"Enough talk of wine, it’s time to eat and we’ll start at La Ferme de la Ruchotte in the forested hills of the tiny village of Bligny-sur-Ouche. Owner/Chef Frédéric Ménager slipped quietly away from high profile restaurant life after five years at Restaurant Castel de Très Girard in Morey-Saint-Denis and Michelin-starred training under Alain Chapel in his restaurant in Mionnay, close to the city of Lyon. Ménager tells me he learned traditional French cooking and the importance of good produce under Chapel’s instruction. I can vouch it has stood him in good stead. Ruchotte, Ménager’s family home, is taken over by food lovers who come to savour Frédéric’s ancient animal breeds including La Flèche, Gournay and Barbezieux chickens, known for their exquisitely flavoured flesh and Grand Gascon pigs, all nurtured at the Ruchotte farm using biodynamic principles until table-ready. I savoured my pork, and described it as having a deep, farmhouse flavour, Frédéric agreed smiling. Ruchotte is frequented by Michelin luminaries Rostang, Michel Troisgros and Lameloise, who request feasts of roast chicken perfumed with thyme snipped from Ruchotte’s rambling 13th century garden. Australian wine critic James Halliday is also a frequent visitor and says it’s unlike any other place he has eaten. There’s no menu, I ate from a hotch-potch of antique china plates and had to top up my glass while the stove commanded Frédéric’s attention, but Ruchotte served food I am unlikely to ever forget."
Bites of Burgundy |
| By: Karen Reyment |
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