Rating: 18/20
Where: Fontjoncouse, France
When: Dinner for 4 on 14 May 2022
Cost per Person: Tasting menu 205-235 Euro, Wine Pairing 145 Euro
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars
Why: Beautiful, playful presentations, excellent local cuisine, great service

The Auberge du Vieux Puits is located in the sleepy village of Fontjoncuse in the Languedoc wine region of France. Not really near any major cities, this is a restaurant that's not just "worth a special journey" (as Michelin's three-star rating suggests), but actually requires one - if you pass by here without intending to go to the restaurant, you probably need a new GPS.

We stayed at the hotel associated with the restaurant, which was definitely preferable to navigating curvy, narrow country roads in the middle of the night. The hotel and restaurant have a modern ambiance, unlike the rest of the town. The atmosphere is relaxed: guests are dressed (relatively) casually, the dining room is full of conversation and laughter - people are clearly enjoying their lunch or dinner. The service is relaxed as well, and not above the occasional joke (e.g. when I took a picture of the cheese cart, our server asked whether he should shout "cheese!"). The chef stopped by several times to chat and to check whether everything was going well.

Our dinner started with an aperitif and appetizers, which could be enjoyed outdoors on the patio (next to the restaurant parking lot, so without much of a view), indoors in a lounge, or at the dining table. The appetizers were served on a tree sculpture, and there were four different kinds. A cracker pillow filled with truffle cream was very nice, the truffle filling especially amazing, but the pillow itself was a bit soggy. There was also a tad too much dough relative to the filling 18. Another pillow was filled with "biju", a local fish from the Languedoc. Tastewise, this was similar to a bouillabaisse creme, again with a bit too much dough, but otherwise delightful 19. Next came a tartlet with pigeon and chicken meat, topped with chicken strips that had been marinated with port and ginger. The tartlet had a nice crunch, with the overall taste verging on the sweet side 17. Finally, a pastry filled with snails, garlic butter, parsley and lemon. This had a really nice lemony, buttery, garlic flavor, the snails predictably not contributing much to the overall taste 17. There were pescatarian alternatives for the last two appetizers, a tomato tartlet and a sphere filled with liquid "gazpacho". I tried the latter, and it tasted more like salt and vinegar potato chips rather than a gazpacho 16.

There were two tasting menus to choose from, a six course menu listed explicitly, and a seven course carte blanche, which in practice was simply the six course menu plus an additional course. We went for the longer menu. A wine pairing with wines from the Languedoc was available as well.

The amuse bouche was an oyster served with seawater jelly and a sugar sphere filled with smoke. We were handed a little hammer to break the sphere to release the smoke - a multi-sensory experience. The smoke smelled wonderful, a really nice addition to the dish. The jelly was also very good, quite vinegary, but slightly overwhelming the more subtle taste of the oyster. The oyster was cut into bite-size pieces 18.

A bread boule cut into quarters was delicious, made by a baker who had achieved the highest honor for his profession, the Meilleur Ouvrier de France. The chef of the restaurant also obtained this title in the 1990s. Butters with pepper, seaweed and red beets accompanied the excellent bread 18.

Our first course was the extra course that was not in the shorter menu. My description and even my pictures can't do justice to how pretty this dish looked - truly a work of art, and an indication of what was to come. This restaurant really puts an effort into the artful presentation of the food. The dish consisted of two main ingredients, lobster and zucchini. Zucchini flower leaves were crystallized and arranged in a flower shape. In the center of that “flower” was lobster ice cream resting on lobster carpaccio. Underneath were slices of lobster meat and of zucchini and a lobster sauce surrounded the dish. The individual components of the dish were cooked perfectly, but after mixing them (as suggested by our server), the dish became a bit messy. Looking and tasting a bit like seafood salad (I blame the lobster ice cream), is was a good, but not great dish 17. I should note though that the paired wine was a perfect match, and that my wife would have given the dish a 19.

The second course could best be described as "breakfast", since that's what the presentation looked like: a peeled, cooked egg, a brioche and a cappuccino. Things were not as they seemed, however: we were instructed to break the egg, and found a truffle cream instead of the expected egg yolk. If there were chickens laying such eggs, I'd reconsider my opposition to having them at home. The egg yolk made its reappearance in a truffle sabayon that was heaped over the broken egg. Next, local winter truffles were shaved on top. If you've caught on to the common ingredient here, then you wouldn't be surprised that there were truffle pieces in the brioche as well. The cappuccino was a frothy mushroom soup, alas without truffles as far as we were able to tell. This mushroom soup was the star of the dish, easily earning a 20 by itself. The brioche was decent, but with a vanishingly faint truffle taste and smell. Finally, the egg was good, with lots of truffle flavor, but pretty heavy due to the truffle cream and sabayon. We were left wondering about the technical challenge of cooking an egg and replacing the egg yolk by a truffle sauce - maybe cooking it so the egg yolk is still liquid and then removing it with a syringe? In any case, a great dish with a fun presentation 18.

