Sunday 20 July 2014

French Restaurant Research

Cheryl and Brad run Allure on Currumbin, a highly regarded French restaurant on the Gold Coast, Australia. Earlier this year they visited France to see for themselves what was current and fashionable in French restaurants on their home territory. They were looking for new ideas, new takes on classics and just soaking up the atmosphere.

Brad and Cheryl after a good lunch at Le Clos aux Roses in Chedigny.
They asked us to organise a day for them in the Touraine Loire Valley and we were delighted to design a food focused day. We started by visiting the twice weekly produce market in Loches. We thought we were never going to get them out of there. They were interested in everything, from fish to fruit, cheese to chickens, rillettes to rabbits. Then we took them to lunch in a little out of the way village in a typical local restaurant, serving fresh local produce, immaculately presented and full of intriguing flavours. Cheryl took photos of everything and Brad had fun identifying ingredients in the menu de jour and checking with the owner if he was right (which he always was!) After a slight diversion to visit a chateau, we finished at a Vouvray winery, where they were very interested in how boutique the operation was and bought two completely different wines.

If your time in France is as much about business as pleasure, why not email us and ask us to design a tour with your requirements in mind. Especially if you are in the hospitality industry there is a lot going on in the Touraine Loire Valley.