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Domme: Cabanoix et Chataigne

Reviewed by: Gene8499 from Virginia, review #2208

When: 2006

Young, fresh, hi-energy take on Perigordian cuisine - the best in the region

Directions: In the center of Domme, about two short blocks from the town center square

We spent two weeks in the Dordogne region in September 2006. We ate at a wide-range of restaurants (high-end to road-side stands) and went to the markets and cooked at our house as well. By far the best take on the cuisine of the region - lots of duck, geese, foie gras and walnuts - was eating at Cabanoix et Chataigne nestled on a side street in the small, pretty bastide town of Domme. Cabanoix is run by a young French couple, Armelle and Laurent, who live over the restaurant. The restaurant is small and simply decorated in a the rustic style of the region, with about 12-15 tables inside and a few more on a veranda out back. Somewhat quirkily, each table has a toaster on it to toast delicious bread for your foie gras.

Many restaurants in and around Domme and other small towns in that part of the Dordogne River region do a great job with the traditional Perigordian cuisine. They do nicely prepared duck and goose, as well as other meats, and pommes salardaise (potatoes cooked in goose fat with garlic - delicious), and great salads, many also prepared with all sorts of parts of geese and ducks, like gesiers (gizzards)confit. But of the 10 or 12 restaurants we ate in over two weeks (in bigger towns, like Bergerac and Sarlat, and smaller towns, like La Roque Gageac or Les Eyzies), no reataurant came near Cabanoix for great cooking with a sophisticated modern twist on the traditional style, and Armelle's warm front of the house greeting and service. The clientele included local French, as well as tourists from around Europe (Brits primarily), as well as Americans - we met some interesting Californians there who run a B&B in the area, and a Sonoma County California chef who runs a food and wine tasting tour from the B&B. My wife and I ate there twice, and both times, our feelings about the place were the same - this is the best place around here.

The menu is written on chalkboards scattered around the room. They have interesting apertifs made of local fruits and nuts - like chestnuts, ie., chataigne. There are starters, main courses and desserts. For starters, the chef will prepare foie gras in any one of six ways, and if you want to knock yourself out, you can sample all six ways. There are at least six other starters, like mussels, and there is a ginger teriaki-sort of dish too, not something seen very frequently in SW France. But, do yourself a favor, and try the foie gras - pan-seared with black salt, or a la torchon with salt and a figgy reduction. Either one delicious. Don't forget to get one of the stickies to go with it - a sweet white wine from the region similar to Sauterne - a MontBazilliac or something like it. Watch out though, Madame pours a hefty glass.

For the main courses, they have meats and vegetarian dishes - everyhting is seasonal, so the menu is likely to change. The first time we ate there, I had a risotto with pears, which were just coming into season, and cepes, which were just going out of season. They also do a great pan-seared magret with a nicely reduced sweet fruit sauce. For dessert, it is again very seasonal - chestnuts were in, so we had a slab (pave) of chataigne cake which was very moist. For a truly local experience, go with the regional wines - try the Monbazilliac for a sweet wine - it won't kill you. For reds, try a Bergerac or a Pecharmant. They won't convert you from the wines of Bourdeaux or California, but they are good and go nicely with the food at hand.

In all, the food is great, and the service and welcoming feeling you get from Armelle, who is doing all of the greeting and service herself, makes you feel like you were invited into someone's home and they are cooking especially for you. There is no rush to move you out (as with most places in France), and you can linger over the remains of your bottle of wine, knowing, as we did, we could just walk back to our house.

Of course you do have to pay at the end - for the two of us, including, two aperitifs, two glasses of the stickies with the foie gras, and a half bottle of a decent Pecharmant, and two plats principaux, and two desserts it came to €75 in September 06, which translated into $99 on our credit card. Not bad at $50 per person - well worth the trip to France.

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.

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