In my 2nd last full day in Les Houches, the snow fairy still hadn’t arrived with her dusting of icing so we decided to take a day trip to Annecy. Y and M had previously passed through Annecy in the summer and found it to be a lovely town though during the drive M wryly noted that “wow, the landscape pretty much looks the same as it did in summer” … hence the reason we were not on the slopes and making this drive!
We started off around 10.30 am and made it to Annecy just in time for lunch. Perfect. The healthier ones amongst us suggested a walk around the lake before we indulged ourselves, which took us around the northern end of the shimmering Lake Annecy with the stunning French alps as the backdrop and the clearest water I’ve ever seen. It’s a lovely spot and evidently everyone else did too, judging by the number of local residents out for a trot with their kiddies or rugged up in their Sunday best fur coats. We crossed the Pont des Amours a Annecy (the Bridge of Love) and sauntered along, past the Merry Go Round back into the old town of Annecy.
But hungry stomached beckoned and more importantly, we needed to start our hunt for foie gras. I had spent a week in France and not a slice of my addiction - pan fried foie gras - had crossed my lips. There were quite a few “traditional” touristy French restaurants in Chamonix, with lots of fondue, onion soup and steak and fries on the menu but no foie gras. I had my taste buds tantalised a week earlier with foie gras pate. We’d found a really rich, fine, melt in your mouth version at the local supermarche “Shopi” which went deliciously well with those Melba toasts. But I needed to indulge myself with my favourite version; pan fried on a hot grill until medium rare and served with a sweet dressing.
That is when we stumbled L’atelier Gourmand. A quick glance at the menu, I think I yelped like an excited Amazing Race contestant, “we got a winner”!
We found ourselves seated in modernly furnished dining room decorated with interesting art pieces. However, it was the menu which drew our attention and we quickly found ourselves in a dilemna. The trilogy of foiegras or foie gras risotto? Ravioli with crab meat or seafood linguine? Foie gras risotta as a main or entree? Y selected the Loire Sancerre white for us and we sipped that in anticipation.
Foie gras risotto,
originally uploaded by choccis.
Beef carpaccio,
originally uploaded by choccis.
I eyed J’s entrée enviously which came as a generous hunk of pan fried foie gras nestled comfortably on a creamy, very subtly flavoured risotto. M's steak carppacio salad also looked (and apparently tasted) delicious. Y and I succumbed to the temptation of the trilogy of foie gras … which turned out to be almost too much foie gras (is there such a thing)! The pan fried foie gras was delicious - not the finest texture - but it went down very well with the spiced ginger toasts and onion chutney. The 2nd and 3rd parts to our trilogie included a very creamy foie gras terrine and a large slice of foie gras marinated in port or was it red wine (something was lost in translation).
Pan fried fish fillet with sauteed
cabbage and chorizon, L'atelier Gourmand,
originally uploaded by choccis.
My main course consisted of delicious lightly pan fried fillet with a creamy, buttery sauce with lots of rosemary and a hint of lemon, on some sautéed cabbage, topped with slices of chorizo (a nice contrast). Although I thought my chorizo was on the chewy side, everything complemented each other really well.
Our dessert? The et café au lai … and a walk back through the lovely old town of Annecy with cobblestone walkways.
Overall: 4/5 stars
Interesting reads on foie gras
- http://www.frenchselections.com/deco/foiefaq.hts - Everything there is to know about a foie gras
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras - If you want to know your types of foie gras preparations
- http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/?p=835 - Debate in the US re: foie gras which has lead to restaurants taking it off the menu in US
Debate or not - I can't wait to try pan frying the foie gras they are selling at Citysuper. Yum!
