Blog
Dear Friends of La Garrigue
Only one more day to go before closing the books on this 16th Festival for La Garrigue and with just over 3000 covers served, one of the most successful Edinburgh Festival ever.
OK , I did not managed to escape and attend a few shows, as I anticipated, but I still managed to supply the kitchen with enough wild mushrooms to see us through now to December and I am still planning to have a few foraging trips; the chefs yellow fingers are not due to nicotine stained but more likely to cleaning Chanterelles…..I still clocked to many hours of course but Morgan was considerate enough to make sure I got my 2 days off a week; a first time for me in August! I wish I could say the same for the rest of the staff especially Matt and Antony in the kitchen who are the unsung heroes of La Garrigue's success ; they managed to keep the team together and deliver the quality sometime we take as granted. Of course this is a team effort and every member, front and back of house should receive a Gold medal! They all are on my “Honours list”. We even had to go the Award ceremony in Glasgow ’s Crowne Plaza Hotel to receive our Award for the best restaurant in the ‘World cuisine “ section. it is always with pleasure that I go to Glasgow as it hold a special place in my heart, but to go there to collect an Award make the trip even more enjoyable; Thank you for all the people who nominated La Garrigue ;it does mean a lot to us.
This was followed by a letter from the AA informing us that La Garrigue wine list had won the “Notable Wine List Award” for the second year in a row. This award is much more personal as it represents 16 years of efforts in selecting some of the best wine from the Languedoc Area of France, giving at the same time more credibility to the Languedoc wine tours that I organize for La Garrigue costumers.
I also understand that La Garrigue is going to be feature in the Sunday Time magazine on 11th of September 2016 reporting on the Edinburgh festival…..What a summer!!!
On the family front of course the Highlight of the month was the arrival of Baby Olivia , Amelie-Rose little sister and Aaron we cousin’s….nappies rule in the Gauffre household ! Who is a happy Grand Father then?
After such a busy August I am really looking forward to my next Wine tour in Languedocstarting the 11th of September. Possibly my favorite one as it coincide with “les Vendanges” and the buzz in the vineyards make this Tour a little bit more special, The time table is just about finalized and this is going to be an exciting trip with a visit to some old favorite of mine and a couple of new vineyards, some new restaurants and weather permitting a couple of picnics with some grapes picking and wine pressing too….I will tell you all about it in my next news letter.
I will take this opportunity to visit Mas Gabriel once again and select the wines for the dinner that Peter and Deborah, the wine makers and owners of Mas Gabriel, will be hosting at La Garrigue on Tuesday the 18th of October, I hope that Peter will bring his Saxophone with him as I remember him playing a few tunes in the cellars of the domaine last June to help the wine to “chill out” I assume!! I obviously need to taste the wine before choosing the dishes for the menu that evening and I will do that on my return.
One thing that cannot wait until my return is the Office Parties Menus for December and Christmas day . The numbers of pending enquiries is king of overwhelming, and the list of callers wanted to book their table for Christmas day is growing by the days, so I am very sorry to leave you so soon as I enjoy chatting to you but the call of duty and Morgan breathing down my neck….
A bientot,
J-Michel
Winner - Harpers French regional wine list 2013
Winner - Which? Scottish Restaurant of the Year 2010
Featured on "Ramsay's Best Restaurants"
La Garrigue - 0131 557 3032 or book online.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Only one more day to go before closing the books on this 16th Festival for La Garrigue and with just over 3000 covers served, one of the most successful Edinburgh Festival ever.
OK , I did not managed to escape and attend a few shows, as I anticipated, but I still managed to supply the kitchen with enough wild mushrooms to see us through now to December and I am still planning to have a few foraging trips; the chefs yellow fingers are not due to nicotine stained but more likely to cleaning Chanterelles…..I still clocked to many hours of course but Morgan was considerate enough to make sure I got my 2 days off a week; a first time for me in August! I wish I could say the same for the rest of the staff especially Matt and Antony in the kitchen who are the unsung heroes of La Garrigue's success ; they managed to keep the team together and deliver the quality sometime we take as granted. Of course this is a team effort and every member, front and back of house should receive a Gold medal! They all are on my “Honours list”. We even had to go the Award ceremony in Glasgow ’s Crowne Plaza Hotel to receive our Award for the best restaurant in the ‘World cuisine “ section. it is always with pleasure that I go to Glasgow as it hold a special place in my heart, but to go there to collect an Award make the trip even more enjoyable; Thank you for all the people who nominated La Garrigue ;it does mean a lot to us.
This was followed by a letter from the AA informing us that La Garrigue wine list had won the “Notable Wine List Award” for the second year in a row. This award is much more personal as it represents 16 years of efforts in selecting some of the best wine from the Languedoc Area of France, giving at the same time more credibility to the Languedoc wine tours that I organize for La Garrigue costumers.
I also understand that La Garrigue is going to be feature in the Sunday Time magazine on 11th of September 2016 reporting on the Edinburgh festival…..What a summer!!!
On the family front of course the Highlight of the month was the arrival of Baby Olivia , Amelie-Rose little sister and Aaron we cousin’s….nappies rule in the Gauffre household ! Who is a happy Grand Father then?
After such a busy August I am really looking forward to my next Wine tour in Languedocstarting the 11th of September. Possibly my favorite one as it coincide with “les Vendanges” and the buzz in the vineyards make this Tour a little bit more special, The time table is just about finalized and this is going to be an exciting trip with a visit to some old favorite of mine and a couple of new vineyards, some new restaurants and weather permitting a couple of picnics with some grapes picking and wine pressing too….I will tell you all about it in my next news letter.
I will take this opportunity to visit Mas Gabriel once again and select the wines for the dinner that Peter and Deborah, the wine makers and owners of Mas Gabriel, will be hosting at La Garrigue on Tuesday the 18th of October, I hope that Peter will bring his Saxophone with him as I remember him playing a few tunes in the cellars of the domaine last June to help the wine to “chill out” I assume!! I obviously need to taste the wine before choosing the dishes for the menu that evening and I will do that on my return.
One thing that cannot wait until my return is the Office Parties Menus for December and Christmas day . The numbers of pending enquiries is king of overwhelming, and the list of callers wanted to book their table for Christmas day is growing by the days, so I am very sorry to leave you so soon as I enjoy chatting to you but the call of duty and Morgan breathing down my neck….
A bientot,
J-Michel
Winner - Harpers French regional wine list 2013
Winner - Which? Scottish Restaurant of the Year 2010
Featured on "Ramsay's Best Restaurants"
La Garrigue - 0131 557 3032 or book online.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter