Riberach is a new hotel, restaurant and winery located in the old wine co-op in Bélesta, in the hills between the Agly and Têt Valleys, in the Roussillon. The renovation work has been in progress for quite some time and no expense appears to have been spared. It is the brainchild of two architects, Luc Richard, originally from Bélesta and his German wife, Karin Pühringer. The project's new wines have been made since 2006, but the hotel and restaurant only opened in the autumn on 2010. I've already tasted the wines, Hypothèse, Synthèse, Antithèse - all Vins de Pays des Côtes Catalanes - and they impress.
We were hoping for the same reaction to the restaurant - called rather unimaginatively 'La Co-opérative' - when we went before Christmas. It is located in the centre of the long building and, like an atrium, is open right up to the vast roof far above, which still retains its industrial look. This gives the restaurant a rather cavernous and echoey feel. The old co-op's concrete vats are still in situ on either side, albeit titivated with the judicious use of white and crimson paint. Such vats are made of reinforced concrete and are a nightmare to get rid of, so this is where the bedrooms (9) and suites (9) have been located.
The wine list is impressive, with very reasonable prices and plenty of local wines, as well as good offerings from elsewhere. I ordered the white Côtes du Roussillon from excellent and nearby Clot de l'Oum - the only white listed from this domaine and yet the wine waiter tried to impress by asking if I meant the 'Cine Panetone', (the name of the cuvée). The wine service was, frankly very poor. I had ordered the wine, but it was offered it to my partner to taste (ok...that does happen quite a lot, sadly), but then the bottle languished in an ice bucket somewhere out of sight and our waiter never noticed when our glasses were empty. We had to ask for more wine at least three times and the last time I asked I had to remind him yet again a few minutes later, when he came de-crumb our table. If he had been busy, fair enough, but we were the only diners in the restaurant, apart from a couple of men who viewed us with disinterest as we arrived, ate some food from time to time, but spent most of the evening gazing intently at a laptop screen, to which the waitress and wine waiter also gravitated at every opportunity. We learned later that our wine waiter was not really 'the sommelier', who was 'away', but we are still not sure that excused the poor service. The waitress was not much more skilled than her colleague. She managed to be cockily casual and yet very abrupt. She did not remember who had ordered what and at the end, said airily 'who wants the bill?' waving it around and then slapping it down on the table.
To the food: there are menus at 35, 52 and 67 euros. We would normally have chosen a menu, but felt the à la carte options were more interesting and no more expensive. The chef and his chef pâtissier wife come with glowing references and, to be fair, there was much artistry in the presentation of the dishes and, pleasingly, seasonal produce was much in evidence, including some one sees rarely in France, such as topinambour (Jerusalem artichoke) and panais (parsnip). However, most of the starters and main dishes we ordered..and much in the menus as a whole..combined savoury and sweet ingredients. Most of the time, sadly, this just did not work, for example in my foie gras de canard. This was served with 'crème brûlée de patate douce et condiment pomme-miel'; the foie gras was delicious, but the crème brûlée was far too sweet for my liking (and I do like sweet wine with foie gras). Our fish and Coquilles Saint-Jacques, the latter 'piquées de jambon ibérique, rémoulade gourmande de panais et pommes' were, however, cooked to perfection. The chef pâtissier had done her work earlier and consigned each pudding serving to a trolley, which did not impress us much, so only one of our party ordered one - a cheesecake potiron - and pronounced it 'good, but not great...and not a cheesecake'.
We will return, if only to see if staff training has improved and the chef has moved on from his love of sweet and savoury combinations, but, overall, we were underwhelmed.
RIBERACH HÔTEL CAVE RESTAURANT
2 route de Caladroy
66720 Bélesta FRANCE
Tel : +33(0)4 68 50 30 10
