Au Bœuf

67250 SOULTZ-SOUS-FORÊTS

13/20
Chef's Restaurant

5 PHOTOS

Chef Cédric Rott

Cooking French | Gastronomic | Local

Price Indicative price per person (excl. drinks)

32€ à 75€

Gault&Millau's review

13/20

Chef's Restaurant In 2010, Cédric Rott, who in the 2000s travelled from Château de la Messardière to Annapurna, took over the reins of this family-run business and for ten years has been carrying on the legacy of six generations in this landmark of rural cuisine, much sought-after by old-timers. The covid seems to have triggered something in this northern Alsatian. Since 2020, he has been cooking with passion and energy, almost as a self-taught chef. And a new table for gourmets is gradually taking shape. In this constantly evolving cuisine, often divided into several plates, this chef arranges, chisels and structures everything he touches. This is real cooking, where man takes over from nature without distorting it, like a French garden. Presented like an opera cake, the foie gras is a model of balance where the intense flavor is counterbalanced by the freshness of the complementary flavor of the cucumber and Granny apple. The lightly snacked scallops from the Brittany coast are enhanced by a full-bodied mushroom broth. As for the lobster sabayon that accompanies the deliciously silky langoustine, we found it a little too creamy and salty. In the farthest corner of France from the sea, fish are pampered, as evidenced by the line hake, whose flesh is sublimated by careful cooking, and we love the daring technique that transforms a vegetable into a velvety sauce enriched with black lemon and roucou oil. With the ribs served raw, the lamb from Ferme Huchot doesn't yet have the class of previous dishes: the accompanying gyoza is prepared with melting meat, but appeared a little too salty, and the peas are served cold, even though the meat juice is aromatic and quite reduced. As is often the case in Alsace, sweet tooths won't be disappointed by the Mexican vanilla parfait, the sheep's milk espuma and the powerful strawberry sorbet, but escorted by a madeleine that wasn't cooked to the minute. The chef is not short of inspiration, using yellow kiwi, skyr, matcha tea and yuzu in a game of beautiful spheres, alternating deliciously gourmand Bavarian and acidic flavors. The chef's wife, Allison Rott, enthusiastically manages the dining room and advises on wines drawn from an unselective cellar. It's a safe bet that this address, hidden away in one of Northern Alsace's most beautiful villages, won't remain a secret for long!