Pic

26000 VALENCE

18.5/20
Prestige Restaurant

BOOK

9 PHOTOS

Chef Anne-Sophie Pic

Cooking French | Gastronomic | specialty

Services Children's menu | Cooking classes | For people with disabilities | Private parking | Valet parking

Price Indicative price per person (excl. drinks)

380€

Gault&Millau's review

18.5/20

Prestige Restaurant Anne-Sophie Pic's name is still held as high (and far from France, too), a name that, across the generations, clatters like a (renewed) promise of unmistakable elegance and gourmandise. On the edge of the city center, in an urban setting hemmed in with greenery, this beautiful house is a model of comfort, with a wise, harmonious and cleverly thought-out aesthetic. The entire dining room team (impeccable dress code) moves about with poise and urbanity. If the first few minutes are a little theatrical in the way the chef's culinary universe is evoked, this impression quickly fades, then disappears to make way for singularly attentive, relaxed and natural service. While a single, long menu (10 "halts") is offered, the choice of meat (2 proposals) and dessert (4 suggestions) is left to the customer. The party can then get underway without a moment's slackening. What to remember? Everything! For example, this trompe-l'œil sublimation of tomato is as dazzling visually as it is gustatory. The pulp, marinated in smoky vanilla, is enhanced by discreet notes of lavender and caraway. The whole is covered with a shell (the trompe-l'œil aspect) made with rice flour and the tomato skin, a model of balance between flavors and textures. And what else? The beautiful Breton lobster, virtuously combined with melon and almonds. And then, without any complexes, the "simple" Mediterranean sardine bursts onto the scene and rises to the level of the so-called noble products! Cooked "en portefeuille" over a blackcurrant wood fire, it rests on eggplant caviar. Accompanied by a little sardine mayonnaise and a tagetes passion sauce for freshness, it makes a brilliant impression. As does the beautifully staged sweetbread sequence. Immersed in a meadowsweet infusion in which it will rest, it is then encased in a beeswax gangue. It's in this garb that it's presented to customers, before returning to the kitchen to be browned in butter. Crisp and melt-in-your-mouth, it's just as tasty as you'd like it, with a simple addition of reduced cooking juices, corn and mezcal gel. After a superb Brie de Meaux from Ferme des Trente Arpents (accompanied by a milk jam and a surprising grated black Brie), it's time for dessert. In this case, plump apricots from the Drôme, combined with notes of saffron, chamomile and peated whisky. Whisky and saffron are also featured in a mini-soufflé accompaniment. As for the vast cellar, its richness and eclecticism make you dizzy. It's also open to more confidential, less star-studded estates. It is commented on with passion, erudition and simplicity by the talented sommelier, who, like the rest of the team, helps to make this a house of excellence.