"Le Bout Du Monde" Part 2... Cheese

One of the two main reasons for going to the Loire in the first place was to partake of the cheese course at the Le Bout Du Monde, which Fred had labeled as the best he had ever experienced.  So leaving the castle at Amboise, we checked in at our hotel in Tours, the major city in the Loire and after freshening up traveled the 12 or so miles to the end of the earth! We arrived just before dusk along a road barely wide enough for one much less two vehicles. We were in Berthenay, some 250 kilometers southeast of Paris. Fred's first plan, which he had talked about with the owner, Christophe Roublin, by phone the day before and which his lovely wife Amanda had scuttled almost at first mention was for us to eat a complete meal of cheese based food, paired with the appropriate wines.

We first tried a bottle of sparkling wine from the region which was very good, dry but not overly so. Amanda and Toby both ordered different fish dishes. I had "Pork Three Ways" and Fred ordered the appetizer of snails as his main dish and we also ordered one for the table. This was not the typical butter and garlic dish, but a much more earthy mushroom tasting delight with garlic and herbs that came in a very dark almost black sauce with snails ranging in size from small to thumb size. ( The trouble with tasting something this good on holiday is knowing you're not likely to get back to it anytime soon! )

All three entrees were scumptious. My entree came as three distinct statements on a single plate. One was very asian in a puff pastry, one was a German light colored sausage and the third was also sausage based with a root vegetable puree. All three were outstanding! as were Toby & Amanda's entrees.
But we really had driven the three hours for the cheese!  The first plate of 20 cheeses were goat or goat sheep mixes which we paired with a bottle of both a red and white wine. Our host Christophe Roublin would talk about the various qualities of each cheese as he sliced small portions of each . Fred would then act as a translator for the three of us, including what we called on French Island in Old Town were my grandmother lived, a half assed Frenchmen... one who had French roots but couldn't speak any French.

The second cheese tasting moved on to sheep & cow cheeses. We paired these with a bottle of dry white and separate glasses of wine, including a sweet red and white which were for the two blue cheeses at the end. As we lingered over the meal and talked about cheese and it's politics... with the continuing coming together of the European Union, raw milk cheeses are being legislated out of existence, but not without a fight by French farmers and cheese lovers who with consider a few bad reactions and possibly an occasional death of no consequence in their pursuit of frommage nirvana. We tasted a few of these in our selections and Christophe said he would defy the law when it takes hold later this year.

 As to his cheese tasting, which is normally experienced in a much more limited fashion than we had, I asked how often someone would have to come to his restaurant to get a full appreciation?  His answer was every day as it changed daily. Each cheese in his cellar was either younger or older when served, some cheeses were only available seasonally, some were quite different on a year to year basis, much like wine can be good bad or indifferent year to year. So if you really, really love cheese and you are willing to go to the end of earth to prove it, and you have a spare year of your life to fill. Pack your bags and head to Le Bout Du Monde!

We left feeling sublime and very satisfied with our adventure after 2 A.M.  As we walked to our car there was not a single light except a sliver of moon and a sky full of stars.

The next day we would visit the Marc Bredif winery for a tasting and a tour of the caves.

Le Bout Du Monde

www.restaurantleboutdumonde.com

Berthenay, France

contact@restaurantleboutdumonde.com

"Le Bout Du Monde" or the end of the earth Part 1... The Castle

((( Before we go to the end of the earth, an explanation for my lack of postings while away.  It seems I forgot to check if my browser could correctly read the blogger site.  Well it can sort of, but not enough to actually function & load pictures. Thus the wartime like silence on the airways! )))

Paris was lovely although I was mostly in a funk and not up for taking many pictures and those I did take were mostly rushed and pretty bad.  As you could see from my one and only post using our hosts computer we stayed in a lovely apartment on Ave Rapp in the 7th arondesmont.  In the end I didn't shoot in a restaurant kitchen because when you go to the ends of the earth, it's a long tiring journey back. On our first sunday in Paris our host Sharon and Michael had invited their friends Fred and Amanda over for brunch. Fred was excited to talked to me because he and Amanda are both big on food and my blog and pictures from restaurant kitchens was of interest to him. And it is thru Fred & Amanda that Toby and I got to go to the Le Bout Du Monde.  Turns out the end of the earth is in the Loire Valley. And is somewhat of a secret!  Fred was born in the Loire and thinks it's vastly underrated as a tourist spot. I tend to agree after our day and a half stay there. Fred declared on sunday at brunch that he and Amanda were going to Le Bout Du Monde, which it turns out is a very lovely restaurant at which he declared the owner Christophe Roublin, a sommelier as well as a cheese expert served the best cheese course he, Fred had ever tasted. Further more Fred suggested that we should base our entire meal on cheese.  Michael couldn't take the days off from work and Sharon suddenly got sick Monday evening, so Tuesday Toby and I met Fred and Amanda at the Pont de Serves subway station and off we went in Fred's car. Fred suggested that we had plenty of time and should stop by one of the many castles the Loire is famous for along with it's many small wineries.  As the Chateau at Amboise was close by our destination it made sense to visit this resting place for Leonardo da Vinci.  Seems he lived the last years of his life in the area and is buried in the chapel there.  The chateau itself is a mix of of French Gothic and the first use of Italianate Renaissance style in the Loire region. It sits atop a bluff overlooking the confluence of the Loire and the Amasse Rivers and must be a bitch to heat. It is lovely and worth a peak if your in the area.

Part 2 Food and Drink follows tomorrow.
If your headed to France and the Loire this summer
www.chateau-amboise.com
+33 2 47 57 00 98