Lynda's sparkling cake
Last night and early into this morning we had a great birthday party with Lynda at Hugo Naón's El Nacional in Bordeaux. The food was excellent, in particular the lamb grilled on the parrilla – the special Argentine grill that Hugo had installed in the restaurant and which is the centre piece of the cooking.
Champagne Nicolas Maillart to start
2009 Rémus, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups
2007 Château l'Eglise, Montagne Saint-Emilion
The lamb
Santé!
2007 was a difficult vintage in Bordeaux with the wines not expected to have a long life. However, this softly textured 2007 and I suspect others are drinking well at the moment. This went very well with the delciously succulent lamb. An example of a wine that high not get a high score in a tasting but which was abolutely right for the occasion.
Digestif: 10 ans d'Age, Bas Armagnac, Francis Darroze
Back in August we had lunch at El Nacional and it was clear that there were some teething problems. These have clearly been sorted out as last night was excellent. I gather from Hugo that he is now doing 2000 covers a month, which is considerably more than he thought he would be doing at this stage in the restaurant's first year. Hugo will have to keep this level up as his girlfriend is expecting their first child due next July!
