By J.P.
La Rochelle is a town on the Atlantic Coast of France’s Southwest. Our hotel was on the Island of Ré, connected to La Rochelle by a 1.8-mile bridge. We visited the Christopher Coutanceau restaurant on a Thursday, in mid-July 2017. The reservation confirmation had come in a very confusing e-mail, making reference to highway exits that should be taken and those that should be avoided. We decided to ignore all that and trust the GPS. It worked. We got there shortly after 12:45 pm, a few minutes early for our 1:00 pm reservation.
This restaurant has a long tradition. Chef Richard Coutanceau, Christopher’s father, arrived at La Rochelle in 1984 accepting an invitation from the city’s mayor, who wanted to bring back to life a town property facing the beach. Chef Coutanceau had already been awarded one Michelin star and was able to keep it at the new restaurant. In 1986, his restaurant was awarded a second Michelin star, which has been kept until today. In 1987 the restaurant became a member of the prestigious Relais et Châteaux association.
Christopher, the younger son of the Coutanceau family, tried to be a professional soccer player, but ended up going to a hotel management school in La Rochelle. Christopher Coutanceau learned cooking with his father and with renowned chefs with whom he worked for periods of time, e.g., Michel Guérard, at Eugénie-les-Bains. He eventually joined his father at the Richard Coutanceau restaurant, and in 2007 he became fully responsible for the business, working since these days with his associate, sommelier Nicolas Brossard. The restaurant was later called Richard et Christopher Coutanceau and it is now the Christopher Coutanceau restaurant. A fishing enthusiast, chef Christopher introduces himself as “Cuisinier Pêcheur” (Fisherman Chef).
Christopher’s older brother, Grégory Coutanceau, is also a chef. Initially studying to become a medical doctor he ended up learning to cook by working with several illustrious French chefs. He now owns two restaurants in La Rochelle: Les Flots, and l’Entracte, la Brasserie de Grégory. Both restaurants are in the 2017 Michelin Guide, even though without any stars.
The dining room of the Christopher Coutanceau restaurant is quite impressive, with an outstanding ocean view. Atmosphere is sophisticated, but very friendly. Service is impeccable. Wine pouring was perfect. Our white wine was on ice away from the table and each pouring would keep glasses less than half full. As we were close to emptying our glasses, a waiter would miraculously show up and serve a bit more.
In addition to ordering à la carte, there were two menu options: a 3-course menu (appetizer, main course, dessert) for €70, and a 6-course menu (appetizer, three main courses, two desserts) for €140. We were on an adventurous mood and went for the latter.
Before the long menu, we were started with two amuse-bouches:
- Tuna and eggplant caviar.
- Fish carpaccio and melon gazpacho
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| Tuna and eggplant caviar |
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| Fish carpaccio and melon gazpacho |
Both were very good with high marks for the melon gazpacho.
We were then ready for the menu itself:
- Langoustines vivantes de la Cotinière: en tartare/saisie et araignée de mer (live langoustines from la Cotinière served as a tartare and seared accompanied by spider crab). La Cotinière is a fishing port on the West of the Oléron Island, which is a 50-mile drive South of La Rochelle. Spider crab is one of several types of crab; they have long claws and hairy legs.
The langoustines were served in two different presentations: the first was a tartare with caviar; in the second presentation, the langoustine was seared and accompanied by pieces of spider crab and its foam. The langoustines were superb, and even more so with the crab in the second presentation.
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| Langoustine tartare |
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| Langoustine with spider crab |
- Civet gourmand de homard breton pour mon papa, petits légumes de saison et raviole de champignon (Breton lobster stew honoring Richard Coutanceau, small seasonal vegetables and mushroom ravioli), a restaurant classic since Chef Richard Coutanceau’s time.
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| Lobster stew |
These two excellent courses were followed by:
- Turbot au beurre mousseux, poivrons farcis aux aromates (turbot with a foamy butter sauce, seasoning stuffed peppers).
- Pigeon de Madame Le Guen à la broche, carpaccio et figue farcie (Madame Le Guen´s pigeon a la broche, carpaccio and stuffed fig). Marie and Robert Le Guen raise pigeons in the Dordogne region. A la broche means cooked on a spit or skewer.
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| Turbot |
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| Pigeon |
Both the turbot and the pigeon were very good. However, considering all the meal, the lobster and the langoustines got the highest marks. Not surprisingly, these are the two items highlighted by the Michelin Guide in its description of the Christopher Coutanceau restaurant.
At this point, we still had two desserts.
- Salicorne/caramel, sorbet laitue de mer (Samphire/caramel, sea lettuce sorbet). Samphire is a plant that grows in waters with high salinity. Sea lettuce is an edible seaweed..
- L'abricot, basilic et citron (apricot, basil, lemon)
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| Samphire/caramel, sea lettuce sorbet |
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| Apricot, basil, lemon |
I considered having a wine from the region, but I thought that the level of the food deserved something more ambitious. Moreover, the wine collection of the restaurant is impressive. According to the Relais et Châteaux description, it includes “20,000 bottle and 1,600 vintages, of which about 1,000 appear on the wine list.” I focused on a white Bourgogne, but for the big names the price tag was too high. A bottle of a white Côte de Beaune wine was around €100. I asked the sommelier for a suggestion within that category and price range, specifying that we wanted a dry wine. After some deliberations, his suggestion ended up being a Saint Aubin, La Princée, Hubert Lamy, 2013 (€85). The Lamy family has been growing vines in Saint-Aubin since 1640. Some of the wines of the domain have high ratings from Wine Spectator, but only some older La Princée have been rated. We thought the wine was very good.
After such a great meal, I was tempted to try an spirit. I tried a 15-year Calvados: Pays d’Auge, Roger Groult (€12/glass). Roger Groult is a top Calvados producer and I am sure the Calvados I had is a very good one. However, the adventure confirmed my suspicion that I am not a big fan of Calvados. In any case, if you want learn more about the Calvados Pays d’Auge, see. Espresso coffee from Brazil and Calvados were accompanied by gourmandises: chocolate, pistachio, and lemon.
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| Gourmandises |
In summary, our meal at Christopher Coutanceau was a superb experience and I strongly recommend this restaurant. I would dare to say that it is in the top range of the restaurants awarded two stars by the Michelin Guide. Actually, the June 2017 article mentioned above expressed the view that Michelin should award three stars to the Christopher Coutanceau restaurant in 2018. It did not happen. The new 2018 Michelin Guide for France only includes two new three-stars and none of them is the Christopher Coutanceau restaurant.
Dinner for two, including tax, tips, and €85 of wine, added up to €390 (at the time approximately US $446).
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