La Table du Castellet - Le Castellet
Dining room with a view of the hotel grounds
Rating: 17/20
Where: Le Castellet, France
When: Dinner for 2 on 21 April 2024
Cost: Tasting menu 160-260 Euro, Wine pairing 125-195 Euro
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars
Why: Wonderful vegetable and seafood menus that are equally well designed
Arriving at the newly three-starred “La Table du Castellet” we had an entirely justified sense of “deja vu”. That's because we had in fact seen this restaurant before: five years earlier, when it was called “Christophe Bacquié”, after the chef at the time. Since then, said chef left, and the restaurant was shuttered for a while - the Corona pandemic probably didn't help either. But last year, the restaurant reopened under a new name and with a new head chef, Fabien Ferré, who previously was the sous chef here. Unusually, the restaurant earned three Michelin stars right off the bat, something Michelin generally only does when the chef has cooked at a three-star level before. Old location, new chef, new menu and a new name, so a new restaurant for Michelin's purposes, and we happily came back for a new first look.
After two days of stressful travels, getting to Le Castellet was a breeze. We drove 1 1/2 hours from the Marseille airport, and returned our car the next day at the Marseille train station, which is about an hour away. The restaurant is part of the luxurious “Hotel du Castellet”, which had just received three Michelin keys. The hotel is located next to a race track and an airport for private jets (which is presumably the fastest way to get here if you have the means). In addition to the restaurant, the hotel’s grounds feature several pools, a spa, a golf course, and some challenging routes for mountain bikers. All of these attractions are probably necessary, since the hotel is otherwise pretty much in the middle of nowhere - there are no significant towns or cities nearby.
The three-star restaurant itself can be found just past the reception, through an unmarked passageway - maybe the new signage still needs to be printed after the name change. The dining room has large windows overlooking the grounds, which were illuminated at night, providing for a view other than darkness during our dinner. Tables didn't have table cloths and a 70s soundtrack was playing in the background. Together with the great service, this made for a relaxed atmosphere.
Two tasting menus were offered, one focused on vegetables and one on seafood. It bears noting that these two menus aren't entirely vegetarian and pescatarian, respectively, so one should still communicate dietary restrictions ahead of time. Not everyone at a table has to agree on the same menu, so we ended up ordering one of each (and you'll get two reviews for the price of one). However, we had to pick a consistent length of the menus - they both came in either four or six courses. There was also an option to add a pigeon dish, in case one just really couldn't do without meat. Wine pairings were available, comprised of wines that didn't just match the food, but were also pretty good in their own rights. Pours were generous and topped off, and it seemed that there was some flexibility for the paired wines in case one had strong preferences.
To start out, a series of amuse bouches appeared on our table. The first round included three bites. An oyster was covered with an iodide emulsion, little croutons and some nasturtium. The oyster was of good quality, the sauce had a slightly fishy taste, and the croutons added a nice crunch. Good, but also a bit heavy - much more substantial than a raw oyster would have been 17. A little tartlet came filled with green peas and bee pollen. The peas were excellent, with a firm, crunchy texture and a good flavor. The pollen changed the taste only marginally 18. Lastly, we had a piece of grilled sea bass, served on its bone. It was seasoned with a seaweed pesto, lupine juice and miso. Ideally, the fish would have been served warmer, but otherwise it was quite nice: smoky and with a firm texture. The seasoning didn't detract from the taste of the fish 16.
Next, we received a garlic brioche with two accompaniments: a rockfish soup and a spoon containing a piece of red mullet, fennel, a saffron roux, and a bread cracker. We were instructed to sample the soup first, then the spoon, and afterwards come back to the soup, while optionally dipping the bread into it. The soup tasted like it was made from the entire fish - head and all. That gave it an intense flavor but also made it a bit bitter. Not my favorite, but it did taste better after sampling the contents of the spoon, maybe the fattiness of that second bite helped a bit 13. The red mullet spoon had a nice balance of flavors, everything came together seamlessly in a single bite without any dominant taste. I thought there was a hint of mustard, but that might have been my imagination 16. The bread was a nice savory brioche, but the advertised garlic was hardly detectable 16.
The main bread for the evening was made from “Pétanielle Noire” flour, a variety local to nearby Nice. A nice enough bread with a crunchy crust, it went wonderfully with the paired light and flowery-tasting olive oil. For the combination 16.
Then it was time for the first course of our six course tasting menu. For the vegetable menu, this was a grilled artichoke flower, served with a slice of artichoke and a sauce made from celery and lovage. Surprisingly, the artichoke was served at room temperature, and it tasted very fried. On the other hand, the celery sauce was lovely, and we appreciated that additional sauce was provided for this and every following dish 16. My dining companion, my mother, was more enamored and thought this worth a 18.
On the seafood side, the first cause was a mackerel served with yellow and green kiwis, celery, a geranium jelly, and an aloe vera vinaigrette emulsion. The fish was nicely cooked, and (for a mackerel) not very fishy in taste. The emulsion was fine, but all the sides were very sour, especially the geranium jelly balls. Overall, the fruit were much stronger in flavor than the fish, an odd mismatch 17.
Course two of the vegetable menu was a roasted white asparagus, dressed with seaweed juice. On the side was a bowl filled with an asparagus carpaccio, osetra caviar and an asparagus granita. The grill marks on the asparagus were beautiful, and it tasted great as well, but there was a tiny bit of stringiness. The seaweed sauce was a bit bitter, but went well with the white spear. All quite good, but it paled in comparison to the asparagus granita, which was utterly delicious: it was bursting with concentrated asparagus flavor, and had some nice saltiness from the caviar (easily 19). Overall, 18.
