An invitation to Bruno Oger’s 2 Michelin abode in the Cote d’Azur threw up so many questions. Can a kitchen that has held their double star accolade since 2005 still be relevant? Is it going to be a mindless deluge of fatty butter laden sauces and expensive game meats?
After all, I’ve been burnt too many times to count: visiting long standing Michelin starred kitchens (where chef’s hats almost graze water sprinklers) that were solacklustre in experience that my memory refused to grasp on to a single inkling of a dish. I shall not name names but sometimes dining at these bastions, is akin to running an endurance race. However, fatigued and famished from a half day of travels through France down to Cote d’Azur, I threw all aversions out the door. Bring on the salt, sauces, butter and bread, please.
It’s 7 30pm, the autumn sun has long bid its farewell. I’m poured into the restaurant, accompanied by a salty cold breeze. The handsomely dressed maitre d’ leads me past swinging doors, straight into a kitchen where a stunning wooden table with a single seat drawn up awaits me. Within moments of being seated, another question arose: “Will you be drinking tonight?” — to which a coupe of Marie Copinet champagne is the answer. Chef Bruno Oger parks himself blatantly across the table, his silver dusted hair whipping itself with gusto across his forehead, establishing an air of nonchalance immediately. “Are you hungry?” To which I replied, “extremely”. He snaps his fingers as if to commandeer the beginning of the culinary debaucheries.
While the dining room remains as a church to the concept of fine dining: creaseless white linen draped over stark table tops with nothing but the sound of polished silverware against China plates as audio works; the chefs table experience was anything but. It’s high drama, multi sensory and utterly uncopyable. It begins with an onions soup lofted by aged Comte cheese foam which instantly warms the soul.
Gilardeau oyster No.2 coaxed into 2 petite cylinders has its natural salinity accented by oyster leaf, it is graced with Petrossian Ossetra imperial caviar and are absolute flavour bombs. To accompany that, Sommelier Axel Dervieux pours a bright and citrusy 2022 Sancerre from Daniel Chotard and I’m reminded of the elegance of Loire Valley Sauvignon blanc.
He moves easterly to the region of Alsace with a dry Riesling that does a sensuous dance with dish of abalone cooked with persillade and provencal salt. It’s a lovely mouthful that demonstrates Chef Bruno’s culinary prowess, especially in the subject of seafood. Born in Morbihan, Brittany and relocated to the French Riveria since 1995, Chef Bruno’s cuisine is one that reflects the tenaciousness of the Brittany coastline to the generosity of the Mediterranean.
Dipped in sunshine, a little quirky around the edges, yet so jammed packed with complex flavours despite its tight composition. Obviously this gift didn’t go unnoticed and only after 10 months that he opened La Villa Archange in 2010, the restaurant was awarded a double star. In 2016, the establishment cinched the Relais & Chateaux designation even without the guest accommodation, a distinction that piqued the most discerning of foodies.
The one dish that I’ll keep revisiting in my mind is the scallops slow poached in olive oil till it yields to the spoon with little resistance. Accompanied with Jerusalem artichokes and a smidgen of saffron to ground it. “This one is an ode to Asia,” says chef when the sea bass makes its appearance. Unlike the usual fish dishes drowned in beurre blanc, this iteration embraces a more au natural approach with a distinct Cantonese orientation. I finished this with an audible sigh and a belly rub.
There is a distinct golden touch to the next dish that follows, a herbaceous hunk of burnt fennel slouches next to a hefty fiery red roasted langoustine.“The sauce is insanely good,” the server whispered urgently and sure enough, the vadouvan sauce did not disappoint. It was really very, very good.
Despite Chef Bruno’s inclination towards greens and seafood, he keeps one meat dish on the menu for diners who like to round-up their degustation with a red meat. Today it is braised jowl of a noble breed of pig from the Pyrenees given an offbeat expression with razor clams. And if you’re not struck with the tenderness of the pork, the ancillary boudin and gribiche tartlet is something out of a fairy tale.
Dining at Villa de Archange is surreal in a sense that you still feel the gravity of the arbiter of culinary excellence — Michelin; yet its creative, definitive and decidingly relevant. Chef Bruno has promulgated the importance of training a new generation of cooks and he has clearly succeeded in inspiring the youth. I, for one, am more than happy to return back for dinner.
L’Inspiration de l’Archage menu: 370€
Wine pairing (5 glasses): 220€
La Villa Archange
Address: Rue de l’Ouest, 06110, Le Cannet, France
Instagram: @oger.bruno
Text: Sihan Lee
Photo courtesy: Sihan Lee
