Red light in le Petit Pressigny

During dinner at La Promenade on Saturday night, Xavier Fortin, the restaurant's long-serving sommelier, kindly invited us to visit the restaurant's cellars the next morning around 11am. This gave me time to wander around the village (population: 326 in 2006) and, in particular, to admire the new traffic lights in the centre of the village. These are a traffic calming measure – changing colour as cars etc. approach.

Getting the green light

Among the treasures in La Promenade's cellars, there are some very old bottles from the Foucaults (in Chace). The oldest being a 1900 Saumur-Champigny.

1900 Clos Rougeard, Saumur-Champigny (Foucault)

Xavier Fortin who has been at La Promenade since 1988

2004 Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine, André Michel Brégeon

Xavier kindly opened a 2004 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine from André Michel Brégeon. Now one of the crus communales it spent five years on its lees. Light to mid-gold in colour this has a richness and complexity that one doesn't normally associate with Muscadet. At the same time it is brilliantly precise and mineral in the finish. A grand vin but not at a grand vin price.

Just a few steps from Au fil de l'Aigronne (left) to La Promenade

Readers of Jim's Loire may well be aware of our enthusiasm for Jacky Dallais' wonderful restaurant – La Promenade in Le Petit Pressigny. Hitherto we have virtually always had to have lunch there as it is around 60 kilometres from Epeigné-les-Bois to Le Petit Pressigny. We have stayed in the area a couple of times but it was never a great success. The first time must have been nearly 20 years ago in a chambre d'hôte just across from La Promenade. The other time was in a château chambre d'hôte in the next village – La Celle Guenand – which meant a four kilometre walk along the road.

Fortunately the original chambre d'hôte opposite the restaurant has been completely revamped, having changed hands a couple of times. The very welcoming present owners – Valérie et Loïc Bobon, who are originally from La Mayenne, took over about a year ago at Au fil de l'Aigronne. We booked the downstairs suite for last night – 70€ including breakfast for the two adjoining rooms with shared facilities, so were able to enjoy the customary excellent meal at La Promenade without having to worry about a long journey home that evening.
    

I'm sure this won't be the last time we opt to spend the night in Le Petit Pressigny at the Bobon's B&B. Amongst the other people staying there last night was a couple from Tours, who hearing how good La Promenade is, caught the bus that runs from Tours to Tournon Saint-Martin. They had dinner at La Promenade last night and were planning to have Sunday lunch there before heading back to Tours on the bus that passes around 5.30pm.

Restaurant Jacky Dallais, Le Petit Pressigny - at the end of a long road

Today we went out for a splendid Sunday lunch at Jacky Dallais' La Promenade in Le Petit Pressigny. It is always excellent and each time we wonder why we don't go more often because it also such stunning value for the quality. Being over 50 kilometres away is a large part of the answer. Why La Promenade isn't more than a one-star Michelin is beyond me. It is, however, just as well because the service is discreet and efficient even during a busy Sunday lunch and Jacky Dallais stays in his kitchen producing his magic rather than playing the celebrity chef and touring the tables. I will be writing more about La Promenade, our lunch and the wines for my Tuesday piece this week on Les 5 du Vin.

See a posting here on a previous lunch@La Promenade and one from Jacqueline Friedrich.

After lunch I took a few photos around the village of Le Petit Pressigny and then we headed off for a quick look at Le Petit's grown-up brother Le Grand Pressigny and its museum of pre-history.

The church and the square

Bridge and the Aigronne

The village's rather curious Mairie architecturally speaking

Glimpse of a garden

le lavoir

*

Le Grand Pressigny

The centre and the Château

Sign for the hotel/restaurant: Le Savoie Villars

Le château

The new Musée attached to the château

More views of the château area

La Promenade in Le Petit Pressigny

There are nine restaurants in Touraine that have a Michelin star in 2010. They are:

L'Auberge du XII Siècle in Saché
Le Bon Laboureur in Chenonceaux
La Chancelière in Montbazon
La Promenade in Le Petit-Pressigny
Le Château de Marçay, Marçay near Chinon
Charles Barrier and Le Roche Le Roy in Tours
Les Hautes Roches in Rochecorbon
Le Chai du Manoir in Restigné close to Bourgueil

Le Chai du Manoir is a new star.

I understand that Jacky Dallais, who with his wife runs the wonderful restaurant – La Promenade in Le Petit Pressigny, is sometimes criticised for not playing the celebrity chef and coming out of the kitchen to greet customers. I may be old fashioned but I prefer the chef to be in the kitchen preparing my meal. Just like I don't want my bus driver to be wandering around asking how I'm enjoying the journey!

Report here on our last lunch at the La Promenade, Petit Pressigny – August 2009.

Had another wonderful lunch at Jacky Dallais' La Promenade. The food is always great and inventive, the wine list excellent, the restaurant completely unstuffy and relaxed and to cap it all it's excellent value for money. Madame Dallais looks after the front of the house assisted by Xavier Fortin, the excellent sommelier. All too many sommeliers are useless, not so Xavier who is enthusiastic and really knows his wines, especially from the Loire but also the Rhône and Languedoc-Roussillon.

