Cromagnon in Bordeaux is an excellent restaurant offering elaborate cuisine without unnecessary frills, the result of the work and inspiration of a truly atypical chef.

Cromagnon was one of the restaurants I had identified when planning my trip, and had also been recommended, but I hadn’t included it in my list due to a lack of available evenings. Let’s just say it was at the top of the list of substitutes.

However, during my stay I had an impromptu lunch with my friend Jacques Froissant, to whom, as a local, I delegated the choice of restaurant to see if he was as good at sourcing restaurants as he was at sourcing candidates. And so he chose Cromagnon.

You’ll find all the articles about this Bordeaux getaway at the bottom of the page.

Restaurant concept

To speak of Cromagnon is first and foremost to speak of its atypical chef: Oxana Cretu. This young Moldavian-born chef arrived in Bordeaux at the age of 21 and studied…fine arts and product design, before discovering cooking late in life and deciding that this was where she wanted to exercise her creativity.

For her, design is at the heart of the product, and even precedes the product itself. She first imagines her dishes visually, including the crockery (the restaurant’s crockery was designed by her) in the form of a drawing, before moving on to production.

As for the dishes, they are made with local ingredients, with lots of vegetables, fish and flavors brought back from her many travels.

The setting

The restaurant is small, the design very clean, with lots of wood and soft colors, and exposed stonework. Very Scandinavian.

The menu

There is no à la carte menu as such, but menus that vary daily according to the chef’s inspiration and the products of the moment.

The meal

We arrive at the restaurant, are pleasantly greeted and seated at our table.

We are presented with the menus and opt for the 4-course menu. Unfortunately, they’re not written down anywhere, and memorizing the composition of each dish is far from easy, so you’ll have to forgive the incomplete descriptions that follow. It’s a shame we weren’t given a paper summary at the end of the meal.

We start with an appetizer: charcoal, pine nuts and chitake ice cream.

Nice, good and fresh. And beautifully presented.

The starter arrives: Langoustine tartare with lemon, caviar, peanut ice cream and bergamot mayonnaise.

Very well presented once again, fresh and fine. The combination of flavors is highly original, and the bergamot/peanut/fish trio works perfectly.

Amazake-infused trout, flame-grilled

Another very fine dish, and I really appreciate its smoky taste.

Amberjack, matured for 3 weeks

Yet another perfect visual. The fish is perfectly cooked and the taste is perfectly preserved. Again, there’s a slight smoky aftertaste that I really like.

We’ll finish this lunch with a strawberry tartlet.

Super light, the strawberry is nicely sweet, while the rest is rather thin and refreshing.

We’ll finish with a coffee.

The atmosphere

Very, very quiet: there were only 3 tables occupied at this lunch.

The service

Smiling, professional and fairly fast.

Bottom line

A very pleasant experience in a restaurant that doesn’t just assemble flavors, but where everything seems to be coherently thought out from the outset: the visuals, the taste, the dishes…

Although very sophisticated, the dishes have an air of simplicity, and the ingredients are really well showcased without being drowned out by an overly complex dish.

Many predict that Cromagnon will soon be awarded a Michelin star…who knows? Anyway, the restaurant is on the right track.

Articles on this Bordeaux getaway

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