I have died and gone to coq au vin heaven! This restaurant pairs a beautiful, rustic setting with incredible food. You enter into the restaurant and find yourself whisked away into this cellar/cave like setting. We were seated and quickly ordered champagne for the table.
Our group did a 3 course menu for lunch. I started with escargot; which proved to be the most amazing snails that I've ever had. Rather than just the traditional butter base, these had prominent red wine flavor from the lovely local burgundy wines. Superb! And true to the rustic setting, I was tasked with using snail tongs and a snail fork, without having a Julia Roberts "Pretty Woman" incident. I did succeed, and enjoyed this amazing first course.
Onto the coq au vin, served with potatoes fried in duck fat. Wow. Served family style for our group, this rooster based coq au vin was excellent. Hearty, flavor packed and quite tender. The duck fat potatoes were crispy, full flavored, and excellent drenched in the coq au vin sauce. Paired alongside a lovely pinot noir, the entree was exceptional.
For dessert I chose the apple tart. It was sweet, not too sweet, with large apple slices on top. It wasn't the best tart I've had, but nice all the same.
I highly recommend visiting La Cellier Vonaysien if you are in the Beaune area. I hope to visit again! read more