Those French people know how to cook!

As you may know, we took at trip to the Alsace region of France back in August. We were completely charmed by the cities we visited, so when we found out that they all have Christmas markets in December, we knew we had to go. So, last weekend we took a day trip to the region, along with our friends Rebecca & Victor, and set off to visit the markets in Riquewihr, Kaysersberg, and Colmar.

Wrapped into our Alsatian Christmas market visit, was a dining experience never to be forgotten. We had lunch in Zellenberg at Le Maximilien, a one-star rated Michelin restaurant. Not to spoil the suspense, but---it was amazing. Delicious food, local wine, rustic breads, fresh ingredients, and impeccable presentation. I was too embarrassed to take pictures of each course, so I'm relying on descriptive prose to relay our fancy schmancy French meal.

The restaurant is set on the slope of a vineyard, with lovely views of nearby grape vines and the town of Riquewihr off in the distance. We took our time pondering the menu, which required some translation from Rebecca since none of the rest of us speak French. :)

During this time of pondering, we were served miniature Tarte Flambée. For those who aren't familiar with it, it's similar in idea to a pizza. They consist of a paper thin crust topped with seasoned cream, sliced onion, and chunks of ham. Mmmmm. We finally decided to go with the set 4-course "Gourmand" menu, as it seemed to be the best way to taste their specialties without spending a fortune. We ordered a bottle of Riesling called "Prestige" from a local vineyard and awaited the never-ending flow of food that was soon to follow.

It was a little awkward being a regular Joe in a restaurant like this. I couldn't help but wonder if they somehow knew that we'd all changed in the car from jeans & sneakers to slacks & dress shoes just before walking the steps up to the restaurant. I think we always feel a little bit like small children when we go to nice restaurants. Like we wanna be loud and silly and giggly, just because it's so unbelievably quiet in those places. It's hard to act grown-up sometimes, ya know?

Anyway, after ordering they brought out a tray with choice of three bread rolls (white, tomato and olive, or a rustic farm bread) to go along with our second mini-course: a salmon sushi roll (tasted French, not Japanese, even though it looked like normal sushi), and a dish with crab meat, celery, tomato gel, and a whipped foam on top. As Rebecca commented, and as we've noticed before, nice French restaurants have some strange fascination with foam. It was good though. The crab part was very nice.

After all the "starters", it was on the main event. The first course was undoubtedly my favorite. It consisted of three layers: the bottom was chopped lobster tail with cream and red onions, the middle was slices of fresh sea mussels, and the top was caviar. This was then garnished with a curly pile of fried mashed potato strings. Beautiful and wonderfully tasty.

We then moved on to the second course, which was Andy's favorite. This was a Parmesan risotto, with two each of large sea scallops and jumbo shrimp, garnished with flash-fried spinach and more grated Parmesan. I have to say that those scallops were the best I've ever tasted, and that Parmesan cheese was amazing. Wish we knew where to buy more of that!

Next up was roasted pigeon (yes, pigeon...it's a specialty in the region), served with sautéed truffle mushrooms, steamed asparagus, and a pumpkin/sweet potato-pistachio sauce. Although it seemed a bit strange to be eating something that most people associate with dirtiness and disease, the pigeon was actually tasty. It was like a cross between chicken and duck; darker than chicken, but not too oily. And the sauce that went with it was verrrry nice.

While feeling a bit full and wondering how we were going to be able to finish our last course, we were served a surprise pre-dessert (apparently this is normal, but it was a surprise for us since we don't usually eat at fancy places!). Arranged on a silver tray were 4 mini-desserts for each of us: a small glass of passion fruit mousse, a small fried doughnut coated in caramelized sugar, a macaroon cookie, and a light cake soaked in schnapps and topped with a dollop of fresh cream. They were all good, but the passion fruit mousse was the hands down winner. Incredible.

Renewed by the sweet goodies, were eagerly awaited our real dessert: a mixture of fresh berries, vanilla sauce, and cubed pieces of gingerbread, topped with a spiced ice cream that tasted like ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Very nice. However, as good as it was, I have to say that Rebecca's dessert put ours to shame. She's vegetarian, and so ordered a la carte, and had selected a warm, chocolaty, lava cake for dessert, served with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce. I could eat one of those every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was that good! :)

Finally, after all that delicious food, we decided to have a cup of cappuccino as the finale to our meal. Those were excellent too! I guess when you're paying big bucks for a meal they go all out on everything. We even got home-made, melon flavored marshmallows to go with the coffees. Reminded me of the time I got gourmet cotton candy with fresh blueberries for dessert at a fancy restaurant in Houston. I guess it just goes to show that even rich people crave the food found at girl scout sleepovers and state fairs from time to time. :)