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5th April 2013. Back in Tours after lunch in Confiserie Bigot in Amboise (subject of a post in the food section, just in case anyone finds themselves peckish in Amboise), we rested in the hotel, and, by around 8;30 pm, headed off for dinner in town. I had hoped that Les Tuffeaux would have been open by then, but, it, unfortunately, was not. Thus, we headed down rue Colbert to take Catha to try out Le Turon, but all its tables were already full.
Passing by L'estrade (i.e., "The Stage"; 123 rue Colbert 37000 Tours, France), Catha suggested we try it out. It looked nice enough, and, encouraged by our luck the night before at Le Turon, I immediately agreed.
The chef-owner himself, Jean-Michel Perreau, personally welcomed us, led us to our table, took our orders, and then disappeared into the kitchen (the place was packed, by the way, but, it being past 9pm, everyone else was already on or past their main courses - the French do not eat as late as the Spanish).
The above quickly hit our table as we waited for our first courses. It tasted like Chèvre-Laced Fromage Blanc with Chives, but I'm not 100% sure about that. It was quite nice; the kids and Catha eventually picked it clean (the lateness of the hour and the lightness of our lunch, no doubt).
My delicious entrée of Gratin de Queues d'Écrevisses et Fondue de Poireaux au Curry (Gratin of Crayfish Tails & Fondue of Curried Leeks).
Since I was not driving after dinner, I had both white and red for dinner. For my first course, I ordered a bottle of 2011 Cave de Montlouis Sec* - Bright, lively, fresh, sweetish (almost like a vendanges tardives, but not quite). Notes of fruit cocktail, pineapples in light syrup, peach, and, underneath, some yellow apricot and orange rind. Good enough acidity to keep things interesting and to cut through the gratin's cheesiness. Slightly viscous. Quite nice, actually. Very drinkable. Very inexpensive. Great value for money.
* A bit of research shows that this is a product of La Cave des Producteurs Montlouis-sur-Loire, a cooperative of 25 Montlouis-sur-Loire AOC vignerons founded in 1961, all working with one cellarmaster and oenologist. As such, they market 1/3 of the entire volume of wine from Montlouis-sur-Loire, with almost 2,000,000 bottles in their limestone cellars.
Oeufs en Meurette et ses Croutons (I think Catha's and/or Mauro's).
Joaqi's Oeuf en Meurette au Merlot
Lorenzo's Pan-Seared Foie Gras with Apples
Main courses: Magret de Canard (one each for Joaqi & I)
Catha's Sourís d'Agneau, Confit au Vin, Façon Sept Heures (Lamb Shank Cooked in Wine for 7 Hours)
Mauro & Lorenzo had an order each of La Belle Entrecôte (300 gms.), Os à Moelle, Sauces au Choix ("The Beautiful Sirloin Steak" with Bone Marrow & Choice of Sauces). Looks like a killer.
For the night's red, I chose blind again (i.e., I just picked the most expensive bottle on the list, which was still very cheap): 2009 Domaine de Vieux Bourg Vieilles Vignes - Full-bodied, notably concentrated, and a bit jammy, but glides nicely across the palate. Tobacco leaf and anise laced, peppery, deeply veined dark red fruit with undertones of oak related chocolate. Acidity is low. Long, strong, a bit rustic, an intense wine. Over-all, quite acceptable and pleasant enough.
Catha liked it with her lamb shank.
Only Joaqi opted for a cheese course before dessert.
Croustillant de Chèvre Chaud sur Mélange de Salade(Crispy-Encrusted Hot Goat Cheese on a Mixed Salad).
Catha & Mauro skipped dessert. Joaqi had chosen one of the desserts of the day (he did his own ordering and I left him to his own devices). He obviously didn't know that "anana" is French for "pineapple". Joaqi doesn't like pineapple, so he wasn't at all happy with this, but that's not the restaurant's fault.
Lorenzo's Moelleux aux Chocolat
I had Tiramisu à l'Amaretto et au Spéculoos with my double espresso.
The prices at L'estrade are very inexpensive, i.e., all the foregoing, including both bottles of wine and several bottles of water came out to under 200€ - I remember this vividly because I attempted to pay with a 500€ bill (I wanted to break those bills as many small establishments don't have change for this denomination) and, sure enough, they didn't have change for it. So, I handed over a 200€ bill, and Catha noticed that the chef showed it to the table beside us and it elicited a little titter*. Anyway, the point is this is a great value-for-money place for dinner (and, I'm sure, lunch as well).
* Apparently, the French do not use cash often. Waiting in line once at a take-away coffee shop in CDG, the lady ahead of me in line paid for her tea and 3 pieces of pain de chocolat (3€ and change in all) with a credit card. Hoo boy. If I tried to do that in Manila I'd probably get thrown out.
Until the next!