In the colorful village of Obernai lies a secret natural reserve. Ever since 2002, Robuchon disciple Thierry Schwartz has been immersed in his Alsatian ecosystem, with its share of wooden rafters, ham legs and a winstub fireplace dating back to 1589. The cuisine consistently delights and sometimes even has a few surprises in store, like the day we went for lunch and ordered the “potager” menu. It kicked off with a shiso and raspberry oil infusion, an intense sweet-savory-smoked pork belly, porcini mushroom chips, caliente fire-roasted melon and Alsatian pastis, plus an incredible pepper with strawberry ketchup; before a sweet scoop of mustard ice cream with a lettuce velouté and redcurrant oil; watermelon branded by the fire, watermelon seeds preserved in oil, borage and fennel; puffy zucchini blossom with an onion and mushroom stuffing, all dressed in a deceiving vegetal jus with a depth of French saffron; pencil carrots cooked in the fireplace and paired with dried raspberries, veiled in a decadent carotene emulsion with butter, vin jaune and trout roe; white eggplant stripped back and prepared as a stew, with a veal and black garlic jus; and for dessert, the tomato becomes a fruit again as its candied in sugar and vanilla, paired with granita and meringue; before a final stroll through the orchard with an intense black apple ice cream. // Tsampa

FEELING THIRSTY? : An immense natural wine cellar, composed over the course of twenty-plus years by chef and sommelier Cyril Kocher: Alsatian wines lead the pack, with Sentier Fleuri for example, a lightly smoky pinot noir from Flo and Nico Motz (€15 a glass), Schiste, an allobroge white from the Domaine des Ardoisières (€39 a bottle), or Rouge-Gorge 2002 (!), a Coteaux-du-Loir rubis from the Domaine de Bellivière (€80).
PRICE: : Set menus €128 and €165.