Georges Blanc - Vonnas
Restaurant and bank by Georges Blanc
Rating: 16/20
Where: Vonnas, France
When: Dinner for 2 on 17 March 2022
Cost per Person: Tasting menu 260-330 Euro, Wine pairing (half-glass) 105-125 Euro
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars since 1981
Why: For three-star completists only
Georges Blanc's eponymous restaurant is located in the sleepy village of Vonnas, about an hour's drive north of Lyon. The restaurant has been around since 1872, and Mr Blanc's grandmother and mother obtained one and two Michelin stars in 1929 and 1931 before George Blanc receiving and holding the ultimate third star since 1981.
Downtown Vonnas looks like a Disneyland version of a French village. Picturesque restaurants, hotels, wine stores, etc, but all of them owned by Georges Blanc. They are a bit strange in their sameness, and (on the evening of our visit) lack-of-aliveness. The three star Michelin restaurant is full, but there is no life on the square, since there is nobody living here except for guests at one of Mr Blanc's multiple hotels.
Speaking of hotels, we stayed at the Hotel du Bois Blanc, which I booked since it looked a bit less tired than the other hotels. However, I underestimated how far Mr Blanc's empire is spread out - our hotel was a five minute drive from the restaurant. Not the end of the world, but a walkable hotel would have been more convenient.
When we entered the restaurant, the maitre d's first question to us was "what is your room number?". I'd consider this ample evidence that locals are in the irrelevant minority among the customers. Most everyone is from somewhere else, the majority from France, but a few English-speaking tables were seen as well.
The walk towards the dining room passes by windows looking into the kitchen, just getting started for the night. We first got seated in a lounge (apparently, the only correct answer to "would you like to sit in the lounge?" is "yes", which we only discovered on the third attempt of answering).
Amuse bouches were an oyster with mascarpone and mushroom in a jelly - actually better than it sounds. The flavors and textures came together pretty well, and it was at the right temperature although presumably prepared earlier in the day. Heavy, but tasty 17.
Next was a chicken oyster with shrimp and a herbal sauce; this was lighter, the sauce flavored near perfectly 17. And finally a chicken liver tartlet that unfortunately was overwhelmed by a too sweet, heavy sauce 16. Georges Blanc made his rounds to say hello to customers (in French only). His son is the person running the kitchen these days.
There were multiple options for ordering. First, a la carte, which, judging by the tables near us, was by far the most popular choice. Most tables ordered the famous Bresse Chicken, and maybe one or two other dishes with a bottle of wine. But there are also two tasting menus, with six and seven courses, respectively. The main difference is the main savory course, lamb in the shorter menu, and the Bresse Chicken in the longer menu. We went with the latter, figuring we should at least try the signature dish.
The tasting menus can be accompanied by a wine pairing, which we ordered. This was a good choice: in several courses, the wines were excellent matches to the dishes, enhancing them significantly. But hold on, don't order the wine pairing, order the half-pour wine pairing that's conveniently not mentioned anywhere on the menu. This half-pour pairing still provides plenty of wine (making you quite worried about that regular pairing), and for half the price, it's a win-win situation.
After the amuse bouches, we were led to one of the dining rooms. We saw at least five more rooms - supposedly the restaurant has space for 100 diners and all the tables were filled on this Thursday night. By being split into multiple rooms, the space thankfully doesn't feel too overwhelming. However, there was some unevenness in the pacing of our courses, sometimes appearing quickly after another, sometimes taking quite some time. No doubt due to a kitchen having to juggle dozens of tables.
The first "real" course of the evening was a tartlet of crab topped with caviar surrounded by lobster jelly. This was accompanied by "lobster chips". A nice dish, although notably on the salty side after a few bites. This turned out to be a recurrence among the dishes: the first bite tasted great, but then the dish overstayed its welcome and felt just too single-note salty/sweet/etc. The pairing with a Fume Blanc was spot on, the wine sang - but unfortunately I'm just rating the food 16.
Trout under a sabayon seasoned with local saffron was next. A smoked red pepper sauce reminded me of Ajvar. The trout was pretty flavorless, overall this was ok, not great 14.
Next up: scallops with a white wine sauce and beets filled with smoked chevre. Again a great wine pairing with a white Burgundy. However, the scallops were overcooked and under-seasoned - lacking the juiciness and flavor that well-prepared scallops should have. The mildly spicy sauce saved some of this, but the feeling was still of a dish that had an idea of what it wanted to be, but somehow didn't get there. The beets with smoked chevre on the other hand were spot on; the contrast regarding texture and taste between beets and cheese (sweet/salty; having a bite/creamy; smoky/clean; etc) was very nice. On average 16.
The next dish was the the savory standout. Red mullet with a saffron sauce and small potato balls was very good, and surprisingly harmonized with a steamed (and spiced) bun. After taking a bite of the bun, the red mullet tasted more intense. No idea why, but it was noticeable. The best part of the dish was a caramelized fennel that was tender, very sweet and among the best fennel I've ever eaten - melt in your mouth perfection. To be fair, towards finishing the dish, the sweetness of the fennel became a bit overwhelming, overstaying its welcome as well 18.
Final savory dish: the famed Bresse Chicken. This type of chicken is raised in the area where the restaurant is located, and the chef is a major ambassador for the product. Supposedly the best chicken in the world, this particular dish was merely ok. The chicken was served in two pieces, the larger piece noticeably less juicy and more overcooked than the smaller. This was acceptable chicken, not the best or the worst I've ever had, but given the location and pedigree you'd expect much more (maybe 14 for the larger piece of chicken). Side dishes were nice, mini pancakes going well with the sauce; chicken liver tartlets that were very savory and nicely spiced; tasteless artichokes; and some heavenly caramelized garlic, on average 16.
The pescatarian replacement for the chicken was lobster with "ravioli" made from slices of vegetables filled with black garlic, accompanied by a cannelloni of lobster meat. This was lovely with strong flavors 18.
A pre-dessert had the unusual combination of kalamata olives and dates, topped with cream and sabayon. This sounds crazy, but worked remarkably well 17.
The desserts were very nice, and remarkably light - no heavy chocolate dishes here. A Savarin Rum Baba had cake, ice cream, rum soaked raisins and cream 17. The passion fruit souffle with a passion fruit sauce accompanied by red orange sorbet, pineapple and passion fruit was a winner 18. Among the best souffles I've had.
Petit fours rounded out dinner: lemon mousse on chocolate, a cookie with hazelnut chocolate filling and a passion fruit marshmallow 18.
Overall: A nice dinner, with excellent and friendly service. No problems adjusting the menu for a pescatarian, or swapping out a dessert wine for something less sweet. And actually not as heavy a meal as mentioned in other reviews I've seen. However, while enjoyable, the dishes were more in the 1-2 star category, only scratching three-star territory. At this price point, one would expect a bit more 16.
