In the North of Agenais country, duke of Guyenne and Quercy, Michel TRAMA reigns. Aubergade is his palace and Puymirol the capital. On the heights of this fortified town, just after dinner on a beautiful summer or winter evening, procure a sextant or a telescope – not to find the North, but rather to be the first to announce the arrival here of the third star, that of kings and of tables well worth the trip. Many have already come, and from afar. I am gourmand enough, alas ! experienced enough, alas ! once more because such knowledge requires time and age, to be certain that no table in Paris measures up to that one, where all converges towards perfection : the roots in local produce, the variety, the inventive genius, the preparation seriousness and the style which makes the man. The menu sets the tone right off, the painter seems to take up the fresh passage of Rousseau where the mouth of the little marquise bites the cherries falling from branches one May morning. Enter : here is the garden, the château residence, the exquisite salons, the simple and refines welcome.

There Michel Trama creates a synthesis of old and new cooking styles, of traditional, even rustic, cooking, with an approach that is futuristic and unexpected. The truffles, duck, cod, garlic and onion of his ancestors are still on the plate as dependably as ever, but in Michel's hands they become transformed, like an alchemist turning lead into gold. Duck is served with brandade, trout is flavoured with a poultry jus. If you like crispy chicken skin, here the crunchy fish skin, thin and delicious, will delight you. Trama skillfully combines ingredients like a botanist creating a new variety of flower: lobster is layered between thin layers of lasagne in which a silhouette of parsley leaves shows through.

His genius is evident, coupled with a streak of that artistic eccentricity which can suddenly open up a new horizon. The millefeuilles and feuillantines of nougatine and chocolate are transparent, ethereal, heavenly… all combining to make this one of France's foremost dining rooms. In the smile of Maryse TRAMA and the sparkling eye of Michel one can see mastery and enthousiasm, taste and reliability, intuition and will. Already far ahead, they appear eager to go even further. How high will they climb '