Klim and Ko - Leucate lighthouse
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Allan
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Klim and Ko - Leucate lighthouse
This restaurant opened earlier this year in a new building adjacent to the lighthouse at Cap Leucate. The chef is Alexandre Klimenko who was formerly at Le Chap in Perpignan at the time that it held a Michelin star. Earlier in his career he worked for the celebrated Gilles Goujon at L'Auberge du Vieux Puits.
The restaurant styles itself as 'Gastropanoramique'.
Strangely there are no outside tables so we decided to wait until after summer before trying it as we prefer to eat outdoors when the weather is warm. The setting may look spectacular on a nice summer's day but on a windy September night it was pretty bleak.
There is no doubt that Alexandre is an accomplished chef, we opted for the Menu du Grand Cap at €49. The amuse bouche was pumpkin soup with fois gras and the first course was also fois gras. The fish course was lieu jaune (Pollock) with a ginger crust and a lemon foam. The fish was nice but the foam looked impressive when served but immediately melted into a sickly liquid.
Main course was a pièce de charolais which looked superb and was beautifully cooked but unfortunately like most beef in France was tough and tasteless.
Dessert was a delightful poached pear or a cheese platter.
Despite a few gripes, the food wasn't bad at all and merited the price tag.
They don't just serve coffee, they have an extensive list of different blends, accompanied by a selection of Armagnacs with ages ranging from 5 to 50 years.
There was nothing particularly wrong with the service but it all felt rather amateurish - almost like they had roped in friends and family - which they may well have done.
The French press has made a lot of this restaurant and they received a glowing write-up from Gault & Millau but frankly I didn't get it. It is clearly an expensive restaurant yet only seats around 40 people. It relies heavily on its setting which is meaningless on a dark evening when the picture windows are just big expanses of black. I think the lack of outdoor tables will prove a big limitation in summer, but then what do I know?
http://www.klimenko.fr/
The restaurant styles itself as 'Gastropanoramique'.
Strangely there are no outside tables so we decided to wait until after summer before trying it as we prefer to eat outdoors when the weather is warm. The setting may look spectacular on a nice summer's day but on a windy September night it was pretty bleak.
There is no doubt that Alexandre is an accomplished chef, we opted for the Menu du Grand Cap at €49. The amuse bouche was pumpkin soup with fois gras and the first course was also fois gras. The fish course was lieu jaune (Pollock) with a ginger crust and a lemon foam. The fish was nice but the foam looked impressive when served but immediately melted into a sickly liquid.
Main course was a pièce de charolais which looked superb and was beautifully cooked but unfortunately like most beef in France was tough and tasteless.
Dessert was a delightful poached pear or a cheese platter.
Despite a few gripes, the food wasn't bad at all and merited the price tag.
They don't just serve coffee, they have an extensive list of different blends, accompanied by a selection of Armagnacs with ages ranging from 5 to 50 years.
There was nothing particularly wrong with the service but it all felt rather amateurish - almost like they had roped in friends and family - which they may well have done.
The French press has made a lot of this restaurant and they received a glowing write-up from Gault & Millau but frankly I didn't get it. It is clearly an expensive restaurant yet only seats around 40 people. It relies heavily on its setting which is meaningless on a dark evening when the picture windows are just big expanses of black. I think the lack of outdoor tables will prove a big limitation in summer, but then what do I know?
http://www.klimenko.fr/
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Santiago
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Certainly looks interesting. The design reminds me of Jamie Oliver's 15 Cornwall.
Can the big windows not be opened in summer. That could be quite nice as I suspect their thinking is that Cap Leucate only has about 20 days a year with no wind.
Nice tell-it-as-it-is report Allan.
Can the big windows not be opened in summer. That could be quite nice as I suspect their thinking is that Cap Leucate only has about 20 days a year with no wind.
Nice tell-it-as-it-is report Allan.
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