No other restaurant in France is rated as controversially as La Villa du Havre. On one hand, it has only one Michelin star and that has been going on for a while already, on the other hand, Gault Millau guide (which is as reputable as the Guide Rouge, but not as present internationally) gives 18/20, a top rating. To give an idea what Gault Millau ratings mean, some other restaurants that have 18/20 in 2007 are “Le Grand Vefour “, “Le Maurice”, or “Le Louis 15- Alain Ducasse”… Moreover, the only restaurant that has 20/20 is “La Maison de Marc Veyrat” and it has been a historical award as no other restaurant in France has ever got 20/20…
So the ratings of the guides do seem weird from the first sight… Especially that I have been following the cooking of Jean-Luc Tartarin for few years and there is some force that does make me to come back… Basically, every time I go to Deauville for a weekend, I go to La Villa du Havre… This is what I did this weekend and one more time didn’t regret my choice… Located in a villa-like house, the restaurant is a charming place to be. The rooms are decorated with surrealistic paintings and sculptures…
The menus change very often and even if I wouldn’t dare to call it “the softer version of El Bulli”, I would definitely describe Jean-Luc Tartarin’s cooking very creative and sometimes even mad.
“Grated fresh Perigord truffles, truffle juice gelée with “Reinette”
apples, “fleur de sel”, “mousseline” of potatoes, duck fat”. An excellent starter. The grated (not shaved as the truffles pieces were quite thick and crunchy) truffles intensity is perfectly revealed with the acidity of the gelée… Very small though, even for a starter 🙂
“Wild sea bass, condiments of green apple, grapefruit and fresh caviar…” Even if it looks beautiful, this dish was a flop. The delicate sea bass just doesn’t go with the acidity of fresh apples… The caviar taste was overpowered by the apples… A little too experimental…
“Wild turbot, “velouté” of chervil and green banana, ice cream of endives and cinnamon”. The turbot and the “velouté” were fantastic, but the ice cream which was topped over the fish was not the best choice as it decreased the temperature of the dish very fast…
“Pineapple “Victoria” caramelized with spices, vanilla ice cream” An excellent dessert.
Apart from the slow service (way too little people serving) and some strange and inconsistent marriages of tastes, I loved the dinner. Jean-Luc Tartarin is a truly talented chef and it is always a joy to dine in “La Villa du Havre”… Without question, the restaurant is underrated by the Michelin guide…
