This post is the first of a series from our last vacation in France and Italy.
The lomo is veal and we asked not to have any, request that they accommodated without any problem, making this dish vegetarian. It was very refreshing, with a sort of tomato salad on one hand and a delicious and refreshing gazpacho on the other, without forgetting the tomato spread on top. Nice red matching the color of the restaurant!
Ok, I admit that a translation will be difficult...It was seared salmon with a hazelnut and soy sauce, roasted cherry tomatoes and zucchini. It was delicious: the fish was perfectly cooked, rare in the center and paired perfectly with the hazelnut and soy sauce for an added saltiness and nutiness.
For a first celebration of my Dad's birthday, we went to Les Jardins de Sainte-Cécile in Grenoble, a restaurant located in an old convent.
Interesting place for sure: it is the home office of the Edition Glénat, a popular French editor, and has been complemented recently with the restaurant, where the Chef and his crew refined classic dishes.
The decor is pretty amazing, the convent being modernized in a way, with the red and black theme used for the chairs, chandeliers as well as the walls covered with wine bottles, giving a feel of both trendy, but still classic restaurant.
The wine cellar is located downstairs, where I could not miss the bottles of Coca Cola...
But, one of their main assets is definitely the garden, that is of a nice size, allowing for tables not to be too close to the others.
The only negative was the service that was not to the level you would expect in such restaurant: very slow, a bit clumsy and missing manners that you would expect anyway in any places. Fortunately, the food was pretty good, original and the presentation was sublime.
We started off with an apéritif. Jodi ordered an orangina, and I decided to try a Spritz, a Northeast Italian wine cocktail. It was made with Campari and some carbonated water. No prosecco.
Then, Jodi ordered the Déclinaison de tomate, pétales de lomo, croquant au parmesan:
The lomo is veal and we asked not to have any, request that they accommodated without any problem, making this dish vegetarian. It was very refreshing, with a sort of tomato salad on one hand and a delicious and refreshing gazpacho on the other, without forgetting the tomato spread on top. Nice red matching the color of the restaurant!
On my side, I ordered the Dôme de foie gras, cœur de chutney de fruits, tressé de chocolat that is a foie gras with a fruit chutney in the center and a chocolate dome.
Very creative: I never had foie gras with chocolate. It is fairly common to eat foie gras with a chutney like fig and to drink it with a sweet wine, but I have never seen it with chocolate. The difficulty there was to make sure we did not put too much chocolate as it would overpower the foie gras otherwise.
For the entree, Jodi ordered the chaud-froid de saumon mi-cuit, sauce noisette et soja, oignons rouges, tomates cerises rôties, chemisée de courgettes:
Ok, I admit that a translation will be difficult...It was seared salmon with a hazelnut and soy sauce, roasted cherry tomatoes and zucchini. It was delicious: the fish was perfectly cooked, rare in the center and paired perfectly with the hazelnut and soy sauce for an added saltiness and nutiness.
On my side, I ordered the Filet de bœuf en croute roulade d’herbes et blettes, Poêlée d’asperges en deux façons.
It is like a beef Wellington in a way, except that there is no foie gras and mushroom between the meat and the puff pastry, but spinach.
The meat, that was tenderloin, was as expected, rear, the temperature of such dish being driven by the color of the puff pastry. It was fantastic: juicy and tender, I loved the combination of the meat with the puff pastry, the latter adding a nice buttery flavor to the dish.
The meat, that was tenderloin, was as expected, rear, the temperature of such dish being driven by the color of the puff pastry. It was fantastic: juicy and tender, I loved the combination of the meat with the puff pastry, the latter adding a nice buttery flavor to the dish.
For dessert, Jodi ordered the Chaud froid meringué dans sa nage de fruits rouges that was a meringue in a red fruit soup.
On my side, I ordered the Croquant coco pistaché, crème acidulée, boule de neige givrée aux citrons verts.
It was supposed to be a croquant of coconut and pistachio with a lime ice cream. I loved the latter, but not the croquant part that was not at all what I expected: not crunchy, I did not like the flavor that did not really taste like coconut. I for sure preferred Jodi's dessert that was phenomenal: not too sweet, it was very refreshing and a great combination.
We of course finished our meal with an espresso.
It was definitely a good meal, a bit pricey though. If they work out the kinks in the service, this will definitely be one of the gastronomic destinations in Grenoble.
Enjoy (I did)!
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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!
And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!
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