Plate With A View: Michel Bras Laguiole, France
By Natasha Edwards
Published: 09 July 2005 by Independent.co.uk
THE PLATE
...is a gastronomic pilgrimage to the rugged Aubrac plateau, where Michel Bras now runs his restaurant in partnership with his son Stéphane. The startlingly modern building may come as a surprise, but it symbolises the meeting of deepest France and Bras' other great love, Japan, in its mineral, minimalist aesthetic: granite, slate, basalt, glass, steel and a stream running through the restaurant.
Like the setting, the cuisine is rural but far from rustic. Bras was one of the pioneers of the go-out-and-pick-it movement, gathering wild herbs and rediscovering local plants. However, his use of them is sophisticated and subtle. A langoustine split open and garnished with an Aubrac-style combination of finely chopped broad beans and country sausage is laid out on a rectangle of black volcanic stone, while the "gargouillou" of young vegetables and herbs shows just how good something ostensibly simple can be when each element is perfectly judged.
Another Bras classic is the "chocolat coulant", with just a hint of crispness on the outside, a melting liquid current in the middle. Other courses might include foie gras, roast lamb and in tribute to Aveyron tradition, a bowl of aligot (mashed potato with fresh tomme cheese).
French haute-cuisine has a reputation for being stuffy. Here, although a meal is undoubtedly a special occasion, it is also fun, from the nostalgia of the soft scrambled egg, served in its shell with a fried-bread finger, and the ice lollies and candy-floss accompanying dessert, to the poppadom-style toasts that look like rusty iron.
THE VIEW
...is an intrinsic part of eating here. Bras' cooking is intimately linked to the landscape. Through the angled-glass façade of the dining room, look out on to windswept mountain grass, granite boulders and clumps of wild daffodils for an insight into the environment that has so shaped Bras' cuisine.
You can prolong the nature trip with an after-lunch walk on the footpath around the restaurant. Don't miss the other essential view, either: through the glass doors into the kitchen, for the sight of chefs immersed in their work and vegetables, each one more pristine and perfect than the last, picked up at Rodez market at 5am and arranged like a still life as the inspiration of the day.
THE BILL
There are menus at €52 (£37) (for the weekday lunch only), €95 (£68)and €152 (£109). These sums may sound rather a lot, but this is a three-star Michelin-rated restaurant with cooking as memorable as it comes.
Hôtel Restaurant Michel Bras, route de l'Aubrac, 12210 Laguiole, France (00 33 5 65 51 18 20;
THE PLATE
...is a gastronomic pilgrimage to the rugged Aubrac plateau, where Michel Bras now runs his restaurant in partnership with his son Stéphane. The startlingly modern building may come as a surprise, but it symbolises the meeting of deepest France and Bras' other great love, Japan, in its mineral, minimalist aesthetic: granite, slate, basalt, glass, steel and a stream running through the restaurant.
Like the setting, the cuisine is rural but far from rustic. Bras was one of the pioneers of the go-out-and-pick-it movement, gathering wild herbs and rediscovering local plants. However, his use of them is sophisticated and subtle. A langoustine split open and garnished with an Aubrac-style combination of finely chopped broad beans and country sausage is laid out on a rectangle of black volcanic stone, while the "gargouillou" of young vegetables and herbs shows just how good something ostensibly simple can be when each element is perfectly judged.
Another Bras classic is the "chocolat coulant", with just a hint of crispness on the outside, a melting liquid current in the middle. Other courses might include foie gras, roast lamb and in tribute to Aveyron tradition, a bowl of aligot (mashed potato with fresh tomme cheese).
French haute-cuisine has a reputation for being stuffy. Here, although a meal is undoubtedly a special occasion, it is also fun, from the nostalgia of the soft scrambled egg, served in its shell with a fried-bread finger, and the ice lollies and candy-floss accompanying dessert, to the poppadom-style toasts that look like rusty iron.
THE VIEW
...is an intrinsic part of eating here. Bras' cooking is intimately linked to the landscape. Through the angled-glass façade of the dining room, look out on to windswept mountain grass, granite boulders and clumps of wild daffodils for an insight into the environment that has so shaped Bras' cuisine.
You can prolong the nature trip with an after-lunch walk on the footpath around the restaurant. Don't miss the other essential view, either: through the glass doors into the kitchen, for the sight of chefs immersed in their work and vegetables, each one more pristine and perfect than the last, picked up at Rodez market at 5am and arranged like a still life as the inspiration of the day.
THE BILL
There are menus at €52 (£37) (for the weekday lunch only), €95 (£68)and €152 (£109). These sums may sound rather a lot, but this is a three-star Michelin-rated restaurant with cooking as memorable as it comes.
Hôtel Restaurant Michel Bras, route de l'Aubrac, 12210 Laguiole, France (00 33 5 65 51 18 20;
