Three 3 stars in France day 7: simpler, lighter, better

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We're back at La Marine tonight. When I first thought about joining this excursion, I didn't quite understand when I was told that Geruhage was coming for 2 dinners. Well, Alexandre Couillon promised to cook him (and us) a different menu for the second night, so I was very curious what would be in store for us tonight.

Our table tonight was all the way in the back of the restaurant facing the garden, which afforded us some natural light while the sun was still out.

The starters we had were mostly the same as last night:

"Eau de tomate", infusion aux feuilles de tagète - once again, we start with this refreshing drink that combines acidity, umami, and sweetness.

Ventrèche de thon - cured with salt and sugar, then lightly seared on the outside. So... basically like Japanese tataki (たたき)... where it's still raw inside. Very nice.

Three 3 stars in France day 7: a look around the island

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Nights are certainly quiet here on Noirmoutier, and while I would have loved to spend an idyllic morning enjoying the island breeze, there was work to be done... so I stayed in my AirB and B room this morning and hit the keyboard. I still had some strawberries leftover from the box I bought in Paris, plus some Roscoff onion-flavored potato chips, so that was kind of my breakfast. I do need some caffeine to kickstart the day, and thankfully I had brought along Ta Vie 旅's coffee from Simple Kaffa. So I sat on the deck outside my room and enjoyed the breeze for a little bit...

Three 3 stars in France day 6: the pearl of Noirmoutier

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A few hours after stuffing our faces next door, I showed up at the front door to La Marine - the destination restaurant with 3 macarons run by the Couillon family on the site of the former establishment operated by Alexandre's parents. Apparently this place has seen a major revamp, where the kitchen now faces the harbor and anyone passing by outside can get a peek into the action through the windows. The dining area has been relocated to the rear of the restaurant with a view of the gardens. And visitors are now asked to wait in the foyer, where they get to watch a beautiful introductory video that would have cost a pretty penny to produce.

Céline greeted us at the door and led us to our table. We were also looked after by Vincent, who had actually spent time in Hong Kong at a bistro I never had to pleasure of patronizing. Thirsty from the 80-meter walk from his hotel room around the corner, Geruhage immediately asked Vincent for a glass of Champagne...

We began our meal with a handful of starters, prepping our stomachs for the bigger things coming our way:

"Eau de tomate", infusion aux feuilles de tagète - no surprise here that there's plenty of umami, but we've also got sweetness. This was so refreshing!

Three 3 stars in France day 6: a trip to the island

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I'm taking an early morning train ride again. I checked out of Novotel Paris Centre Gare Montparnasse and rolled my suitcase downhill to Gare Montparnasse. I don't have the leftover bread for Frédéric Lalos, and I got to the station a little too late to grab some kouign amann from Yann Couvreur, so... no brekkie for me this morning.

I met up with Geruhage and Tomo-chan after getting off the train at Gare de Nantes, and after a quick stop at Paul for coffee, we ran into Monsieur Croissant while on the way to collect the rental van. We're so lucky to have a chauffeur for our road trip to Noirmoutier...

As it's just before noon, the high was still too high for us to make the crossing on the Passage du Gois... so we had to get on the island by driving across the Pont de Noirmoutier - making our journey slightly longer. Eventually, though, we arrived at the northwestern tip of the island and parked the van right in front of the Port de l'Herbaudière.

Lunch today is at Élise, Poisson et Braise - the casual eatery run by Alexandre Couillon and family right next to their famed 3-macaron restaurant. We were warmly welcomed by Alexandre's wife Céline and their daughter Emma. We were seated in the middle of the long counter, and food just started arriving in quick succession...

Gazpacho - made with tomatoes from the garden.

Three 3 stars in France day 5: dinner at granny's

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Tonight's dinner was at Geoélia, the (relatively) new restaurant opened last summer by Chef Camille Saint-M'leux - replacing the Parisien institution that was the Chinese restaurant Tang. The restaurant is, apparently, named after the boat owned by the chef's grandparents. Geruhage was already familiar with the chef, and I was just happy to tag along, once again.

Chef Camille very kindly offered us a glass of bubbly to start.

JM Sélèque Solessence, dégorgée en Decembre 2024 - as expected with this winemaker, the acidity was on the high side.

Gougéres - always happy to see these. Great to nibble on when you're hungry, and they go so well with Champagne.