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Image 1: Just a short drive from Laguiole, this glass and steel complex of the Bras family is situated on a hill tip. When we left this place two years ago, we were determined to come back again and stay in one of Bras’ Relais & Châteaux rooms instead of the Best Western in the town.
Image 2: www.bras.fr Chef: Michel & Sebastian Bras
Découverte & Nature (9-course): €179 Evasion & Terre (6-course): €111
Open from April to October. Closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Image 3: Lounge area with a superb view of the Aubrac region.
Image 4: Booking a room here is more difficult than booking a table. Good that we called the first week in January when the reservation line just opened.
Image 5: For €300+ a night, we got a reasonable size room with a walkout open garden offering a panoramic view of the countryside.
Image 6: All you can drink fridge.
Image 7: Pull out from the wall is a flat screen TV.
Image 8: One remote control for all the electronics in the room.
Image 9: Good size bathroom.
Image 10: Most of the stuff in the room have his logo.
Image 11: We enjoyed the Bras' Limonade while watching the sunset before our world class dinner!
Image 12: Back to the lounge.
Image 13: Started off with an egg sabayon and sesame bread stick.
Image 14: Duck and Porcini tart.
Image 15: More amuse bouche: Beef with couscous, Radish cream with broccoli, Mushroom and spinach
Image 16: Hallway into their dining room.
Image 19: Butter with his logo.
Image 20: Gargouillou: This is one of the courses that we came back here for. Yes, it's just a salad, but it is composed of more than 30 different local vegetables and herbs in season with each vegetable cooked and seasoned separately.
Image 21: We have been thinking about this course every time we have salad in the last 2 years. Simple but spectacular! It's really not that bad to be a vegetarian after all!
Image 22: Saint Jacques scallop, hazelnut, carrot
Image 23: Grilled duck foie gras, butternut confit with liquorice
Image 24: Aligot is a local dish made with Tomme cheese and mashed potato. It is another dish that we came back for. It was served as a side dish last time, but they made it its own course along with an intense truffle cream this time. This combination was even better!
Image 25: A break in the shop before main course.
Image 27: One knife can cost up to €600.
Image 29: Braised veal, kaffir lime juice, quince and turnip confit
Image 30: Another option for main was baby squid
Image 31:
Cheese cart
Image 32: Cheese and celeric sorbet as a refreshment
Image 33: The Bras' signature dessert that we have been waiting for. A modern interpretation of the 1981 Bras coulant.
Image 34: This time it is a pumpkin coulant topped with coffee ice cream! The sweetness from the pumpkin really worked well in this dessert.
Image 35: Poached pear sitting on crunchy meringue with salted butternut squash purée. This dessert was a bit odd.
Image 36: A chestnut ice smothered by a peanut mousse. Another odd dessert!
Image 37: Similar to last time, they served icy chocolate sphere with flavour inside. A distinct one is the white chocolate with curry.
Image 38: Petits Fours
The meal was as excellent as last time. Definitely need to come back again!
Image 39: They gave us a can of biscuit to take back to our room in case we were hungry later!
Image 40: Next morning. First time we had breakfast in a 3-star restaurant. Two choices for breakfast both started off with a fresh red fruit juice.
Image 41: For the Fine French Breakfast (€27), it had baguette, slice of "fouace" (regional speciality), bread with milk, cake with walnuts, croissant, and chocolatine.
Image 42: Three kinds of spread: cherry, chocolate, and local honey
Image 43: Fresh cow cheese, full milk yogurt, and berries.
Image 44: It came with a big bowl of by far the best hot chocolate we ever had.
Image 45: For the Aveyronnais Breakfast (€35), it is a plate of mountain delicatessen (raw ham, dry sausage matured in ash, and liver pâté), and a bottle of Marcillac!
Image 46: Never had that much food and wine, and paid that much for a breakfast! But we enjoyed every second of our experience in Bras!
