The view from La Réserve Ramatuelle
Cuisine: French gourmet, mediterranean
Visit: July 2012
Price: Very high
Chef: The chef Eric Canino is known as one of the pioneers of healthy French cuisine. In the fashion of the legendary three-Michelin chef Allain Ducasse, he also tries to create light and intensely flavored dishes. Canino goes as far as not using butter and other animal fats in his cooking. Only Mediterranean olive oil is used and in desserts he prefers raw sugar to refined.
Light appetizer
Atmosphere: Calm, meditative and fresh.
The luxurious hotel La Réserve Ramatuelle has recently claimed the highest recognition a hotel in France can claim – the status of a Palace. The hotel is located on a stunning property with views across a calming bay right behind the busy beaches of Pamplone. The views can be appreciated the most from the hotel’s roof bar. The restaurant itself has nice vista through the large glass windows inside, but the terrace is more secluded offering peaceful dining experience. The smart modern architecture respecting its surrounding natural environment is refreshing and light.
Food: In the same spirit of freshness and lightness is build the restaurant’s menu. Generally low in calories and looking fabulous as those consuming this kind of food often embrace in their daily routine. Balancing a low-calorie meal though is challenging. There are some chefs achieving excellent flavors in not-fattening dishes. For example Patrick Raingeard currently at Riviera’s Cap d’Estel restaurant is master of light and delicious cooking. Unfortunately, the chef Eric Canino is not one of them. As far as my last dining experience goes, the only tasty thing from the entire dinner was a cheese plate we had to order to add some satisfying flavor to our evening meal. For clarity, I am a big fan of healthy food – fruits, vegetables, vegetal fats and fish are on my daily menu – but it must taste good.
Lobster carpaccio
My appetizer of Fresh Tomatoes and Strawberries was almost flavorless and tasted weird with the tomatoes having an off-feel. Although, the dish looked amazing, with tomato gazpacho on the side, a plate crowned with strawberries and crystalized petals on a bed of chopped tomatoes fixed in a fine jelly, I could not finish it, because of how bad it was. As luck would have it, we ordered a nice bottle of red wine, so I sipped on it biting into a piece of bread dipped in olive oil. The bread was quite nice, but far from even getting close to the excellent oven-roasted bread from Le Club 55 on the beach near St Tropez.
Tasting the Blue Lobster Carpaccio from my partner was a bit more pleasant for my taste buds, yet I have had so many better lobsters in nearby St Tropez (at The Strand, L’Escale), that I would not drive to La Réserve in Ramatuelle to have it. For €60 it was not worth it and in the end even not worth the calories as one could eat something else instead.
A slightly better was the Langoustines from Brittany. Served both raw and cooked with side portions of beetroot and seasonal mushroom mille feuilles and a tiny stroke of Rhubarb dressing, they looked like a piece of art one would hang on a wall. The langoustines were nice, soft, but not overwhelming with richness of flavors. The cooked pieces were better than the raw tartar “bejewelled” with flowers like a child’s creation on a play field.
Langoustine
The main courses were not much of an upgrade in terms of joy for our palates. Moreover, the Squids cooked in olive oil, stuffed with prawns and ginger, vegetables and all mixed up like a paella in rice looked much less appealing. It was a very average dish, but I would rather had that one on the streets of Barcelona then at a gastronomic restaurant paying double for it.
Disappointed and desperate for some tasty food, we ordered a plate of cheese. Finally we got something bursting with flavors! The only drawback was the restaurant’s service as we were served the cheese plate without any bread. After a while trying to catch our waiter, we got a piece of the same bread we had with the olive oil before. Well, one could only dream about some crisp English crackers or a selection of fruit bread, both so perfect with a good cheese.
Cheese plate at La Réserve Ramatuelle
Drinks: Getting an aperitif at a bar had turned for me into having an after-meal drink instead. I had ordered a glass of Hungarian Furmint served as one of the three wines by the glass. Praising the dry Furmints I had during my trip in Budapest years ago in front of the waiter as I was ordering, I expected to enjoy a nice crisp and refreshing wine. Yet, when I sipped the sweet sensation I knew that this was something to have with a cheese or dessert after one’s meal and not before. So I had it – a dessert before the dinner. I can see my father scratching his head, as it was him, who had always warned us kids from having sweets before eating lunch or dinner.
The wine list at the restaurant is good though. The owner of the hotel also owns Chateau Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux and a winery in Tokaji so the list had some interesting pieces from his properties. Otherwise, the list was focused on French wines. We went for a lovely Gevrey-Chambertin from Burgundy. It had almost 12 years in the bottle so it was well mature and I dare to say in its peak. It was balanced and concentrated, but not the best match for our seafood and vegetable dishes. A great wine though so it was a pleasure to drink it on its own.
Opening hours: Lunch: from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm ; Dinner: from 07:30 pm to 10:00 pm (also a buffet breakfast for hotel guests)
Contact: +33 4 94 44 94 44
Address: Chemin de la Quessine; 83350 Ramatuelle, France
Leave a Reply