| |
 |
|
A Little Touch of Heaven
VALENCE - If God is in the details, then dining at
Anne-Sophie's family restaurant, Pic, is a like a little
touch of heaven. I spent the morning with her the other
day, roaming through the vast and airy new ground floor
kitchens, where she and some 15 other chefs work with
diligence, attentiveness, and discipline, creating a
modern style of cuisine that reminds one instantly of
the detailed, complex cuisine of Joel Robuchon and Pierre
Gagnaire.
This was my first visit in two years, and as Anne-Sophie
herself is aware, she has grown immensely in this time,
both in her style of cooking and in the way she runs
her kitchen. Now 32 years old, this tiny fireball of
a chef says she has also softened. No matter how you
call it, it's not easy to be the lady boss in a super-macho
world of classic French kitchens. She clearly treats
her mostly male staff with gentle, sincere respect,
and it sure seems to pay off.
Instantly, what I most loved about her current mode
is the way she manages to weave just about every seasonal
and local ingredient into her menu, whether it's peaches
from the Drome, ratatouille vegetables from the nearby
farmer's market, all manner of Provencal herbs, summery
purple figs, or raspberries served with an ice cream
made from the local wild mint, known as melisse. Her
vegetable tempura uses no less than eggplant, red bell
peppers, zucchini and summer savory, while plump local
pigeon is coated with a luscious mixture of crushed
walnuts, sweet butter and toasted bread crumbs, all
seasoned with Maldon sea salt, its crystals revered
for their special crunch.
A treat of the day was a visit to the modern, underground,
air-conditioned wine cellar, where sommelier Denis Bertrand
gave me free reign, as I poked and peered through the
aisles, selecting for lunch an array of wines I knew
of but had never tasted. The cellar is a wine-lover's
candy store, with a treasure trove of wines, specializing
of course in those of the Rhone. All the great Chateauneuf
du Pape are there, from Beaucastel to Rayas to Vieux
Telegraph, La Janasse and La Nerthe and on to Paul Avril's
Clos des Papes. Names such as Chapoutier, Chave, Guigal,
Vernay, Delorme appear as old, close friends. But the
most exciting for me was the ability to share in their
own regional discoveries, such as the fine elegant,
Grenache-based red Vacqueyras Montirius 1997, like a
rich confit of fruit redolent of blackberries and blueberries,
and two outstanding unknown whites, including a 100%
Roussanne from Domaine le Serre in Condorcet near Nyons,
and a Vinsobres Chaume-Arnaud (a Marsanne, Roussane,
Viognier blend) that taste of pure apricot kernels.
For my palate and my money, some of the best buys on
the list come from winemaker Michele Laurent, whose
varied clean, Côtes-du-Rhône wines that
taste of pure fruit are my favorite flavors of the day.
Try, for sure, the 1996 La Sagesse, a blend of 95% Grenache
and 5% Syrah: It is for sure one of the purest wines
I know, round, mellow, velvety, with a flirty, flattering
silkiness. And it is honestly priced at 45 €.
Anne-Sophie's starters alone would serve as lunch for
most of us on a given day. Miniature phyllo rolls are
filled with a rich guacamole, while classic tiny meatball-like
caillettes have that rich saltiness that make us truly
salivate. Her rosemary sablets are a simple touch of
brilliance, while piquant anchovies find their way into
pastry-wrapped mini-mouthfuls.
Outstanding main course of the day include the pigeon,
served with a fitting garnish of thinly sliced, butter-cooked
potatoes, and purple figs roasted in sweet Banyuls wine;
and the giant meaty langoustines (this not from Provence,
but of course Brittany) paired with a stunning, intensely
flavored fresh peach chutney, heightened with white
wine, vinegar and a touch of fresh ginger. Equally inventive
and inviting is the baby pig, or porcelet, the ribs
simply roasted, with the cheeks turned into a soothing
confit laced with a touch of licorice. All this was
paired with a garnish of wild girolles mushrooms, a
tasty ragout of the plump white fresh beans from Mollans-sur-Ouveze
in the Drome Provencal, a crispy potato tuile and paper-thin
slices of crusty, bacon-like ventreche.
There were moments in the day that I felt that Anne-Sophie
was training for a marathon run, as though piling on
practice miles - rather than seeing the finish line
--- seemed to be the immediate goal. She is clearly
in a frenzy of composition and I fear that sometimes
a touch of taste is lost during all the arranging and
creating. While her complex quartet of eggplant seemed
astonishing in the kitchen, it had less punch at the
table, and the dish would have been better with a little
editing.
But all of this is done for the good of us, the diner,
for she does win out on the end, not in just pure presentation,
energy, intellectualism, but in the fact that we all
left as very satisfied customers.
Pic
285 boulevard Victor Hugo
26000 Valence
tel:
04 75 44 15 32
fax: 04 75 40 96 03.
Internet: www.pic-valence.com
Closed two weeks in January, Sunday evening, Tuesday
lunch, and Monday from November to March. Menus at 99
and 120 €. A la carte, 90 to 215 €, including
service but not wine.
|
