For many years, we’ve enjoyed Les Crayères, an elegant hotel in a Belle Epoque-vintage limestone mansion surrounded by a magnificent park on the edge of Reims, the Champagne capital of France. We still fondly remember several outstanding meals there when the dining room had three Michelin stars under the auspices of chef Gérard Boyer, now retired. Most recently, the hotel’s chef has been Didier Elena, who previously worked for Alain Ducasse in New York City and whom we frankly never found to be quite in his element here. Why? Elena’s a talented cook, but his nervy modern French cooking never seemed to provide the appropriate culinary backdrop against which to sample the local wines. Now Les Crayères has an ambitious new general manager, Hervé Fort, and a new chef, Philippe Mille, 35,who has a very impressive resume and who was most recently second to Yannick Alléno at the three-star dining room of Le Meurice in Paris. On the basis of a recent lunch, Les Crayères has made an excellent choice, too. We opted for the “Menu Gourmet,” which will change according to the seasons, and started with a wonderful hors d’oeuvre of boiled beef salad with horseradish cream and a beignet filled with cornichons (tiny pickles) and capers. Next came an elegant king crab salad with avocado purée, salad leaves and citrus emulsion, then John Dory with a light seaweed sauce and a garnish of conch and razor-shell clams, both of which were delicious and beautifully presented. The best course of the meal followed: Bresse chicken breast that had been slow-cooked for hours and was served with a black truffle sauce and a garnish of pasta with black truffle shavings, a dish that showed off Mille’s well-drilled gastronomic classicism and preference for luxurious simplicity. We next sampled a 2-year-old Comté cheese from maître fromager Bernard Antony in Alsace, and finished with an elegant dessert of velvety vanilla biscuit with cappuccino cream, the grand finale to a truly excellent meal. The amiable sommelier served us a different Champagne with each course, and on the basis of this luxurious lunch, we happily predict that Les Crayères is destined for major gastronomic honors in the very near future.
Had a most disappointing birthday dinner there December, 2008, so hopefully this was the old chef. Problem was they offered a very limited menu on a Tuesday night and had a private party taking up the lounge. Believe they should have let us know they offered only a limited menu when we reserved. Also, they had special menu offerings on 2 other nights. I was looking forward to the evening as it was my 60th birthday celebration and had been to Crayere before and loved it. The staff’s attitude was shitty (not because they were French but because they had a nasty and careless attitude). Will NEVER go back, too many other greatplaces to goand eat.
Had the most amazing and memorable lunch at Les Crayere three years ago. It was our anniversary and one that I will long remember The service and the food was remarkable. I look forward to going back.
Dear Mr Langbaum,
My name is Emilie and i’m the Sales Manager of the Château Les Crayères.
I just acknowledge receipt of your comment on this blog and i’m really sorry to learn that your experience at the Château les Crayères was not satisfying as you were expecting for.
Since last may 2009, we do have now a second restaurant wich is open every day. It’s a luxury Brasserie situated 200 m from the Château and call “Le Jardin”.
The Chef of this restaurant is the same as the Gastronomic one : Philippe Mille.
We can now propose every day a high-quality catering.
As you can read above, the New Chef, Philippe Mille, is destined for major gastronomic honors in the very near future.
If you have time, i invite you to go on our website where you can see many press review about him.
Willing that you do not remain with bad memories about Château les Crayères – all the associates work hard to make every clients’ experience a memorable one – we would like to offer you a special welcome during your future visit in the Champagne region.
I sincerely hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you soon back to Château les Crayères.
Most truthfully,
Emilie Poirault
Sales Manager
emilie.poirault@lescrayeres.com
Nice to see that the General Manager is reading the posts and takes the criticism seriously. As a result, and given the other positive comments, will try the restaurant on a future visit to the area.
We’ve stayed here multiple times, first when it was Boyer Les Crayeres and now Chateau Les Crayeres. For us, considering the quality of the cuisine, the very fine wine list including an incredible list of champaigns (befitting the location in the heart of champaign country), the beauty of the rooms (we love the Imperatrice), the ambience, and the very friendly staff, this is the finest small hotel we have ever stayed anywhere in the world. It is always a great pleasure to be there, and eagerly anticipated for the next visit.