Restaurant Review: Michel Bras

Delayed post from Thursday October 14, 2010

route de l’aubrac - 12210 Laguiole, France
tasting menu for two + two bottles of wine <400 Euro

Bras, the first stop in southern France on our culinary tour. We flew from London to Toulouse in the early afternoon and arrived just after five. By the time we went through customs, collected our luggage, and sorted out the rental car, we had about three hours to make it to our hotel, check in, clean up, find the restaurant, and make it in time for our reservation. Our tom tom said the journey would take just over two hours, so if everything went right and there were no "hiccups" we should be okay. Lets just say we did encounter a few "hiccups" along the road, but in the end we made it just in time for our reservation.

After stopping in the small French town of Laguiole to ask for directions at the local holiday inn we did eventually find out that Bras was just outside of town atop a hill overlooking the village.  It was a ten minute drive down a very dark road until we saw a very small but bright sign for the restaurant.  It was quite dark when we arrived so initially when we pulled up to the restaurant and walked towards the front entrance we did not realize the beauty in our surroundings.  We did go back the next day to look around and take some photos in the light.

The tree on the right is a the famous tree that is the logo for the restaurant, and you can see the part of the lounge.  The restaurant sits atop a hill overlooking the village of Laguiole, but any photo did not really do it justice

This is the path leading up to the front door

Bras is very much a family operation, Michel Bras is the owner and executive chef but the kitchen is very much ran by his son Sebastien.  Sebastien's wife is the Maitre'd.  The family lives on the property for the six months of the year that the restaurant operates.  Right in the middle of the kitchen there a big table where the entire family eats everyday before serves.

We were greeted at the door by Sebastien wife as we came running in and apologized for how late we were.  Usually you would take a seat in the lounge to have a drink and an aperitif before being taken to your table, but because we were so late they sat us right away.  The decor of the restaurant had very strong Japanese influences.  Everything was very modern and sleek looking. From the lounge to the dinning room was a long hallway that had a tiny stream flowing along the left side that you cross over to enter the dinning room.  The dinning room was long with two rows of tables, smaller two tops in the back row and a row of larger tables in the front along the window.  Outside the dinning room was a garden and has a view of the town itself, but unfortunately it was too dark to really see anything.

One of the small bridges to crossover into the dinning room

We finally sat down after what seemed like a long day of travel.  I did not really eat much all day and was feeling quite hungry.  I was tired and hungry and I think I being a little short with Kathy but we made it and it was time to put that all aside and enjoy the excellent meal we were sure to have.

Bras is open during the summer months of the year.  There are a few reason for this, firstly, most of there vegetables, herbs, and eatable flowers, they grow themselves right outside the restaurant.  Secondly the menu is completely seasonal, and is completely dependant on local producers.  Lastly the running of Bras is a twenty four hour seven days a week, non stop operation.  They go to local markets every day around four in the morning to get the freshest and best products available, the spend all day preparing for the evenings service, and then the are in the kitchen till fairly late at night.    

The menu had an a la carte section as well as three different tasting menus.  I of course picked one of the tasting menus while Kathy decided that would be too much food for her and had the help picking a few signature dishes.  Next the Sommelier came over and he helped select a very nice Burgundy that he told us we would probably not find anywhere but in France.  Shortly after the Sommelier poured our wine the amuse bouche arrived.  There were three each.

Amuse bouche

I forgot my notebook and lost the little paper that I wrote down what these were on and I honestly do not remember what was in each they were very tasty though.  The menu was in French, so I am going to translate it as best I can.

aujourd'hui classique 

Gargouillou of young vegetables

with seeds and herbs, and eggnog groundnut

This was Kathy's first course as well as a signature dish of Michel Bras.  It is a essentially a salad made it of over forty five different vegetables, micro green, and fresh herbs, all fresh from the garden outside the restaurant and from the local market.  The dressing was made up of ground flower petals, it was like nothing I have ever tasted.

Dite Jake be Little

Squash filled with Shellfish: mussels, clams, clam bouillion, and cinnamon Magelan

This was my first course, it was various seafood poached in clam bouillion inside a baby pumpkin.  The seafood flavor was quite subtle and the taste of the fresh pumpkin and other vegetables really came through.

d'eau de source

Char stuffed with onions and turmeric

Young leek, and peas

This was my second course, char stuffed with various fresh vegetables.  The char itself was very fresh and was poached, the flavor was very delecate and again the promenant flavors in this dish were of the fresh vegetables.  

Chez nous, on l'appelle l'oreille

Pan fried beef purebred Aubrac

artichoke leaf and truffle juice

This was Kathy's main course, seared beef tenderloin in a in truffle juice with fresh artichoke and greens.  The beef was very tender and had a wonderful delicate flavor.  The truffle sauce was not over powering the way truffles can be and complemented the natural flavor of the beef very nicely.

sens dessus dessous tout le jardin

parsnip, mustard, lovage

in a chestnut paquette sauce

This was my main course, a similar dish to Kathy's accept my beef was only seared on one side and was in a different sauce.  There were a few different flavors in this dish but nothing was overpowering.

Les fromages de l'Aveyron & d'a cote

Kathy and I shared a selection of cheeses from the cheese cart which was quite impressive.  It focused mainly on locally produced cheeses, 

dite William

oven roasted Prunin pear & pumpkin/liquorice ice cream

parlin pumpkin seed & jelly kernel oil

canailleries des cornets graines au gre de nos envies 

Bras was a very impressive dining experience from start to finish.  No detail has been overlooked, from its scenic location and modern architecture to the seasonal fresh ingredients and menu planning.  You can tell that a tremendous amount of thought has been put into everything and that it is essentially a restaurant that the Chef Michel Bras has dreamt of opening his entire life.  His passion is what makes it such an unforgettable experience.  It is very much a family run operation, and his passion filters down.  I would highly recommend visiting Bras, out of all the restaurants I went to it ranks quite high, and it would be one that I myself would definitely try to return to one day.