Aspiring chef Christophe Hay is the brand new king of the Loire Valley. He beforehand had two Michelin stars for his restaurant, La Maison d’à Côté in Montlevault, 10 kilometers from Blois, which opened in 2014. Within the wake of his success, he dreamed of a challenge centered round his personal vegetable backyard that will permit him to precise his Ligérien cooking. In each haute delicacies and informal variations.

Now he has opened Fleur de Loire, a 44-room resort with two eating places and a spa on the banks of the Loire River in Blois. These are the primary bona fide new luxurious lodging within the Loire River Valley for a few years, and the Relais & Châteaux property additionally confirms the emergence of this excellent area of France as an thrilling gastronomic vacation spot on par with Burgundy or Provence.

Hay, a local of Vendôme and the son of a butcher, discovered to prepare dinner on the Lodge Faculty in Blois and went on to work for 5 years with Paul Bocuse at his restaurant on the Epcot Heart in Florida earlier than returning to France. After a number of jobs in Paris, he longed to return to the Loire Valley: “It is one of many
Essentially the most lovely locations on the planet and the native merchandise are wonderful, particularly the fish from the Loire and the vegetables and fruit of the valley.”

The resort has two eating places. At Fleur de Loire, there’s a gastronomic desk Ton wall ton The eating room supplies a relaxed modern setting by which to find the chef’s lyrical and extremely private inventive expression of the Loire land, as seen within the three-, nine-, six- and four-course tasting menus. The primary providing on the nine-course menu just lately served right here was a chic cameo of Ossetra caviar from Cologne with sturgeon cooked in brothyoungster haricots verts and growing older. This delicate dish was an edible tribute to the mighty Loire, the longest river in France, which might be seen via the eating room home windows.

Different nice dishes are carp à la Chambord – grilled carp in a pink wine sauce with crayfish, truffles and bacon, and an amazingly mild soufflé crepe of pike perch with greens from the chef’s natural backyard. The raspberry soufflé resulted in a surprising means, garnished with a Sohee pomelo and garnished with Timut pepper.

Lunch the following day at Amour Blanc, the resort’s extra formal restaurant, was equally glorious, with revolutionary dishes meticulously ready with recent, native substances. Memorable dishes from the frequently evolving menu right here embrace a starter of meat tartare garnished with pickled greens from Hay’s personal backyard; Quinel de Broche (pike pies) with crayfish and mushrooms; and roasted Mirabelle peaches with almond ice cream and panna cotta with roasted colza seed oil.

The resort and its two eating places occupy a former Seventeenth-century U-shaped home on the banks of the Loire that was initially constructed by Gaston d’Orléans, brother of French King Louis XIII. The conversion of the hospice right into a resort was a €30 million challenge that included not solely a whole restoration of the unique buildings however the building of a 15-metre indoor pool situated under the unique vaulted ceilings of the spa pavilion. This Sisli spa additionally has 5 therapy rooms, sauna, hammam, natural tea room and outside swimming pool.

Designed by inside architect Caroline Tessier, the bedrooms are impressively spacious and crammed with mild. Impressed by the Loire River itself, Tissier adorned it in a soothing palette of soppy grays, paired with glossy fashionable furnishings and gold {hardware}. The lavatory merchandise come from Savonnerie des Muids, an area firm that produces all-natural soaps, bathe gels, and shampoos.

26 Quai Villebois Mareuil, Blois, France
Phone. (33) 02 46 68 01 20, www.fleurdeloire.com.
Rooms from 309 euros
Christophe Hay Restaurant – Set Menus: €218, €158, €98
Amour Blanc Restaurant – Common à la carte meal for 2, €150

From France At the moment journal