Monaco: Alléno and Verjus, an accomplice duo | Gilles Pudlowski’s blog
A look back at a worldly and gourmet four-hander at the top in the Principality. Our Côte d’Azur correspondent, Alain Angenost was, of course, there…
Saturday October 15, for the third highlight of the 2022 Star Festival of the Société des Bains de Mer, Yannick Alleno received his friend Bruno Verjus in his restaurant Pavilion of the Hermitage Hotel. Between Maestro Alléno, combined with stars and recognized worldwide for his visionary and innovative approach to the culinary arts, and Bruno, the chef of Tablecharming self-taught, now awarded 2 stars, ex-entrepreneur who became a brilliant gastronomic journalist then passed on the other side of the mirror at more than fifty years old with the success that we know, it could only be a four hands of anthology.
For this unmissable event, the gourmets had come in large numbers, crowding to the terrace, and leaving with joy in their hearts and palates, accompanied by the feeling of having experienced a great moment of gastronomy. Behind the counter, an anthill of cooks were busy in a good mood, leaving the leisure to the two friendly chefs to leave the stoves from time to time to come and cook with the customers.
On this occasion, Yannick Alléno had concocted, together with his resident chef Guillaume Bellayer, a tempura of crispy shiso leaves, with lovage cream, caviar and pike eggs, then his famous poached egg badaboum with caviar, smoked cold cream, croutons at the minute, that he was happy to come and incise in the room. It is served alongside scallops, with marrow bone, Iberian ham extraction and a succulent cabbage stuffed with foie gras, plus lamb chops from the hinterland.
As for Bruno Verjus, a veritable Philippe Noiret of gastronomy, it is right in the middle of the land that he has drawn his recipes like the queen beet of an ephemeral garden, monochrome IV, golden hour, half-raw, half- cooked from the Ile d’Yeu in the rack, Damascus rose jelly and line-caught seabass aged four days, hand-picked cockles, Petrossian Osciètre caviar, verjuice.
Its gourmet symphony continues in the register of sweets: exquisite pear pebbles, vanilla caviar ice cream from pastry chef Maxime Vaslin, with the subtle balance between bitterness and roundness of chocolate tart, with its infusion of capers, Petrossian Osciètre caviar. Orchestrated by the tandem Sarah Ounis and Franck Damatte, a ballet of fine bottles also part of the celebration, with, among others, the Delamotte brut champagne, the white Burgundy signed Roulot, the Pinot gris d’Alsace from the “Clos Jebsal” of the estate Zind-Humbrecht, the Côtes de Bourg Roc de Cambes 2014 from the Mitjavile without omitting the amber Rivesaltes “Mas Delmas” 2009, served with a pipette.
Next meeting: at the Grill of the Hotel de Paris where Dominique Lory received, from October 21 to 22, the Italian chef Davide Oldani, inventor of pop cuisine, before the closing gala of the festival on Saturday November 26.
Pavyllon Monte-Carlo by Yannick Alléno at the Hôtel Hermitage
1 place Beaumarchais
98000Monaco
Such. +377 98 06 98 98
Menus: 68 (lunch, served in 1 hour), 145, 235 €
Map : 150€
Hourly : 12pm-3pm, 7pm-9.30pm
Weekly closing. : Open every day
To place : www.montecarlosbm.com/fr/restaurant-monaco/pavyllon-monte-carlo-un-restaurant-yannick-alleno-hotel-hermitage-monte-carlo