Jacky Dallais' presence in the dining room

Jacky Dallais stays in the kitchen, so there is none of the celebrity chef nonsense with the chef pressing the customers' flesh rather than getting on with the business in hand in the kitchen. I don't know of another restaurant in France that offers such quality at such good value as you'll find at La Promenade.



We took the menu tradition – 50€ for three courses plus cheese and dessert or 40€ for two courses.

2005 Le Volagré, Montlouis, Stéphane Cossais

For our aperitif we had a bottle of 2005 Le Volagré, Montlouis (38€) in memory of Stéphane. It was delicious and a very sad reminder of Stéphane's potential. Initially it showed some wood but this disappeared as it cooled down and had time to breathe and showed the richness of 2005 along with clean and precise minerality.

Huîtres speciales, compôte d'artichaut, citron confit et consommé de tomate

My first course was an amazing dish with a number of plump oysters hidden under the thin, brown biscuit. We had Didier Dagueneau's 2005 Pur Sang, Pouilly-Fumé (70€), which was good with attractive concentration and pure clean length but it didn't really quite have the complexity of Le Volagré. Didier's wine may just need more time.

Cabillaud cotier en croute de persil et coquillages

The cod was perfectly cooked – wonderfully moist and flavoursome.

Canard: le filet cuit rosé à lolive noir, le foie gras juste poelé, croque tomate acidulée et jus d'abat au vin rouge

With the very fine duck we had the 1999 Coteau de Noire, Chinon, Philippe Alliet (48€), which was attractively leathery with a touch of earthiness/sous bois. Philippe's Chinon brought to an end our sad series – Stéphane and Didier – of drinking bottles from top Loire producers cut down in their prime. I shouldn't forget the wickedly rich mousseline of potato – a Dallais speciality – believed to be 55% butter to 45% potato.

1999 Coteau de Noire, Chinon, Philippe Alliet

After the cheese I chose this strawberry dish – unfortunately I don't have the description but it was strawberries souffled sitting on little disks of jelly made from Gamay.

The only one small problem with La Promenade is that it is 50 minutes drive away deep in the unspoilt countryside of La Touraine Sud and it is difficult to find a good chambre d'hôte nearby. It is, of course, worth the journey. le Petit Pressigny has a population of 373.

Summer hours for La Promenade: open all week apart from Sunday night, all day Monday and Tuesday lunchtime. Booking is strongly advised.

11 Rue Savoureulx, 37350 Le Petit Pressigny‎. Tel: 02.47.94.93.52‎

Au Bon Coin: Le Petit Pressigny's other restaurant

@L'Aubinière starred restaurant in Saint-Ouen-les-Vignes

The new edition of the Guide Michelin has given one restaurant in Tours a star – Au Rive Gauche (www.toursrivegauche.com/) run by Pascal Vuillemin, who used to be number two to the now retired Jean Bardet.

However, three restaurants Touraine restaurants have lost stars. Au Plaisir Gourmand in Chinon was no surprise as chef-owner Jean-Claude Rigollet has now retired and theis long established restaurant has shut. Château du Pray near Amboise has lost its star following the departure last year of chef Ludovic Laurenty, while in Amboise Le Choiseul has lost its star following chef Pacal Bouvier’s departure to Au Coin des Halles in Langeais.

Following the retirement last year of Jean Bardet there are now no two-star restaurants in Touraine. Quite why Jacky Dallais’s excellent La Promenade does not have at least two stars is beyond me and may say more about Michelin’s criteria that Jacky’s cooking and the restaurant’s excellent wine list.

La Promenade, Jacky Dallais (Le Petit Pressigny)

Further east there are two new stars in Bourges: Le Piet -à-Terre, formerly in Châteaumeillant, and D'Antan Sancerrois (www.dantansancerrois.com/).

La Promenade – Jacky Dallais

Somewhat of a cheat this as Le Petit Pressigny is in the deep south of Touraine but so what as this is one of my favourite restaurants in France. Jacky Dallais’ cooking is brilliantly inventive and given the quality of the food certainly offers amazing value for money. Dallais champions local produce including the geline de touraine*, a particularly flavoursome local bred of chicken. Once Touraine’s traditional, high quality chicken, the geline had virtually died some 50 years ago because it needs 120-130 days to raise against only 90 days for other, but less tasty, breeds. Profit and accountants appeared to have doomed the geline – also called the Dame Noire. Fortunately in a small group of people started to revive the breed in the early 1980s.

There is also a splendid wine list not just the Loire but other parts of France, especially Languedoc-Roussillon, expertly orchestrated by Xavier Fortin.

Road sign in Le Petit Pressigny

The only problem with La Promenade is that it is a long way from the Cher Valley and there is nowhere nearby to stay, so for me it has to be a long lunch day.

Closed Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday. Booking essential

11 Rue du Savoureulx, 37350 Le Petit-Pressigny
Tel: 02.47.94.93.52.
Web: www.touraine-gourmande.com/resto24.php

* For more information about the geline click here and here.