand, the assemblage of desserts you noticed being served at the next table when you dined here the previous year. The large plate is placed before you, covered with a dome comprised of strands of caramelized sugar. There are approximately seven items--mousse of chocolate, another of raspberry, a creme brulle and a nougat glace [shape of a heart]; a cookie in the shape of a flower and a couple of little sorbets. This calls for a coulis of some kind, and there are three separate ones in little cups on a side dish--apricot, strawberry and raspberry; also a creme anglaise.
Of comparative wonder is the fact that you are not at Boyer Les Crayeres nor a similar altar of gastromomy, but at a two star hotel in the little town of Blere in the valley of the Loire, Le Cheval Blanc. This has been the 38 euro menu in the famed Michelin star restaurant.
This is a very friendly and welcoming hotel with an utterly charming staff, and I was probably the first person to call for a three night reservation on the day they reopened earlier in the year. Eighteen rooms upstairs, dining inside or in the narrow garden leading in from the back entrance. A car park and a swimming pool across the street. The rate for the room was 60€, total for three days with breakfast and dinner our bill came to 585€.
Blere is on the River Cher just down from Chenonceaux [due south of Amboise a little ways] and well located for getting around. This time we made a point of revisiting our favorite chateau--Valencay.