La Villa Lorraine is perhaps one restaurant in Brussels which has been through a lot of difficult times. The immaculate looking building has a gastronomic reputation going back to 1953, when Marcel Kreusch reopened the restaurant, but sadly the culinary genius died back in 1982. In 1972, head chef of that time, Camille Lurkin bought the property, helping this place go on to become the first 3 Michelin starred restaurant outside of France. After the death of Marcel in 1982 Freddy Vandecasserie and his son Patrick went on to retain the three stars until 1984 and in the 1990’s its Michelin star sparkle started to wear off and the restaurants last Michelin star was taken away from La Villa Lorraine in 2006. After some drastic rethinking, the property was again sold in 2010, to Serge Litvine. Serge appointed new head chef, Alain Bianchin – who’s passion and love for food achieved again a new one Michelin star in November 2013. As far as Michelin star history goes – this place has certainly gone through it all.
August 2014 saw the completion of the newly renovated kitchens and interior, plus another new head chef was appointed (Alain’s second in command), Maxime Colin. One thing I will say about the renovation, is while it all looks beautiful on the outside and its reception entrance feeling opulent and modern – the dining room is however a bordering tacky. There is far too much floral patterns dominating the dining room for my liking. The food here on comparison is extremely modern, which feels odd, served in such a confusing dining room.
For a current one Michelin star restaurant, La Villa Lorraine is commanding some very high prices indeed. At the top end of the menu, a seven course tasting menu will cost you €145 (€230 with wine pairing) and a three course lunch menu €48 (€75 with water, one glass of wine & tea/coffee). If you’re under 30 years of age however (like myself), a very attractive deal can be had. For €68 expect three courses, including appetisers, bread, wine pairing, water and tea/coffee with petit fours. These under-30 menus are very common place in Belgium/Netherlands and is a way of keeping younger people still interested in fine dining – I however need no convincing. Our appetisers consisted of crisp balls filled with a creamy salmon mouse, caviar and yogurt with toasted sesame and a gorgeous smoked eel with a smoky foam and sour cream cheese, to balance the flavours. They were all very refined and were all perfect.
One thing La Villa Lorraine certainly don’t hold back on, is portion sizes. There was a lot of food here and the unexpected arrival of a pre-starter didn’t help matters. Yet I won’t complain about too much food on this occasion, because quite frankly – it was absolutely delicious. A pressed foie gras parfait wrapped in a golden mango infused jelly. Accompanying it were some fresh mango, mango purée, hazelnuts and brittle. As far as decadent dishes go it doesn’t get much better than this.
For a lunch menu, we quickly started to realise that portion sizes were ridiculously big. This fish course was only our starter and was the size of a full main course. Language barrier meant I had no idea what sort of white fish I was eating, but It was very meaty and full of buttery goodness. There was also two fish fillets on the plate, one sitting on top of the other. Carrots and textures of pea were on hand to add a little sweetness and flavour but admittedly were rather simple and while this was a pleasant enough dish, it didn’t particularly excite. Wine on the other hand was also ridiculously generous for the price inclusive. To pair with our rich and buttery courses a fine Puligny Montrachet from Domaine Du Lycee Viticole was flowing freely.
Main course was a vegetarian affair, of slow cooked duck egg encased in a peppery crumb, foam (lots of it), celeriac nest and crispy streaky bacon. Out of all the food we ate here at La Villa Lorraine this was certainly the oddest dish we’d come across. It’s size may have been of a main course standard but this dish would have been much more suited as a starter – eating an egg for my main course just felt strangely unsatisfying. It was again a pleasant enough dish and everything was cooked superbly but at this part of our meal It needed more excitement by this point.
We were so full by this point and wondering if dessert was ever going to arrive, or whether perhaps more intermediary courses were yet to come. Still sipping on a freshly topped up glass of Puligny Montrachet, a small glass of luscious Sauternes wine arrived and I can gladly confirm – it slid down my throat like a treat. The dessert was actually a rather simple affair, but after what we just ate it was a much welcomed dish. Two pieces of sponge cake contained a thick dark chocolate wet cake mixture (at a guess) and topped with cream and shards of chocolate. A scoop of vanilla ice cream was one of the finest I’ve encountered in a long time and was both light in texture, but still creamy in the mouth.
Near exploding point, the idea of the tram back into town was certainly not about to happen, especially after consuming all of these petit fours – the madeleines were particularly exceptional. It also turned out my longing for a taxi wasn’t going to happen either as we’d arrived here without cash and a no cash machine was in sight. Two hours later, after walking in the blistering cold (and me stopping off in every deli) we were back in Brussels centre and ready for bed after a thoroughly enjoyable meal at La Villa Lorraine.
La Villa Lorraine has had a hard time in terms of keeping hold of its Michelin stars and right now I can’t see them obtaining a second. Retaining their current star however, shouldn’t be a problem as the food here is still very accomplished – especially with its new head chef, Maxime Colin at the helm of the kitchen. It’s a restaurant which I look forward to seeing develop over the future and one I’d certainly return back to – especially while I’m still under 30.
7/10
