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At Last, a Table on the Terrace
In Reims, a Rare Leap for Seasonal Common Sens
REIMS, France - It was not the sort of comment I expected
to hear, even in 1998, in a compact village of 5,000
in rural France: A matronly woman walked into the epicerie
and spoke as the French are wont to do to no one in
particular and everyone in general. ''I looked through
all my cookbooks and couldn't find a recipe for escabeche
de sardines. So I found it on the Internet.''
As France modernizes in leaps and bounds, so does the
way it looks at food and dining. One area in which it
has been slowest to change is in understanding the joys
of dining outdoors. Oh, yes, we romantics may take the
Impressionist masterworks such as ''Le Dejeuner sur
l'Herbe'' or ''Le Moulin de la Galette'' as our vision
of bucolic outdoor life in France, but more often than
not, the reality is the opposite.
I have stopped counting the times I have reserved at
a restaurant with an outdoor terrace or garden, only
to find that although the day was perfectly gorgeous,
diners were shepherded indoors for no explicable reason.
So I was delighted recently when I arrived at the doors
of Elyane and Gerard Boyer's Les Crayeres - the Champagne
region's finest restaurant and one of the best dining
spots in France - to find that the entire dining room
had been moved to the chateau's flower-filled terrace.
One small step for mankind, one giant step for France.
A three-star restaurant serving outdoors? Bravo, les
Boyers!
Seated on the terrace of the 18th-century style chateau,
overlooking a seven-hectare park of multiple varieties
of trees, there is little to do but sip Champagne and
peruse Boyer's modern, well-conceived seasonal menu.
One will never go wrong with his signature saumon fume
a la minute - moist and tender morsels of fresh salmon
lightly and delicately smoked - teamed up with new spring
potatoes in their skins and bathed in a welcoming caviar
cream.
Who could not love a well-executed combination of roasted
lobster, delicate risotto and fresh green asparagus
points? Or a simple fillet of line-caught bar with crunchy
spring vegetables surrounded with a sauce of fresh black
truffles and deep green parsley sauce?
Boyer offers the tenderest noisette portion of the
lamb chop wrapped in crepinette, or caul fat, and matches
them with a rich puree of dates and foie gras. For artichoke
lovers, the filet of lamb is ''simply'' crusted with
finely minced black truffles then roasted, and offered
with a spring ''ragout'' of artichokes, basil, tomatoes,
herbs and olive oil.
Desserts are equally unfussy, seasonal and palate-friendly.
Try the fresh strawberries set atop an almond macaroon,
in a pool of pistachio cream; a soft nougat glace with
a honey and apricot sauce, or a low-calorie special
- a light ricotta mousse with fruits cooked in red wine
and topped with ginger jelly.
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And you can find out more about the Boyers at:
http://www.integra.fr/relaischateaux/crayeres/contact.htm
Les Crayeres, 74 Boulevard Henry Vasnier, 51100 Reims;
tel: 03-26-82-80-80; fax: 03-26-82-65-52.
email: crayeres@relaischateaux.fr.
Closed all day Monday and Tuesday for lunch; closed
Dec. 21 through Jan. 11.
Credit cards: American Express, Diners Club, Visa.
Menus: 907 and 1,067 francs, including service and wine.
A la carte: 650 to 720 francs, including service but
not wine.
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