Why limit yourself to creperies to accompany a meal of cider or perry? Trained by the elite of Parisian gastronomy (Yannick Alléno, Ken Kawasaki, Oxte, etc.), Clémence Goupil, 27, and Alex Néel, 28, have other ambitions than galette-sausage and bolées. Opened just a month ago, in the charming village of Mathieu, in Calvados, equidistant from Caen and the sea, their restaurant, Roze, is already establishing itself as one of the most joyfully refined restaurants in Normandy .
The wines, of course, hold their place in this elegant cocoon of old stones and contemporary relaxation. But this young couple returned to their native lands also likes to demonstrate the versatility of pairings that drinks made from fermented apples and pears allow.
Born by the sea, in Granville, Alex Néel talks about “the somewhat harsh harshness” ciders from La Manche, compared to “more fruity roundness” of those from the Pays d’Auge, dear to his companion. Clémence Goupil, who grew up in the green meadows of inland Normandy, also has family in the cider industry. Distant relatives, Jean-Luc and Nathalie Olivier supply Roze with the range of products from the La Galotière estate, in Crouttes (Orne), whose 45 hectares of apple and pear trees have been certified in organic farming since 2000. That is to say around ten references capable of sublimating cuisine from the land as well as the sea.
An earthly rusticity
Anyone who has had the chance to experience the little feasts of shore fishing knows how good seafood and orchard fruits go together. The pleasure of tasting your harvest of shellfish, curry combs and bouquets with a cloudy cider, as rough as the sea spray, remains unforgettable. A memory suddenly revived at this table.
This May 2, the young chefs of Roze are rekindling these marine sensations with the fleshy mother-of-pearl of a raw scallop and its pickled-marinated coral, adorned with a crispy tuile with seaweed and a veil of smoked beetroot. In agreement, they try a rare cider (four hundred bottles) from the Olivier family, aged for six months in calvados barrels. Not very effervescent, it has an earthy rusticity echoing that of beets. The floral nose, the fruity and slightly bitter palate of the Pays d’Auge brut from La Galotière then combine nicely with the sweet flesh of a spider crab in a celery ravioli with coconut oil, in which mini-dices of kohlrabi sparkle like so many vegetable bubbles.
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