The best restaurant we've ever been to.
Where to Start?
We started our trek to Wingen-sur-Moder from Obernai. The drive took us about an hour and a half to get to the remote restaurant/hotel. It was mostly a straight path on highways(which was a nice change of pace from the single lane roads we were accustomed to while driving in France). But after about 45 minutes the single lane roads came back into our life...wonderful. At least the drive was scenic.
At last we made it to the restaurant. The hotel and restaurant have a mixture of German and French aesthetic (which is the point for the location). For those not familiar with the Alsace region in France, the region belonged to France, then Germany, then France, then Germany, and now Alsace in modern day Framany. Both the French and German language are spoken, people feel strongly about (enter country of your choosing) but their food is amazing.
Now back to Lalique and Michelin restaurants
Go for Lunch
We had a few of our Michelin stared adventures for lunch for four reasons:
1. You get the see the amazing scenery(both outside as well as inside) while the sun is out.
2. The lunch meal is typically close to the served dinner meal(the courses might be bigger for dinner, but when you get a 4 course meal you are NOT hunting for a BigMac™ afterwards).
3. IT'S CHEAPER. When you are going to Michelin restaurants, the price is never on the "cheap" side. By going to high-end restaurants for lunch you get a noticeable discount for the food by the same chef.
4. Meals typically take 2.5 to 3 hours. Do you prefer to drive an hour and a half at night or during the day back to your hotel?
There is only 1 issue when going for lunch: you are so full after the meal you are generally uninterested in doing anything else afterwards- maybe a nap, but not much after that. So if you plan to get a Michelin lunch, take a tour, go for a hike, and finish your day on vacation with a swim then you might've planned the day a little wrong.
Show me the food already!
No.
Here's some photos of the interior of the restaurant!
After sitting down, the wait staff help with the napkins(place them in your lap), move your chair in, and bring a cushion for your purse. Now you know you are in a fancy restaurant when they give you a chair for your purse! After the purse was well situated, the vast amount of other wait staff greet you and ask what type of bread you would like, what wine, what water*, and so on and so forth. But when you get a wine list like this, it might take you awhile to find your sparkling white wine.
*Water in France TANGENT , unlike in the United States you get two options when ordering water: Mineral or Still. Both are from a bottle, and both cost $$$. When you see the bill that shows you spent 10 to 20€ on water you might not be pleased with your purchase. In the US, I've noticed since I drink it like a fish, that water is served customarily with all meals to wash your food down the gullet. In France, as well as other European countries, they do something similar with wine and beer, hence "wine/beer pairings". It's a pretty brilliant concept when you think about it also, you drink more of the wine(priced at 20€ a glass), get drunk, buy more stuff- win-win-win.
However, if you don't drink, and you want water with your meal FOR FREE (yeah, that's right I got you hooked with fronts and buzz words) order the water:
Une carafe d'eau
Or table water. The water in France is safe to drink, and tastes way better than the Evian that they give you anyway. Just water for thought- see what I did there ^^
Ok now getting back to the food. The food was a four course meal that consisted of the following:
When you go to these restaurants when something says "4 Course" don't take it at its word. The amuse bouche and items in-between turn the meal into a 10 meal experience, with a focus on the items that you order.
The starting meal...yes that's right, now getting to the food- the "Waking of the taste buds".
A hollowed puff pastry with caviar on top, follow up with a creamy amuse bouche with craklins, and followed up with a crisp pastry with whipped fish.
The second dish featured a warm soft bread with a small slice of cheese topped with herbs and olive oil. On the same plate was a silver egg. A soft boiled egg(a mix of a French/Asian seasoning) painted silver with a layer of film with the restaurants logo embossed on the top.
After the first three dishes we got our ordered plate of Goose Fois Gras with mushrooms. We both got the same dish. The geese figures were a mixture of goose fat and lemon cream. All served of course with fresh bread ready to be cut when you are ready for more.
We followed the decadent foie gras with a lobster "cocktail". With a base of butter, an egg, and creme fraiche froth the lobster cocktail was one that you wish you could order again and again.
Starting to see how 4 courses actually turns into 10?
No? Ok following the lobster, time for an "intermizzo".
-Ok...seriously, starting to get kinda full.
-Here is the next course! Rabbit shoulder, potato and summer truffles.
-No seriously, slow it down.
-Potato and "Baena" olive oil cappuccino!
-Gonna burst.
-Excellent, Time for CHEESE!
-How much more? Please this has to be coming to an end.
-Oh don't worry sir, you are now on dessert.
-Thank you sweet baby Jesus.
-Here are the last four dishes!
-*meep* four?
Seriously, this was the best meal that we've ever had. The whole tasting took about 3 hours(pretty standard for French/fine dining). After the meal was over the head chef, chef Klein, even came out of the kitchen and thanked everyone personally (perhaps it was to congratulate people for eating all the food). Eventually he came to our table and asked how we enjoyed our meal. He really didn't speak English, and well we don't really speak French or German. We fuddled through bottom basement French to say thanks it was good, and when he didn't understand he asked in German, but got a similar result. I might've even resulted to pantomimes.
But seriously, this was by far the best experience and best food that we've ever had.
If you ever make it to that side of France, and get a chance to experience this amazing restaurant, you surely won't be disappointed!