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.

Next came a platter of aged and smoked fish, and we can see the dry-aging cabinet behind the chefs.

Dorade royal - the dourade was caught this morning.

Pagre - the seabream was aged for 7 days

Chinchard - the Mediterranean horse mackerel marinated with vinegar and salt, but I tasted more salt than acidity.

Mulet - the grey mullet was lightly smoked and aged for 6 days. The texture was drier and pretty nice.

The dipping sauce was made with citrus fruits.

Les huîtres cocktail, vinaigrette kosho yuzu - lots of acidity here. The oyster was pretty fat, and the yuzukosho (柚子胡椒) with the yuzu zest completely neutralized the fat, briny flavors.

We got some bread in case we needed something more filling.

La tartelette de thon rouge mariné, algue et caviar Français - I'm guessing the tart shell was made with seaweed? The tuna flavors were really nice, and I think there was a bit of crème fraîche at the bottom. Meanwhile the caviar delivered a big dose of salt.

Le maquereau mulet grillé, miel / gingembre - nice combination.

Loved the crispy skin, ahd the execution was on point so that the texture was just right.

L'encornet grillé, crème de tomate et encre noire - the squid ink sauce was pretty light thanks to citrus.

Love tentacles.

We got a piece of grilled yellow capsicum, which was the last of the season.

Le thon rouge mariné, piment à la fraise, piquillos et concombre - this was pretty nice, as the topping of shredded cucumber marinated with strawberries, mint, basil, and peppers was very refreshing.

Le pamplemousse tartare de mulet et basilic thaï - nice and light, thanks to the juicy grapefruit's acidity.

Of course, I just have to put it on bread...

Chawanmushi de tourteau, un petit lait au vinaigre de figue - underneath the foam was a creamy "soup" with tourteau crab, which had a creamy custard at the bottom.

While the tourteau crab was very tasty, I fond the whole thing just waaaay to rich, creamy, and heavy for me. While most dishes up to now have been fairly light, this felt like a sack of potatoes in my stomach...

Le merlu, crème à l'ail doux - this big hunk of line-caught European hake was very, very lovely. The texture was very soft and very fine. The cream sauce was very rich, but the garlic flavors were really nice.

We got some grilled vegetables, with eggplant, zucchini squash, and potatoes.

Noirmoutier is pretty famous for their potatoes, especially La Bonnotte. The potatoes are fertilized with seaweed, so the flavors are pretty unique.

Les coquillages beurre d'ail pimenté - the big eaters wanted more food, and I just nibbled on a couple of these.

I was pretty damn full, but Monsieur Croissant could never end a meal without dessert... so I joined him in tasting something.

Crème glacée à la vanille gousse, caramel fumé et fleur de sel - this would have been really tasty with just the vanilla cream, but when the smoked caramel is poured on top... OH LA LA!

I asked for un cafe express and it came with this thick cream on the side that was so, sooo delicious. They made it with Kamok, a coffee liqueur that is a specialty of the Vendée region. I ended up just downing the shot glass of the warm cream.

There was a little bit of alcohol involved at lunch...

Drappier Brut Nature - pretty easy to drink, and great with seafood thanks to zero dosage.

2018 Domaine de la Louvetrie La Haute Tradition Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie - pretty rounded on the palate. Texture and depth were OK.

I was really full. I was hoping for an easy lunch like most of the other patrons, but food just kept coming our way... Well, there are worse things in the world than being pampered by a world-famous chef!

It was time to take a break, so I grabbed my suitcase from the van and wheeled it about half a kilometer down Rue de la Linière to the room I rented for the next 2 nights. Time to grab a nap and rest up for tonight!