Le Favori - Les Sources de Cheverny

• Focus on Vegetables with Unusual Herbs and Spices: Chef Frédéric Calmels emphasizes vegetables in his cuisine, combining them with uncommon herbs and spices, accompanied by carefully selected fish and game from western France. This approach highlights a respect for both human and plant life, creating a unique culinary philosophy centered on natural and seasonal ingredients.

• Setting and Ambiance with Floor-to-Ceiling Windows: The restaurant features an elegant, refined décor with large bay windows that overlook the countryside, flower gardens, and natural ponds. This design creates a living, inspiring tableau that connects diners closely with the Loire Valley's natural beauty, enhancing the tasting experience.

• Precision and Explosive Flavors in Plating and Sauces: Le Favori is noted for its surgically precise recipes and exquisite plating that bring out the true essence of each main ingredient. Examples include combinations like cucumber with curry plant and Sologne caviar, or braised veal chuck with sorrel and caper pickles, delivering a precise, explosive, and enchanting flavor experience.

The most honored or signature ingredients at Le Favori - Les Sources de Cheverny are:

• Cucumber and curry plant: Used to highlight freshness and herbal notes, these ingredients bring a delicate and aromatic essence to dishes, showcasing the chef’s precision and creativity in combining unusual herbs and spices.

• Sologne caviar: A luxurious local ingredient that adds a refined, salty burst of flavor, emphasizing the region’s terroir and elevating the dish’s elegance.

• Braised veal chuck: A key protein ingredient, prepared with care and paired with sorrel and caper pickles to balance richness with acidity and freshness, demonstrating mastery in texture and flavor contrasts.

• Canada apple, free-range double cream, and fig leaf: This combination is used in a signature dessert or dish, blending fruit sweetness, creamy texture, and aromatic leaf notes to create a precise and enchanting experience.

• Vegetables, mushrooms, and unusual herbs and spices: Central to the cuisine, these ingredients reflect the chef’s respect for the natural, wild landscape of the Loire Valley and Sologne forest, forming the foundation of many dishes complemented by fish and game from western France.

These ingredients are significant as they express the restaurant’s philosophy of respecting life—both plant and animal—and highlight the local terroir with a modern, refined approach to plating and flavor balance.