Ma Cuisine in Beaune

An annual rite-of-passage is a meal (one the bare minimum) at Ma Cuisine in Beaune. A chalkboard menu offers half a dozen entrees and slightly more main courses, the food at the heart of the traditional Burgundian cuisine, a €28 menu at lunch ridiculously cheap – salad of chicken livers, fillet of pork in creamy sauce, and a large serve of époisses my choice of three alternatives for the three courses. 2006 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Caillerets was the first wine for the four of us (including Vanya Cullen and partner Peter) on the principle that – given the impossibility of finding this great producer on wine lists in Australia – we should take every opportunity to drink it. It comes from a tiny holding of 0.18 hectares planted in 1937 and 1971, and was everything one could hope for. A gamble on a 1966 Santenay of Domaine des Hautes-Cornières seemed well worthwhile at only €66, even if we didn’t expect much. A recent release from the cellars of the Domaine, it was absurdly good, the red fruity flavours still fresh and round, the tannins – of course – soft.


Ma Cuisine, Passage St Helene, 21200 Beaune; phone 03 80 22 30 22; macuisine@wanadoo.fr