Next came a dish of scallops and cauliflower. This was a "gift of the chef", so an addition to the courses we expected - don't plan to leave hungry at this restaurant. A grilled scallop was served with grilled cauliflower, truffle puree and a scallop mousse that was shaped like a scallop shell. Truffle cauliflower soup was poured over this, dissolving the mousse and truffle puree. For me, this soup needed more salt, but thankfully it was provided on the table. After that addition of salt, the dish was delicious. The truffle soup was amazing, the scallop cooked perfectly, my only quibble was that the soup was served only lukewarm 19.

Back to our regular menu programming, we were served a dish of white asparagus on top of an uni emulsion. Next to it was a morel mushroom filled with fishcake containing nettles and uni, as well as a kingfish filet under a crunchy piece of bread along with a watercress sauce. Any of these three components would have deserved their own starring dish, but they also went nicely together. The white asparagus was cooked perfectly, but its stem was a bit stringy. Still, with the creamy sauce, this took me back to my childhood in Germany, and would be a 20 by itself. I really liked the fishcake as well, it was nicely salted, and the morel just wonderful - a 19. The fish, however, felt a bit oily and not that memorable, 16 or 17. Overall 18.

Our final savory course was young goat, in several preparations using different parts of the animal. A cutlet was grilled, the liver slow cooked, heart and liver delivered on a "stick of artichoke", and goat sweetbreads were stuffed in a deep-fried potato ball. Artichoke puree was served alongside the main dish, and on the side we found a small pot of "blanquette", a white soup made from goat meat, mushrooms, vegetables, cream and white wine. I wasn't too big a fan of the sweetbread potato ball - it was pretty heavy (especially at this point during dinner) and mostly tasted of potato. But all the other preparations of goat were very tasty, all cooked separately and perfect in their own way. The only weak point was the artichoke heart that formed the base of the heart and liver stick. It felt marinated and not that flavorful 17.

The pescatarian alternative to the goat dish was a red mullet. Its filet was served on top of a potato stuffed with red mullet liver, which in turn rested on a "salad" of spring onions, summer vegetables and shellfish. Roux was held in a spoon draped over the bowl. Fish soup was then poured into the bowl, dissolving the roux. Looks-wise, the final result resembled a bouillabaisse, but I was not too fond of the distinctly bitter taste. Not my favorite 14.

A cheese cart arrived next, with a selection of over 40 local cheeses to choose from. Our picks were varied, some very good, but others not that exciting, and a brownish cheese almost inedible. The accompanying salad, however, was excellent, with a very good dressing.

Dessert time: what looked like a lemon was actually a sugar shell filled with lemon mousse, lemons and kumquats, and resting on top of a lemon cookie. The lemons in this dish were from Menton, known for their wonderful fragrance. This dessert was very light (good after such a long dinner), had excellent lemon flavor, and the cookie added a nicely crumbly texture. The dish resembled the Menton lemon dessert we had at Epicure in Paris, with Epicure's version being a tiny bit better 19.

Mignardises concluded the meal. A macaroon with passion fruit and mango was ok, but oddly enough tasted a bit fishy too me 17. A choux pastry with peanuts was excellent 19. Equally amazing was a chocolate praline filled with pecan nuts; the nuts added a nice crumbly texture 19. Finally, a chocolate tartlet had a nice crumble, but the chocolate itself was not too exciting 17.

During dinner, we were happily surprised by spotlights hidden in the ceiling that turned on whenever we were served a new course. The spotlights were centered right on the plate, creating the perfect conditions for food photography. And there definitely was lots of beautiful food to admire. Speaking of "lots of food", at the end of dinner, we were pretty stuffed, and in fact sadly couldn't finish the final savory dish.

Overall: This was a delightful dinner, with amazing presentations - truly works of both visual and culinary art. With mostly local ingredients and wines, this was also an impressive tour through a part of France that we had not visited before. Together with great and unfussy hospitality, this ended up being a wonderful experience, and definitely worth the required special journey 18.

PS: Strava’s suggested routes were almost my literal downfall. Had I read the altitude map more carefully, I wouldn’t have been so surprised by having to scramble down a sheer rock face using a metal chain. More rock climbing than I’m used to on my runs, but with some beautiful views to make up for it.