home > dining > france > southwest > larrau

Etchemaïté (the restaurant) has a locally-focused menu free of dalliances with delicacy and modernity, instead offering the hearty, grandmotheresque cuisine one expects and wants from such an establishment. Hotel guests are also offered, as part of their half-board package, a set meal each evening. Tonight there’s a choice between a supremely comforting soupe paysanne and a rich terrine of foraged mushrooms, followed by slow-cooked veal loin with artichokes. The veal is overcooked, which I’ve found to be fairly commonplace in France, but the dish is still quite tasty. The final course tonight (and every night) is a choice between dessert and a local brebis with its standard accompaniment of vibrant cherry preserves, both of the latter sourced from Larrau’s farmers. The cheese/cerise combination is irresistibly fresh and so very present; it – with the soup and the mushrooms – brackets this meal in a tangible, living expression of terroir.

Mostly yet broadly local, the wine list shows some sophistication in its choices and options; someone here is a bit of a wine enthusiast rather than just a wine stenographer. (10/06)