WEEKEND COLUMNISTS Auberge de Chassignolles, set in the tiny village of Chassignolles 1,000 metres above sea level in the Auvergne, central France, has belonged to chef/proprietor Harry Lester and his partner Ali Johnson for three years. They live here with their small children – and all because Lester called into Leila’s, a well-known food shop in the City of London. For ahead of him in the queue was Sally Potter, a British film director with a holiday home in Chassignolles, who was asking the shopkeeper if she knew of a chef to come to breathe new life into the auberge. Lester, whose career had begun at the Eagle in Farringdon Road, which set the gastro-pub movement rolling, overheard and decided to visit. For €160,000 (£139,505), the restaurant with six bedrooms was theirs.
On our visit the aperitif on the terrace included fresh radishes and two sorts of small tomatoes to be dipped into a mild anchovy cream. The choice was then a fresh skate terrine or a board laden with six different types of duck and pork charcuterie they had cured themselves; chicken, alongside Swiss chard in a creamy béchamel; a blanquette of veal; or tripe. Then came haricots verts tossed in a green sauce distilled from half a dozen fresh herbs; five different cheeses including Stichelton from Britain; then a soufflé from blackberries picked that afternoon from a nearby hedgerow or peach Melba.
Lester speaks passionately of what has been the attraction for him of this isolated area and that is the proximity of so much good produce: chickens, lamb, venison, cheeses and abundant soft fruit.
Auberge de Chassignolles, 43440 Chassignolles, Haut Loire, France, www.aubergedechassignolles.com tel: +33 (0) 471 763 236. Open mid-May to mid-October. Dinner Tues-Sun
