Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A perfect meal in Bonnieux

We drove to Bonnieux, which is an absolutely lovely little town.  It has a 12th century church and cemetery at its summit.  It was lunchtime, and even though I could share views from this village with you, I really want to share what we found was one of the best meals we have had in France.

We were very excited to see this outstanding menu at a small restaurant in Bonnieux named "L'Arome."  Our lunch started out with an amuse bouche, or a tickle to the mouth.  A verrine (sometimes referred to as 'luxury in a glass') of basil pesto topped with whipped ricotta.

Though I chose the outstanding eggplant compote topped with goat cheese, The Trout picked the real winner.  He had a tomato aspic, (remember those?), tomato and herb sorbet, cucumber verrine and tomato salsa.  I cannot wait to get back to Florida in the fall and experiment with the tomato sorbet.  It was so wonderful, cooling and delicious, that I will be working on this to perfect it.

For our main coarse, we both selected roasted duck breast in black cherry sauce with purple mashed potatoes and one lonely but delicious baby carrot.

As usual in France, dessert was outstanding.  We had the Creme Brulee Nougat with a honey mousse that we drank with a straw.  I know, you can only imagine!!

A glass of red wine for each of us, and we both declared this meal was at the top of our "Fabulous Meal" list.

13 comments:

  1. I am hungry, Susan! It is only breakfast I am about to eat, and I'm wishing for these delicious looking things!Really, the menu sounds delicious and the presentation was brilliant.

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  2. Mouth watering. Looking forward to your version of the tomato sorbet. Diane

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  3. What a meal! I surely would need a nap after all those lovely courses. I indeed remember tomato aspic. It was one of my mother's favorite salads. Great post, Susan. thanks for sharing.

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  4. It looks delicious, my dear. Lucky you!

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  5. Beautiful. The presentation is gorgeous - I could just smell the roast duck.

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  6. What a perfect French meal. Those verrine are so popular now, but I've not ventured there yet. I cannot resist crême brulé where you are sure it will be good.
    Thank you for sharing l`Arôme with us; I truly enjoyed this.
    Rita

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  7. I can't wait until you get back to Florida to make the tomato sorbet either Susan. Your French posts are the next best things to hopping on a jet plane.

    Love the presentation of the tomato aspic. The French sure know how to do things.
    Sam

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  8. Are you kidding me??? I could only dream of this type of food here Montana! LOL

    Such a lovely presentation too guys! The dessert looked the BEST!!

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  9. Susan, looks amazing. The French do food so well. The creativity always blows me away. A tomato sorbet would be delightful.

    I hope you are having an amazing time.Please keep sharing with us.

    Velva

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  10. I know I was in that village a couple years ago and I certainly missed this. It looks and sounds amazing and delicious. Thanks for sharing this wonderful meal with us.

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  11. Susan, this looks divine! Looking forward to seeing your next adventure! blessings ~ tanna

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  12. What a wonderful meal. Your choices sound perfect and your descriptions are the next best thing to being at the table and sampling it with you. Have a great day.Blessings...Mary

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  13. This was an incredible meal.....so much good food at one time and terrific presentation!

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