A Wine Story

Review: La Table du Lavoir in Bordeaux

Do you equate delicious cuisine and fine wine with a slimming regime? No? If not, you are in for a surprise. By now you have probably heard about French Women Don't Get Fat and other books of this ilk. The idea is that a slim French person enjoys delicious cheese, entrees with sauce, and wine — even croissants — and is still able to stay in spectacular shape.

During a week in Bordeaux, I forced myself to eat like a French person and ended up losing two pounds - without any exercise! The secret? It may have to do with eating meals at restaurants like La Table du Lavoir, a delicious gourmand restaurant inside Les Sources de Caudalie spa in Bordeaux.

Maybe eating delicious food, drinking exquisite wine, and losing weight sounds like a fantasy to you, but it shouldn't. This is the way most naturally-thin French people eat on a daily basis.

If you need to get in shape, you may consider booking a week at Les Sources de Caudalie and having all your meals at La Table du Lavoir, the more casual restaurant, or mixing this with their premiere restaurant La Grand Vigne, the grand dining room. Either way, your chef is the talented Franck Salein, who is quite skilled at using the freshest ingredients and the most delicious, yet light, sauces to create entrees that look as good on the plate as you will be looking in a swimsuit come summer.

On one visit, I enjoyed the most delicious seared tuna as an appetizer, along with an entrée of fresh striped bass on a bed of eggplant. The dish was so exquisite I could not believe it could be low-calorie, yet when I added it all up, it certainly was. You can also find meat and chicken on the menu as well, along with dessert.

Ambiance is key. The large room features enormous windows that look out to the gardens. The service was five-star. All the waiters I encountered spoke fluent English. The crowd was mostly young, quite well dressed and attractive. They seemed to be a mix of hotel guests and locals who have made this their destination for lunch.

If you are afraid of overindulging, then before your lunch or dinner ask if you can visit the spa. I am not sure if they recruited the most attractive men and women in France to be there on the day of our visit, but it certainly seemed so. The spa offers several different slimming therapies, but they were all booked and I did not have a chance to indulge. By the way, wine — and grapes — are a key part of each spa service here, as science is proving that key elements in wine keep people young and in-shape.

I peaked into a few of the guest rooms, and they were all quite luxurious and grand. However, I did tour the property and noticed that the gym (and its two treadmills) was unused. Everyone was too busy losing weight through massage and delicious cuisine.

The week I spent in Bordeaux proved to me that Americans have it all wrong when it comes to keeping slim. For centuries the French have enjoyed exquisite food in moderation, and from my standpoint, it works.

Wisconsin Wine ...

... Wisconsin isn't just for cheese any more. In Sideways fashion, folks are touring wineries closer to home. According to Forbes, wineries in the midwest are a big hit for people who are trying to drink local.

"Clem and Janet Gillitzer stopped at Wollersheim Winery near Madison, Wis. during a weekend trip to see an amateur baseball game. A co-worker who visits the winery often recommended it, said Janet Gillitzer, 45, of Westby.

"I could do this all day," Gillitzer said after a tour of the site where Hungarian Count Agoston Haraszthy planted his first American vineyard in the 1840s before moving west to become the father of California's wine industry. "This old stuff, I love this. The ball game was fun, but this is more fun."

The couple had been buying Wollersheim's $8 Prairie Fume but could switch to the $14 Chardonnay after tasting it, she said. Both wines have won numerous awards, with the 2006 Prairie Fume earning gold medals at five competitions this year, including the San Francisco International Wine Competition."

“Sir, that’s not a Sauvignon Blanc. Sancerre is a grape.”

The February issue of Wine Enthusiast has a great story by Adam Strum on the scarcity of qualified sommeliers.

In the article, Strum explains he was dining in a good restaurant and ...

"I discovered a Sancerre I thought would be perfect to start the evening off. I explained to the woman next to me that it was a Sauvignon Blanc and she’d probably like it. The server took it upon himself to lean down between me and the woman to correct me: “Sir, that’s not a Sauvignon Blanc. Sancerre is a grape.”

In a previous post I mentioned the NYT also mentioned hiring qualified sommeliers is  huge problem. Here in NYC, I have to say, I've had some of the best! My favorites are at Le Bernadin and Le Cirque, as they reveal all the hidden jewels on the menu ...