La Bergerie, Aragon, France and Michelin stars
If you've read my holiday blog/journal you will have already seen me praise this lovely place in the French countryside. We dined there twice in our week in Aragon.
At some point in the proceedings we said something about it being worthy of a Michelin star to the waitress/co-owner, Priscilla, who muttered something along the lines of being better off without one. And as we walked out we saw a book - the Michelin book for I'm not sure which year, with a photograph and profile of the chef - Fabien Galibert - which is when we realised that at some point - I think around 2009 - they did indeed have a Michelin star, but at some point thereafter they lost it. Or maybe they gave it back. Michelin says you cannot give back your star - but apparently quite a few chefs have - including Skye Gyngell, the only one whose name I recognised.
So I thought I would look a little more closely at this lovely restaurant and also at the Michelin star system. The lady in the photograph by the way is Priscilla - the chef's wife, chief waiter/sommelier and co-owner of the hotel which houses the restaurant. Her service, was friendly, knowledgeable and impeccable - you always had what you needed without needing to ask. And her husband the chef also occasionally popped out of the kitchen, to get feedback I think - he didn't say who he was - but now that I see the photo it was indeed he. I asked if he was the chef and he said something along the lines of 'helping out'. He was a lovely guy.
With respect to this particular restaurant I checked out a few old reviews and found that the menu used to be rather more elaborate than it is now - a proper dégustation menu of several courses and that it changed every six weeks and was rather more expensive than today's offerings. Nowadays the menu changes each week - one week fish, one week meat, and consists of three main courses, with a snacky thing to begin with (shown below), and an amuse-bouche in addition. All for 30 euros plus wine!
And you can have three matched, generous, glasses of truly excellent local wine for just an extra 15 euros. For food and wine of the quality we were presented with this is truly exceptional value. You can also order cassoulet 48 hours in advance - and if you are staying in the hotel you will get a different meal every night. And it's a three star hotel in the Logis chain, so not horrendously expensive either.
I'm guessing they had the Michelin star when they had the complicated dégustation menu. I gather from my reading on how Michelin stars are awarded the prime qualities that Michelin inspectors are looking for are consistency, skill and innovation. They say that the environment and service are not factors, but I have to say I find this is hard to believe. Consistency, apparently, is particularly difficult as it means that there is a temptation to just churn out the same old food all the time for fear of losing the star or stars. And people put a lot of kudos on Michelin stars. One chef shot himself when he lost one of his three, and many have been devastated. For Michelin stars mean you are likely to get much more business and your reputation is ensured. So they are important. But maybe Fabien got fed up with cooking that kind of food night after night and the same thing also for a longer period. Maybe he prefers to change each week and try something new. And then the setting was very nice but not elaborate - no white linen tablecloths, no silver service - but classy glasses and cutlery, the butter was shaped like a sheep (La Bergerie is a french word for a sheepfold - a place where sheep were kept) and the tables were well-spaced. And, as I said before, the service was top notch. I suspect that the service also was much more elaborate in the past and depended more on other staff.
The reason we went there originally was that it was Mike and Sue's Golden Wedding anniversary the day we arrived in Aragon. I had wanted to find somewhere special that we could go to celebrate and so I started looking for suitable - potentially Michelin starred restaurants in the area. There were another two in Carcassonne itself but I didn't think David would fancy driving there at night. Also the menus looked really elaborate and not all that tempting - and Mike and Sue had already said they didn't want fancy. And then I found one at Lastours - a half hour's drive away - but I thought we could do lunch instead of dinner as it seemed to be a lovely setting. And so I sent an email to book in - and then another - for I got no reply - and neither did I get one from my second email. So I gave up. Just as well probably, because when we went to their cheaper and unstarred bistro for lunch the service was truly terrible - though the food was good. So I checked out the menu for La Bergerie and made a booking online that was promptly and politely confirmed. After all it was on our doorstep - almost literally - we could see it from our house. So David could probably drink with a fair degree of impunity too. We were not disappointed. It was perfect. Just the right amount of fanciness - if that is the word to use - and everything delicious. The amuse-bouche of a cold asparagus soup with some crispy duck at the bottom of the small glass, was truly the essence of asparagus. We were so impressed that we booked for another meal on Mike and Sue's last night.
So if you are ever in the area of Carcassonne do pay it a visit. They do lunch too - and you can also stay at the hotel. No meals on Sunday and Monday though. Well it is France. No doubt if you are staying at the hotel you will get fed.
In my lifetime I have not eaten at many Michelin starred restaurants - indeed only one I think - Paul Bocuse in Lyon. A very memorable if much more expensive experience. The food was exquisite - but if I think about it, probably not that adventurous - just quality ingredients superbly cooked with all of that fancy service that I spoke about before. That was a three-star Michelin experience. Would I recommend it? Well yes - but in a way it would be more for the ambience which was over the top plush.
Michelin does not 'do' Australia, so I have no idea whether any of our restaurants would warrant a star or two or three. Very probably - and I have to say that Vue de Monde and Grossi Florentino would be up there - and others that no longer exist too - Fanny's, John Smith's for a start. But nowadays we probably tend to rely on sites such as Trip Advisor and Urban Spoon for our recommendations - and the Age Good Food Guide, which I used to buy religiously but no longer do because we don't dine out that often.
And a final word on Michelin. I do find that if a restaurant is in the Michelin guide it will be worth visiting. They don't all have stars, but they can be absolute gems - like La Bergerie - for it's still a Michelin restaurant - just with no star. Two others from the past are Le Fin de Siècle in Cavaillon, and Umami in L'Isle sur la Sorgue. These are the ones that spring to mind, but there have been others. I don't think we have ever been disappointed with their recommendations.
