A chef trained at La Tour Rose and Troisgros cooks tasting menus at Tournus
At this restaurant in Tournus, chef Jean-Michel serves a six-course menu for €70 featuring snails, foie gras, Breton lobster, and pigeon.
Amandine doesn't usually reveal the contents of her husband Jean-Michel's tasting menus. He trained at La Tour Rose in Lyon and with Troisgros in Roanne. In a room with weathered wooden tables, dim ceiling lights, and potted plants, he served an impeccable menu with touches of local flavor.
The six courses, for €70, began with snail tempura on bulgur wheat with tangy yogurt and a herb salad. Next came foie gras served as is, with dried rhubarb and rhubarb chutney, and Breton lobster served over still-smoking embers, with peas, white beans, and a dashi emulsion.
The pink pigeon breast and breaded leg arrived with various beetroot preparations: glazed in butter, slow-roasted in a salt crust, smoked, and with beetroot oil. They were accompanied by wild celery and a very earthy swede.
A velouté foam of chicken with yellow wine, diced tart apple, hazelnuts and grated Comté cheese, gave way to a dessert of raspberry tartlet, raspberry sorbet on a crumble base and arugula jelly.
The lunch menu, more economical and available on weekdays, includes shredded rabbit leg with herb jelly and diced foie gras; rabbit loin stuffed with figs and chard, with pickled red onion and rabbit jus; and tiramisu with orange ice cream.
The wine book, as thick as the Bible, contains over 800 entries. Among them are a Pouilly-Loché from Le Clos des Rocs (€5.20 per glass), a Chénas from Domaine de la Grand'Cour (€9.50), an Aligoté Burgundy from Coche-Dury (€41 per bottle), and a Fleurie from Domaine Chamonard (€59).
Lunch menus cost between €28 and €35 (except on Saturdays). Dinner menus cost between €70 and €105, and wine pairings add €45 and €55 to the price.