Today, somewhere in the world, living a Travelife, we went to a famous restaurant with the designation of “Grand Chef” by the Relais & Chateaux group.
The “Grand Chef”designation is given to restaurants within the Relais & Chateaux group that serve excellent food and provide top caliber service.
These are truly special establishments, in general.
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Last month, in Spain and France, many of the restaurants we booked had Michelin stars and were shortlisted on the list of world’s best restaurants by S. Pellegrino.
Most of them were also Grand Chef establishments.
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| This starter of a cold peach soup was supposed to enhance our metabolism and circulation |
However, today’s Grand Chef restaurant is slightly incongruous.
It’s an institution in the city it’s located in, and it’s been around for a very long time.
When I’m in this city, I try to eat here when there’s an opportunity as it’s always a nice meal, albeit not a very cheap one.
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| The dessert for our anti-aging lunch today consisted of a pineapple tart and coconut ice cream with caramel sauce |
The handful of times I’ve eaten here, I’ve always had very good experiences in terms of food and service.
Everything is beautifully done, albeit in the classic style rather than the contemporary and rather experimental cooking style so in favour these days.
So I would not hesitate to recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a good dining experience — especially if you like Old World types of establishments.
TRAVELIFE WITH US
The interesting thing about this restaurant is that it doesn’t have even one Michelin star, in spite of its many accolades.
The chef himself is very famous.
I remember how this shocked a lot of people at first, as it became a given that this restaurant would get stars. However, to my knowledge, it’s never gotten a star.
Personally, I think this restaurant deserves at least one star, if not two — and I always can’t help wondering how the chef feels about his exclusion from the Guide Michelin, whenever I eat here. Of course, many people may argue that stars are immaterial. However, stars do bring in more clients.
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| This was the fish course. It was sautéed and then finished off in a grill, and the drizzled with balsamic and served with seaweed. Superb. |
Today, the food was excellent, as usual, and the plating was lovely.
We went here to sample an innovative menu they’re offering, which they’re labelling as “anti-aging.” This menu is so in line with my summer of fitness and renewal.
The six-course meal is supposed to be good for the skin and for blood circulation, which — according to their literature — are two things you must address if you are concerned about anti-aging.
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| This was the amuse bouche of our anti-aging menu. I posted it on Instagram earlier, and someone made a joke about how it looks appropriate for someone who’s hungry. |
The menu had a fish and meat course, and both were truly excellent. In fact, both courses were so good that I would gladly have ordered seconds.
We left very satisfied with our meal.
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| This meat dish was so good I wanted to have seconds |
As for the anti-aging effect, well, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be some results from this wonderful lunch on just another interesting day in my never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.
