Auberge du Cellier, 66720 Montner

Montner is a quiet, unpretentious village, but it holds a secret:  a gastronomic restaurant that you would never expect to find there! L’Auberge de Cellier, a restaurant with rooms as they say in the U.K., is located in what looks from the outside like an old traditional house, but once inside you realise that it has been completely updated with modern furnishings and fittings,elegant dining tables and interesting photos and pictures on the walls. I particularly like the  chandeliers, which had sheets of parchment written in many diffeernt languages suspended from the light itself.

The restaurant has been open for over 10 years and has built itself an excellent reputation both in the local area and further afield. The chef, Pierre-Louis.Marin, is a member of the International Order of the Disciples of Escoffier and has also been named a “Toque Blanche” which denotes a top tier chef in the region.  In fact he is following in the footsteps of his great grandfather who was a chef on an international liner!

The restaurant offers three menus – a menu du jour, which is changed daily, the details of which you learn on arrival and which costs 19 euros. The day we were there it consisted of celery soup, braised rabbit and strawberry crumble.  The other two menus, which offer the option of a glass of  wine chosen to accompany each course, consist of a 3 course menu at 41 euros ,plus 16 Euros for the wine, and the 4 course Menu Font de Maine, with both a meat and fish dish, at 55 Euros, plus 21 Euros for the wine.

On our visit we chose the 3 course St. Jaume menu and after an appetizer of home-made cheese straws and an taster portion of celery soup, two of the guests started with home made foie gras accompanied by chutney, followed by roasted fillet of local Vedell veal, wrapped in breadcrumbs, almons and dried tomatoes and accompanied by small sauteed artichokes. The dessert was a hot souffle with caramelised apples.  The third guest started with a dish of white and green asparagus accompanied by home made mayonnaise, a small tuna fish on a bed of fresh peas, and a rhubarb crumble.  The coffee came with pieces of dark artisanal almond chocolate.  As we were celebrating a birthday, we started withchampagne and then chose a 2007 Grain d’Orient white wine from St. Paul de Fenouillet, which was crisp but with a taste of fruitiness and went well with all the dishes. The wine list was very extensive and offered a wide range  of prices. .

The bedrooms, which unfortunately I didn’t have time to visit as our lunch had gone on for rather a long time (!) all have a shower and cost 54 euros for a single and 61 Euros for a double, year round. Breakfast is 9 Euros.

This is a restaurant which merits a detour if you are in the area. It is also worth noting that it is open on Mondays.