Friday, October 23, 2009

Collected Menu - Ill, France 1972, 1974

L'Auberge de L'ill is a three star Michelin restaurant in Illhaeusern, France that was run in the '70's by the Haeberlin brothers: Paul, the chef and Jean-Pierre the manager and artist in residence. The menu above shows a watercolor created by Jean-Pierre for the cover of the menu. The chef, Paul Haeberlin, trained at La Rotisserie Perigourdine and with Edouard Weber who cooked for the the former Tsar of Russia, the Kings of Greece and Spain and the very famous Rothschild family. Jean-Pierre Haeberlin attended the Ecole des Beaux arts in Strasbourg, France

I was lucky enough to eat twice at this restaurant located along the the banks of the L"ill river that had large weeping willows shading the riverbank. Each time I went I had the most wonderful dish which was a salmon souffle. I can't describe it but I remember that it was exquisite. The first time I went with a fellow Frankfurt am Main DOD teacher Gladys Madison Steorts who is a distant relative of the great President James Madison of Virginia. Gladys and I went during the Christmas holiday season and we had a wonderful meal. When Jack and I married in 1974 I was determined that he experience this wonderful restaurant before we left Germany so we went one hot July weekend in 1974 to the L'auberge de L'ill where we had a wonderful meal that started at 5:30 P.M. with complimentary quiche and bottle of wine under the weeping willows and ended around 9:30 P.M. with a chocolate souffle.

This Alsatian place is so popular that even in the winter the restaurant turns away up to 60 customers per day because they are totally booked.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is a neat post.