Le Coq aux Champs
Mature Grandeur
The era loves landmarks, it is searching, it seeks reassurance. By remaining playful and adventurous, it looks and attaches itself better than ever to those who pave the way. And art will be one of our infinite graces. In the realm of culinary arts, Le Coq aux Champs has firmly established itself as a major destination for experiencing the best and greatest of Walloon gastronomy.
On the Condroz heights, between Huy and Marche, this magnificent table invites its guests to a haven turned towards nature, far from urban tumult, in direct contact with a tranquil peace. The restaurant of Christophe and Catherine Pauly, like the fields and trees of the landscape, offers the splendor of a wooded purity and grants a refined, accessible, and silky comfort.
The cuisine of Christophe Pauly is undoubtedly French at its base; having once been part of the immense Maison Troisgros brigade, he now works here with a modernity and local rurality as ultimate signatures. Driven by meticulous cooking methods, graphic presentations, punctuated by studied sauces and jus, as only great chefs know how to present, everything here comes together to offer culinary sensations of the highest level. As with the magnificent Royal Langoustines from Guilvinec in two preparations, one of his favorite products: Signature, cucumber, sour cream, Osciètre caviar, smoked and grilled eel, dashi, furikake.
The Chef reveals in this dish all the finesse of this product, making a lasting impression. Christophe Pauly's technique is equally resplendent with the crispy veal sweetbread, asparagus, rhubarb, shallots, lemon, and angostura, and to close the meal, the Condroz Strawberry, rhubarb in a shell.
The wine list is also focused on France, the modern France that we love. With a team increasingly affirmed in its service mission, the cellar becomes ever more pleasant, and the discerning enthusiast will take great pleasure in exploring a wine list that offers beautiful possibilities for vinous adventures.
At the great work in his lair for nearly twenty years, Michelin-starred for almost as long, Christophe Pauly offers each season the recipe for gastronomic rejuvenation, his cuisine remaining timelessly modern, revealing with each service a menu that embraces a certain state of the world: the land on one side, the sea on the other… without ever betraying either part. The Cook, the Man Pauly, is one of the infinitely rare who can probe souls, read intentions, guess the backgrounds of our sensitivities. Better yet, he reveals them.
A place like this, one can try to describe it, but living it is so much better. Essential, even.