24 June 2009
I can imagine this quiz question on a ‘what’s true?’ radio programme: William Page is a) a millionaire stockbroker; b) a baseball star who played for the Boston Red Soxs in the 1950s; c) An Australian born in New Guinea who has run a Michelin starred restaurant in the heart of France for the last 15 years.
Working on the principle that the right answer must be the most unlikely, it is quite possible that a savvy guess would be c) and you’d be right. William Page is the chef, owner of a remarkable restaurant deep in the northern Berry – L
e Lièvre Gourmand in Vailly-sur-Sauldre, a small traditional town. It would have taken a lot of courage for a French chef to open a high-class restaurant in La France Profonde over 15 years ago – even more if you were an Australian! This was long before the A77 autoroute to Paris from this part of the Loire was built. Page bought the premises in the early 1990s and won a Michelin star in 2004 and, perhaps more significantly, 16/20 in the GaultMillau.
Le Lièvre Gourmand is a delight. You walk straight into a salon with comfortable armchairs and sofas. Here you choose and enjoy your aperitif and the wonderfully tasty
mise-en-bouches with great purity of flavour, while studying the menu and the short well-chosen wine list. It is soon clear that the service is impeccable.
The menus
We chose the Menu Lièvre at 39€. The other choices were the Menu Lièvre Gourmand 49€ or the Menu Grignotage 59€ or 85€ with a selection of wines by the glass to accompany the menu.
The current Menu Lièvre offers:Crème d’asperges blanche, truite fumé, endive
Huile d’olive, faisselle, ouefs de hareng
Haricots plats, pancetta, oeuf de caille
Flanchet de porc ibérique, navets nouveaux
Le Plateau du fromages
ou
les fromages blancs fermiers de Michel Desriaux (a dairy producing goats’ cheese in Vailly)
Choice of desserts:
Fruits rouges, panna cotta à la rose, rhubarbe
Clémentine et chocolat
Figue et caramel
Poire sêchée à l’huile olive et vanille, chocolat blanc au combava
The first three courses were stunning – in particular the lovely creamy asparagus soup with its finger of smoked trout wrapped around a piece of endive. The least successful dish was the porc ibérique where some of the pork was a bit chewy and the turnips not cooked sufficiently to absorb the flavours of the pork and the black mushroom. However, the flavour of the jus was intense and delicious.
This is very refined cooking without being showy or with unnecessary ingredients. Apparently some locals complain that there isn’t enough on their plate, which is to miss the point. This is not about a blow-out French feast – if you want that go to C'Heu le Zib in Menetou-Salon – also wonderful but entirely different.
Although this was the first night Le Lièvre was open after a week’s holiday, all the cheeses we tried were in perfect condition.
As an aperitif and for the initial courses we chose Henry Natter’s 2006 Cuvée François de la Grange de Montigny, Sancerre Blanc. Served cellar cool this is currently showing brilliantly – the rich fruit of 2006 with enough acidity in the finish to make you ready to take another sip. For the main course and the cheese we had the 2005 Les Pierris Sancerre Rouge from Roger Champault et fils. It had lovely soft, spicy fruit – very seductive and a reminder that you can find good red Sancerre, especially in years like 2005, well beyond the top rated producers.
With one of us driving, drinking two bottles between two would have been excessive, so when we ordered the wines we arranged to take away what we had not finished. At the end of the meal we were presented with two smart bags with the bottles – all very organised.
Although we chose two local wines the list is eclectic – naturally some wines from Australasia.
Coffee can either be taken in the dining room or back in the salon where the lights have been dimmed creating a more intimate feel.
William Page, now around 50, does appear at the beginning and the end of the meal to greet guests and to say goodbye but he is not one of these celebrity chefs who spends their time swanning around their diners. Tall and slim with curly hair, Page is polite but reserved – you sense he is happiest in his kitchen.
There is step-free access for anyone in a wheelchair or with reduced mobility, avoiding the stone steps at the front entrance. If you are fit, rather than parking in front of the restaurant, it's best to park in the square by the church and walk the short distance to Le Lièvre.
If you are anywhere near Vailly-sur-Sauldre, then do make the effort to go to Le Lièvre Gourmand but ... you need to book as it is understandably popular and doesn’t have many tables.
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Other quick scenes from Vailly:
Le Lièvre Gourmand14 Grande Rue, 18260 Vailly-sur-SauldreTel: 02.48.73.80.23www.lelièvregourmand.com
