L’Oustau de Baumanière, Les-Baux-de-Provence 3

On April 23 and 24, 2024, Linda and I returned to Baumanière for a two night stay. We dined at L’Oustau de Baumanière the first evening. This was our seventh meal there, but most of them were pre-blogging. We described our last meal, in 2020, as “superb.” 

We were seated in a corner of the dining room with a good view of other tables.

Linda started with a glass of Larmandier-Bernier Blanc de Noirs Champagne. I had a glass of the Baumaniére Brut Champagne   

There are à la carte listings only on the vegetable and dessert menus. We selected the Menu Balade without knowing what would be served. Of course, the servers described each dish as it was presented, but they were quite complex and we did not get it all or, much less, remember them. We were told that we would be given a Menu Souvenir at the end, but that turned out to be the cute sayings on the cards propped in front of us for each dish, which I have shown below.

After consultation with the sommelier, we ordered a bottle of 2020 Domaine du Monteillet “Chanson” Condrieu.

Excellent.

and a half-bottle of
2017 Chapoutier “Les Bécasses” Côte Rôtie.

The first course was presented with a postcard of a Brittany shore scene. (I thought of Fat Duck, but there was no audio.)
An oyster shell was filled with a cucumber/caviar purée:
a tartelette was filled with a salicorne, or sea bean, purée;
a macaron with black mussel pastry.

 

Un doubleure, mais ! sans beurre !
“ Vif “

A card like this was presented with each course on the faux olive stump holder. Bland bread with yellow and green olive oil for dipping was served. Various breads came with many of the courses. The bowl had a buttery mix of butternut squash and mango topped with pumpkin seeds. Not very interesting.

Le combat des Titans
« Humour «


Small crisp peas and good Schrenki caviar were presented with pea purée underneath on top of a chilled glass sphere with a dimple on top. Along side was a “blini” that did not seem like one. This was an excellent course. It was also the only one in this expensive menu which used a luxury ingredient. 

Tartine de sardines
“ Universel ”



A slice of toasted bread was presented in a faux wood toaster. Two strips of sardine pâté with a crisp head were served to spread on it. There was a bowl of an emulsion. 

Des grenouilles, notre biotope
“ imagé “

Frog legs were in a cream sauce topped with crisped shallots and rice..

Un bigorneau très très aimable
“ insolite “

Carrot and periwinkle, or sea snail, slices topped with shredded carrot were on two sauces: one of carrot and one of periwinkle. Not very appetizing.

Le rouget “inconcevable” ou “incontournable”

A crispy skinned filet of rouget, or red mullet, was dressed with a good sauce. Nice dish.

Agneau croute
“ Tradition “

The best known dish of the Oustau for a long time was the leg of lamb in a pastry shell. It is now served only on special prior request. This is its current evolution with ground lamb in a small, soggy crust on a brown sauce accompanied by a little salad.  

Kyrielle de fromages



The cheese cart was wheeled up to our table. There was a good varied selection. Our choices were local sheep cheeses. 

Fennel

Dessert à la carte
We selected from the à la carte menu.
Linda’s dessert was
The Millefeuille,
“Modernité
Baumanière tradition, light cream with Madagascar vanilla,
Florentine pistachio and vanilla ice cream


Good.

My dessert was
The Crepe,
“Historical soufflé, with Grand Marnier“
In memory of Monsieur Thuilier

The soufflé was cooked inside a crepe folded like a taco. Its texture and flavor were excellent. 

Mignardises et gourmandises
« Un sourire «

Jean-André Charial, is the owner of Baumanière, which was founded by his grandfather Raymond Thuilier in 1945. Glenn Viel has been the chef of L’Oustau since 2015, but M. Charial, now 78, is always present in his domain and frequently visits with diners. He came by our table to chat near the end of our meal. He was very interested and understanding of our disappointments with our meal and asked pertinent questions.

It is not evident why we were served such a disappointing meal. Chef Viel has been successful, regaining and retaining the third Michelin star. Our meal three and a half years before was excellent. One clue is that he is now in his third year on the jury of Top Chef France, where he gets good reviews for his liveliness. Last month Air France announced that he has created their new First Class menu. He was not present the evening we were at the Oustau. He may be looking to get accolades and press coverage for trendy creativeness while being distracted by celebrity ventures. This is a story to follow.  

https://www.baumaniere.com/en/gastronomy

To see our adventure at Baumanière in 2009 click here.

To see the meal we enjoyed at L’Oustau in October 2020 click here.