Alsatian wine with out meals is like do-it-yourself waffle cones with out ice cream. What makes a go to to the northeastern French wine area particularly interesting is the extent to which culinary choices have improved. Having lived in Strasbourg for the higher a part of the final 25 years, I’ve observed over this time an upturn in customer support – and never only for the costly places.
Alsace is among the most heralded areas in Michelin’s well-known information; it counted 29 starred eating places in 2020, with 33 in 2021 – and nobody misplaced a star. Many earned the ‘Bib gourmand’, which recognises worth for cash. A complete of 30 eating places obtained the inexperienced star, rewarding cooks for a ‘dedication to sustainable gastronomy, respect for the atmosphere, and sustainable improvement’.
Aux Armes de Strasbourg
Strasbourg boasts two brasseries it’s best to go to. Aux Armes de Strasbourg at Place Gutenbourg supplies pleasant, environment friendly service matched in a jovial, pleasingly kitsch setting: cute wood Alsatian furnishing and Alsatian pink and white tablecloths. Because it had opened beneath the Wilhelmine period in 1900 as ‘Zuem Stadtwappe’, the meals stays basic Alsatian: from Baekeoff and choucroute, to hen suprême with Riesling.
9 Pl. Gutenberg, 67000 Strasbourg
Les Haras
For a extra upscale expertise, don’t miss Les Haras, situated in a gorgeous 18th century constructing that when housed a royal steady. Paris-based design agency Jouin Manku has created an expansive, elegant two-decker restaurant linked by a curving glass-and-steel staircase.
I’ve lunched on the patio in summer time, inside within the winter. Winner of the 2014 finest restaurant prize from the London-based ‘Restaurant & Bar Design Awards’ and recognised by The Wall Road Journal as one of many world’s ‘most lovely eating places’, the design is matched by glorious delicacies and repair at honest pricing. Marc Haeberlin of the Michelin-three-starred L’Auberge de l’Sick in Illhaeusern supervises menus that characteristic each conventional fare and extra trendy, inventive specialties. If ready to your desk, sit down on the bar for a cocktail beneath the spectacular staircase or select from over 100 wines.
23 Rue des Glacières, 67000 Strasbourg
Les Plaisirs Gourmands
Topping Journey Advisor’s finest restaurant record in Strasbourg (2022), Les Plaisirs Gourmands is so good that I went twice earlier than this text. Positioned in a considerably humdrum residential suburb, the doorways open to the superb delicacies and tasteful décor of chef Guillaume Scheer and spouse Charlotte Gate. And it counts among the many most economically priced (one-star) Michelin experiences yow will discover.
For instance, for a desk of three, €380 / £320 (tax and tip included) lined a six-course lunch, together with two bottles of wine. However prepare for at the least three hours of culinary pleasure. From langoustine carpaccio with inexperienced pepper and refined vanilla sauce to native seared trout served with pumpkin in late autumn, excellent pastries for dessert are exhausting to beat. I additionally loved the lunch set menu (entrée, plat, dessert or cheese) at solely €40 per particular person. Nice wine record too!
35 Rte du Général de Gaulle, 67300 Schiltigheim
Mademoiselle 10
An ideal non-tourist selection for eating near the Strasbourg Cathedral is Mademoiselle 10. In November 2021, I joined US Consul Basic Darragh Paradiso for an ‘Individuals in Strasbourg’ lunch, the place we loved excellent butternut squash soup and roast hen with a coconut emulsion sauce, properly paired with the Domaine Marcel Deiss Berckem white, which blends 50% Riesling with… 12 different Alsace varieties.
Chef Jean luc Nopre proposes reasonably priced, prime quality fare, from conventional Alsace foie de canard with mango chutney to filet of Alsace deer in a wine discount sauce and garlic. There’s a wonderful collection of vegetarian dishes, too. Overlooking the picturesque Sick tributary, the restaurant affords a comfy, relaxed setting. Hours have modified nonetheless, so you can’t keep till after 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. About 60 wine listed.
10 Quai des Pêcheurs, 67000 Strasbourg
Léonor
I can’t suggest extremely sufficient the Léonor, which opened final 12 months in what as soon as was the central Strasbourg police station! The opening amuse bouche of native trout served as tartare with creamy Alsatian fromage blanc (Bibelskass), accentuated with pickled radish proved a promising begin to a lunch that included meatier-than-usual frogs legs roasted in butter, rosemary and garlic, and graced by a turnip mousseline emulsion and heirloom greens.
Duck confit sluggish cooked over native pink cabbage flavoured with cinnamon and accompanied by Alsatian spaetzel pasta proved a delight with Alsatian Pinot Noir. And the duo dessert of mango sorbet adopted by hazelnut cake lined by what seemed to be flower petals (however all chocolate) was fabulous: Good with an Alsatian rosé cremant. With some 120 wines listed and rising, an important place to eat.
11 Rue de la Nuée-Bleue, 67000 Strasbourg
Villa René Lalique
Tasting Rieslings within the expansive underground wine cellar (2,500+ listed) with head sommelier Romain Iltis set the proper tone for a €230/£195 marathon dinner. Austrian chef Paul Stradner, who had beforehand earned a second star at Brenner’s Park luxurious resort in close by Baden-Baden, Germany just lately joined chef Jean-Georges to welcome company to Villa René Lalique, an opulent restaurant and adjoining boutique lodge within the northern Alsatian village of Wingen-sur-Moder: 45-minute’s drive from Strasbourg.
Most servings are regionally sourced, reminiscent of recreation hunted in a close-by forest, however Stradner stresses: ‘We have now been paying simply as a lot consideration to non meat plates as an rising variety of shoppers favour greens’. Take for instance the pink cabbage symphony of cooked pink cabbage in cannelloni mixed with pink cabbage sorbet with a inexperienced apple emulsion, completely paired with dry Pinot Gris.
Each the setting and décor – elegantly highlighted with flowers and real Lalique crystal – present visible feasts to match the meals. If the value tag for one of many six suites at Rene Lalique’s former 1920 dwelling (renovated in 2015) subsequent to the restaurant is just too pricy, keep at Villa Hochberg, additionally a part of Group Lalique: trendy and extra reasonably priced, and 5 minutes away. Price a day journey for the excellent museum that explains the Lalique story.
18 Rue Bellevue, 67290 Wingen-sur-Moder
Wine Bars
Searching for a wine bar, strive the just lately opened L’Alsace à Boire, which incorporates examples of practically all of Alsace’s 51 grands crus, in a snug and central location. Lit by a powerful overhead sequence of empty Alsace wine bottles, sit down on the bar and order a top quality Alsatian Crémant, or profit from many by-the-glass picks to go together with your cheese plate. I want the placement was a bit extra prominently within the centre, and with a bigger entrance signal to incorporate a big map of the Alsace wine route!
Lovers of informal trendy ambiance ought to go to Sick Vino. Positioned on a barge on the Sick tributary within the Strasbourg metropolis centre, the bar is managed by Stephan Maure, a wine commerce professional who proposes copious picks – and never simply from France, but additionally Europe and from the New World. Attempt the seared scallops with Riesling or a copious charcuterie (or veggies choice) both on the bar or at considered one of a number of tables. It’s enjoyable to go in hotter months so you possibly can sit exterior on the boat.
L’Alsace a Boire: 14 Rue du Vingt-Deux Novembre, 67000 Strasbourg
Sick Vino: 19a Quai des Pêcheurs, 67000 Strasbourg
