Today we have planned a day to ourselves in Collioure. Since Lucien was such a part of our old days in this pretty village, we take him with us. Toby and Lucky scream like banshees as they watch us walk to the car with Lucien.
It is a gorgeous day with a lovely breeze. We have reservations at a one-star restaurant for 1pm. They have a very nice prix fix menu for 30€–a very nice price. We tour the town and of course have Sangria (confession: 2 each!). Howard can’t resist going back to the knife shop. He buys a beautiful hand-made large folding knife that we think will be very useful in our RV–nice size for kitchen work and the fact that it folds will make it secure in the drawer. The nice lady, who has seen us 3 other times, includes a thin skin peeler (good for tomatoes and fruits). Next time we will visit her husband’s atelier in the mountains west of Collioure.
So now it’s time to go to Hotel Relais des 3 Mas and their restaurant La Balette. We are seated at a table with a magnificent view across the harbor. We are looking at the area where we usually are sitting! What a day! We order a pear liquor and champagne aperitif. While we sip our drink and peruse the menu, they serve us an “amuse bouche” (a small something that will please the mouth) of celeriac foam with a small meat fried dumpling. Now we are bad! Instead to ordering the lunch prix fix menu we order the chef’s tasting menu–instead of 30€ it’s 105€! Oh well…
So here’s the run-down of incredible courses:
1st course: Seafood quenelle.
2nd course: Shrimp carpaccio laid out on the plate in the shape of the shrimp with the tail on the end.
3rd course: Luscious large shrimp and a fried breadcrumb ball filled with aioli.
4th course: Turnips cooked several ways including with Foie gras and a sesame seed “cracker”.
5th course: Sea Bass and carrots cooked several ways including mouse wrapped in a carrot shaving, dried shavings of carrots, baby steamed carrots, sorbet of carrot.
6th course: Sorbet in Banyuls, a local fortified wine.
7th course: Pigeon including the liver with shaved artichoke hearts, cherry sauce, a nice shallot on toast.
8th course: Lime sorbet on a cookie wrapped in meringue with a hard lime and sugar garnish.
9th course: Cherry mousse ball made to look like a big cherry nested on a cookie and then set in the plate on red-colored sugar. Another plate had cherry sorbet and fresh cherries Coffee course: A small pistachio macaroon, a little blackberry jelly and a coconut marshmallow.
The bread was flavored with eggplant and bacon. The wine was Domaine Gardies cuvée Close des Vingnes 2012 (Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris).
Lucien was the perfect French dog. He is so handsome and was so admired.
I was certain to let Howard enjoy most of the wine since we had a long drive home. It truly was a wonderful, never-to-be-forgotten day. It reminded us (if we have not yet been properly reminded, how much we love the little village of Collioure.