On our first night in Annecy, my wife and I were looking for something relatively close to the old city where we were staying. I made a reservation here, and I should note for the non-English speakers that this is definitely more of a restaurant that, although the waiters and the host speak a nominal amount of English, it is not all that much. Additionally, the menu was all in French...because we both have really rusty knowledge of French, we were able to figure out the general gist of what we were ordering, but if this is an issue - perhaps ask ahead of time if there is an English-language menu. Nonetheless, although the service was a little less attentive due to our lack of French fluency, the food came out in a fashion befitting a casual meal, and the waitress serving the bread was very eager to make sure we were never without any. With the decor that recalls an old-school European feel (similar to Bouley in New York City), you feel like you are eating in a cozy little home.
We ended up going a la carte here, but the tasting menu seemed to offer decent value in trying different things. Despite not having the prix fixe, we started out with an amuse bouche of some kind of cream infused with a root vegetable, topped with crispy bites of chorizo. It definitely looked heavier from the onset, but one of the things I really came to appreciate about the upscale spots in France is that they are able to dial back the heaviness of the cream and making a denser dish lighter. I did the scallops for my appetizer, with 5 small scallops served atop some lightly seared stalks of asparagus and served again in a light cream sauce. The scallops were a tad overcooked - a little more rubbery than I like - but it was still quite My wife went with the 'duck pie' (at least what Google Translate tells me), and it was absolutely delicious. The outside is a very thin, crispy dough, while inside is delicious duck meat and some pieces of seared foie gras slipped in as well. It is pretty hearty for an appetizer / starter, but it was delicious, especially served in what seemed like a sauce with a red wine reduction and infused with black truffles. The entrees were a bit more mixed. I got a veal filet mignon, and wow - what incredibly rich, succulent flavors that is a more more complex and nuanced than your standard filet. Served with a slightly crisped top (I think composed of nuts) that added a nice contrast in texture, this was my favorite dish of the night. My wife's sea bass or turbot (I forget exactly which) was pretty good as well, but it definitely stood out a bit less and seemed more like a run-of-the-mill dish than something special. We went with the chocolate souffle for dessert, but it was a tad dry, and it was a bit too airy for my liking, as the chocolate itself was not flavored very intensely.
That said, I really did enjoy the Old World feel of the restaurant, and I have to say that the meal, for the most part, did an absolutely fantastic job; it was just a couple slip-ups towards the end that cost it a fifth star in my view. That said, it definitely deserves the Michelin star it has, and I would definitely come back again, even if I did feel mildly out of place as a tourist (we were almost certainly the only folks who weren't French here). read more
