An overnight stay at Michel Bras came about earlier last month in the middle of a return to the Loire [overnight Domaine des Hauts de Loire], thence overnight to Chateau de la Treyne at Lacave en route to Spain and the Hotel Mas de Torrent near Girona for 7 nights before returning via Laguiole to Michel Bras and on to the Domaine des Hauts de Loire for two final nights before taking the tunnel home to London.
We enjoyed our stay at Bras but anticipation fuelled by the comments of others had probably raised our expectations to unreasonable levels bearing in mind that the bar had already been set exceptionally high by visits and stays over many years to the vast majority of the Michelin 2* and 3* restaurants outside Paris as well as several in the capital.
While the food was of high quality and well-presented [3 extensive menus are offered but we ate a la carte not wanting more than 3 courses and I have added photographs below] the rather clinical ambiance of the very modern building seemed to add an air of the formality to the evening despite the fact that we appeared to be the only foreigners in a completely full restaurant. Usually a restaurant full of the French, even if not locals, provides an attractive buzz of enjoyment and interest but I realise that one cannot assume that, despite being full, this restaurant is always as subdued as it seemed to be that evening.
The building is extraordinary , seemingly carved into a hillside some miles outside Laguiole which can be seen in the distance. Our big, very modern and well-equipped bedroom had large, insulated sliding doors at one end that opened onto a private terrace at ground level with fields immediately adjacent.
Amusingly as we unpacked what we needed for the evening and following day there was a quite loud tinkling noise which I took for wind chimes although it quickly became evident that they were cow bells attached to Aubrac cattle that were feeding in the field a few yards away.
Fortunately the sliding doors were fully capable of completely excluding the sound but in any case the cattle had disappeared by the time bed called.
We had aperitifs, Deutz Rose served with an interesting egg canapé in its shell, in the futuristic glass structure [the bridge on a space ship?] on the front of the hotel/restaurant before being taken through to the long dining room with a smaller separate area at the far end used for breakfast and, I assume, private dinner and lunch parties.
Although I had initially asked for a gin and tonic for myself, oddly no gins were available that I recognised, not even Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire or Gordons and certainly no Fever Tree which our Spanish hotel was pleased to provide, so gladly settled for the fizz.
Before seating us they kindly asked if we would like to see the kitchens which we did and having been shown around we were taken to our window table.
The classic gargouillou salad of young vegetables, seeds and herbs, eggnog with elder flower.
This was very pretty and interesting to eat but, while I do not regret the experience, there are many other starters which I prefer. I suspect I would have preferred Susan’s lobster starter [next] which she enjoyed but also has recent memories of even more enjoyable lobster starters.
OTOH she had loved her salad starter at Les Crayeres in July so perhaps we should have swapped.
Lobster starter the lobster in the yellow peppers
Pigeon breast with confit legs
This was very good but for me not quite as tasty or as well presented as the Pigeon at Cote St. Jacques in July and no better than the simpler dish at the Domaine des Hauts de Loire.
Purebred Aubrac beef: roasted and braised; vegetable of the day; Comprégnac truffle juice.
This was Susan’s dish and the beef was superb although far too much and the vegetables were somewhat disappointing
Fig Dessert.
Susan rated this as exceptional and a real treat. One of the two best desserts in our July/August and September trips but also in her top all-time ranking.
I opted for cheese from the trolley which provided some excellent local varieties but a surprisingly small choice from rest of France.
We had a good bottle of Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre with the meal but while this and other wines would have been far more expensive at home in a similar restaurant I could not find the relative bargains I have previously found in lists at e.g. Troisgros [Coche-Dury Meursault Les Enseignères ] and Cote St. Jacques [Raveneau GC Valmur].
Michel Bras hotel/restaurant taken from below on the road over a mile away.
The glass viewing structure where pre-meal aperitifs are usually taken and the menus and wine list studied
The restaurant
We had arrived from Spain fairly early and wandered around the town looking at the knives for which it is famous but quickly found that these are knives for eating with rather than preparing food. We probably have more than enough of both and felt that the special Japanese food-preparation ones for sale at Bras were simply too expensive and probably available less expensively without the branding in the UK.
However Bras’s sommelier Sergio’s shop proved much more interesting and despite having had to leave some cases of wine to pick-up from the cellars of the Domaine des Hauts de Loire from our July/Aug visit I could not resist buying some Raveneau and Puffeney at attractive prices. There was plenty more of similar interest.
We left after a good breakfast [most of the other residents clearly preferred breakfast in their rooms] and had thankfully made it off the mountains to the motorway before the morning became as dark as night and the heavens opened and brought the entire motorway literally to a full stop such was the volume and intensity of the downpour. Our somewhat delayed return to our favourite Loire hotel was like going home.
If any here are interested in a similar report of our July/August visit to Les Crayeres, Reims, Cote St. Jacques, Joigny and the Domaine des Hauts de Loire please let me know.