Our favorite restaurant is Le Pressoir located up near calmos cafe to the north end side of the Gran Case boulevard There is a now a well lite free parking lot across the street also some ocean side parking directly adjacent to the restaurant
we have enjoyed this restaurant since Chef Franc owned it but the relatively new owners Milaure & Gil along with Chef Jerome have taken it to a new level Along the lines of Hibiscus which took over the old Sole e Luna, the food here is a work of art but only with great flavors as well
We enjoyed the 7 course degustation menu which is the same as it was last year so me requested a few changes in advance when we made our reservations The interior is very inviting like eating in a small cottage
They do not skimp on ingredients in the 140 euro tasting, I also paired mine with wine with each course
A choice of 3 breads is offered with a trio of butters with the truffle butter being my favorite
A full portion amuse was beef tar tar topped with oscietra caviar, a chilled shot of grey goose vodka cleansed my palate
the most unusual first course was a egg with runny yolk served over mashed potatoes, asparagus, foie gras and a foam this is a dish you will not forget, domaine ott Semillon paired well with this course
a nice light dish of tender wahoo which had been marinated in rum and served with alternating truffles and little bubbles that burst in your mouth sancerre one of my favorite wines was paired
lobster bisque with a river prawn ravioli was paired with a burgundian chablis
A petite lobster tail was paired with champagne
with my wife not being a big duck fan, we switched out the Iberian pork stuffed with candied duck for a small serving of Dover sole with a BUTTER sauce a repeat of the sancerre cut through the butter sauce
we also switched out the dessert to chose the Le Pressoir indecisive which is a combination plate of a rich chocolate layer cake, a rose water macaron filled with lychee granita, something like a mango mousse dome and another delicious cake
not sure we could have done another course
this really is a dinning experience with many details overlooked in most other restaurants like tableside service such as flambee, deboning of fish, pouring soup at the table and even french service of the bread
It is no wonder that Le Pressoir was voted the best in the Caribbean by Caribbean Journal
Next door is a very impressive rum bar with probably over a hundred choices
after our dinner we were treated to glass of the only rum distilled in st Martin, a bit strong for my liking but I am not a rum connoisseur
The 7 course tasting menu sounds incredible! We’re not rum aficionados either but they did have a good selection of Cuban cigars if you find yourself in need of something to finish off the evening.
We did notice they have rum tasting dinners when we were there earlier this year. We may have to give that a try to broaden our horizons next time since we’re staying in Grand Case on our next trip.
