Château Cordeillan-Bages

Thierry Marx is remarkable. There are few chefs in France who are more important than this autodidactic man. After suffering the horrors of the war in Lebanon he began his career training with Alain Chapel and Joël Robuchon, among others. From such historic teachers he has garnished an obsessive aptitude for his work. His constructions immediately call to your attention the different identity, many of which are truly personal creations. He makes a strong case for avant-garde culinary art. Every one of his proposals break the mold: he looks to surprise, impress and amaze at each turn of the fork. For imagination and aesthetics the chef deserves the highest honors; honors which extend to the laborious nature that is expressed, time and time again, in each of his constructions. Sophisticated, researched, charged creations… the denaturalization of elements. Immaculate expression, purity and spectacular artistic taste. Intellectual impressions are superimposed onto carnal pleasures. This is gastronomy directed at iconoclastic gourmets in search of new perspectives. Thierry offers this experience, dictating an entirely personal message, different, distinct and distant… a broad style with futuristic forms.
Thierry, a humble, good-hearted, powerful man, has managed to give his service team a different kind of exponent in the dining room, radically changing the manner in which things like cream and butter are served, how they present and cut the breads (exceptional), how they perfume the dishes, how they present the cabernet sauvignon vine shoot with an attractive solemnity…
And, of course, there are some brilliant dishes. The most astonishing included a revolutionary bean sprout risotto with the tails cut off served with a liquid mascarpone cream enriched with oysters and truffles. The tomato mi-cuit with caviar, oysters and a jellied oyster cream all served in ribbons, crisscrossed one over the other giving the dish a layered effect… it has everything: distinction, purity, color and talent. The architectural, delightful spaghetti with beef sweetbreads, mushrooms and truffles. The filet mignon with vine shoot, potato confit and quintessential juices confirm the doctoral nature of this admirable chef.
Aside from these four legendary dishes, the rest of the menu has been completely changed. The composition of the hot sautéed foie gras over peaches with a port wine reduction constitutes a daring structuring of conventional flavors. The beet dish, served jellied, raw, etc., combined with beans and king crab is marvelous. The hot soufflé (uncooked) with oyster and caviar inside and a crispy sea water crust is an incredible virtual formula. A game: green tea, ginger, peas, pressure-cooked eggs… the guest loses all references and must let himself be seduced. Powerful counterpoints: sole with watercress and passion fruit, in different preparations, served with crispy parmesan. Another architectural wonder: turbot stuffed with low-temperature chard with vegetable mille-feuille, pepper and chard butter. And the colossal squab with tea, smoked pasta (spaghetti and ravioli) and fennel.
The desserts were extraordinary, bursting with fantasy and virtuosity. The exquisite, ethereal raw brioche with fermented milk was magical. A mind-boggling good beet confit with raspberries and pepper cream… And a succulent and truly crispy dish of chocolate sticks with chocolate ice cream.
And to make the diner even madder, all these delights are proposed in an enchanted castle in which the hope of spending the thousand and one nights can be embraced.