The asparagus' opposite number was a squid prepared à la Provençale, served in a sauce made with marjoram, basil and chicken broth. The thin rectangular grilled slice of squid was smoky and maybe a bit chewier than would be ideal, but not by much. The chicken sauce was very savory and flavorful, in fact so much so that a red wine was paired with this dish. Sauce and squid were both good individually, but together this was merely a sum of the two parts - both of them were on the smoky, savory end of the taste spectrum, a bit more contrast (some acidity?) might have made this dish even better 17.
Round three was a pair of dishes that was exclusive to the six-course menu. First, the vegetables: a halved turnip was glazed with honey and served with radishes, a salad leaf and a sauce made from more turnips. This turnip was very tasty, lightly sweet and full of flavor. The crunchy, acidic radish was a nice counterpoint, and the sauce lovely as well. As far as turnip dishes go, I preferred this one over L'Effervescence's much more famous signature dish 17. My mother only thought this a 15 - maybe she would have had a better time in Tokyo.
On to the seafood: a carabinero came with a piece of green rhubarb, a jelly made from strawberries and rhubarb, some strawberry vinegar and a sauce made from coral. On the side was a crunchy chip made from the carabinero's head. The shrimp was a bit smoky, and had a nice texture, but unfortunately it was served only lukewarm. Just as with the mackerel, the sides of the dish were intensely acidic - an unusual, but apparently deliberate choice. The seafoody, creamy coral sauce was very nice though. Shrimp heads are a bit of an acquired taste thanks to their bitterness, but the cracker here had none of the bitterness, and simply a light seafood taste. Fatty and crunchy, it was quite yummy - in this form, I'd eat shrimp heads all the time 17.
Sadly, this already brought us to our final savory course. On the vegetable menu, it was a half a fennel bulb, served with fennel mousse, grilled fennel, and a fennel flower sauce. The sauce was lovely, but - oddly - it was served cold, which meant that the dish wasn't too warm as a whole. It was nice to have so many different preparations of fennel, all without the anise taste sometimes associated with this vegetable 16.
The main course on the seafood menu was a “catch of the day”. Today, it was pagre, and it was topped with verbena butter and hazelnuts. On the side: green asparagus, artichokes and morels, all dressed with a verbena sauce. This fish was spectacular: perfectly cooked, with an elegant flavor, flaky but firm, with a hint of spice and some nuttiness from the hazelnuts. The sides were also great: the asparagus chip a bit spicy and crunchy, the artichoke cooked very nicely. This was by far the best dish of the evening 19.
The next stop, at least for the six-course menu, was the restaurant's famous cheese cellar. A whole room dedicated to cheese storage, with dozens of cheeses to choose from. This is one thing that hasn't changed from the previous incarnation of the restaurant, and rightly so - why bother messing with perfection? We had some very good cheeses here, but my request of “big, bold, stinky” cheeses ended up yielding a couple of fairly mild cheeses - maybe our server didn't think I was serious. Thanks to some Époisses and a strong blue cheese it was still a decent haul. On the side, we were served a salad dressed with a lightly sweet, sesame-based sauce. Also present: some nice fruit bread whose crust was a bit crunchy. No rating for the cheese course, since the experience depends heavily on one's choices. But I definitely wouldn't want to skip it when dining here.
A palate cleanser arrived before the main dessert. It was an herb sorbet (made with basil and mint) topped with a verbena lemon emulsion, some ruccola oil and lemon peels. The sorbet was sweet with herbal hints, the sweet lemon peel added some texture. Quite nice 18. Or not, if you're my mom (15).
For the last course of the tasting menu, we had three different desserts to choose from. Naturally, we picked two different ones, skipping a third option that was based on chocolate.
Dessert one: A bruleed Tahitian vanilla souffle, served with a ginger biscuit ice cream, and a glass of vanilla lemon water on the side (not pictured). I liked the crunch of the burnt sugar on top of the souffle, but the souffle itself was a bit too eggy for my taste, and the ice cream was very gingery. The vanilla water was tasty, though - lightly acidic with a hint of vanilla 16.
Dessert two: A poached kiwi, with a meringue, “royale” ice cream, pistachios and kiwi juice flavored with tarragon. This was a fruity, fresh and light dessert. The meringue added some crunch, and the pistachios some nuttiness. Very good indeed 18. This dessert was paired with a cocktail of Campari and Grand Marnier, which was pretty nice as well.
Two petit fours concluded the meal. A little sugar cup was filled with blueberries and gin jelly. A light dish, crunchy from the shell, sweet from the fruit and a bit bitter from the gin 17. A spoon was filled with a hazelnut praline topped with oabika chocolate and fleur de sel. It had a light nutty crunch from the hazelnuts, and fruitiness from the oabika 16.
While waiting for the check, one the chefs walked around the dining room, handing out samples of a nougat directly from the bowl that it had been made in. Mixed into the confection were sweet black olives, oranges, almond and honey. An unexpected and fun treat at the end.
Overall: Two great tasting menus, one based on vegetables, one on seafood. I'd give the seafood menu a slight edge over the vegetables, but clearly the same effort went into both menus, which is great news for vegetarians. While we had a great experience, unfortunately only a single course was solidly in three-star territory. The rest was still very good, but lacked the balance or bursting flavors that could have put them over the line. Still, if the marvelous “catch of the day” is any indication, this kitchen is capable of producing amazing dishes, and it's been only a year since reopening. I’m optimistically looking forward to what's coming next 17.
