The slogan from Buenos Aires was clear.
"Look for
the most expensive restaurant in Punta del Este
, that has a menu with prices that make even the wealthiest people hesitate."
Unaware of the exclusive gastronomic universe, this chronicler began to inquire with a group of Argentines living in this geography and the first statements emerged.
"Go to Garzón, which is (Francis) Mallmann's."
To have reconfirmation, he turned to Uruguayan businessmen who were even more knowledgeable about
Punta Esteño
culinary art .
"La Bourgogne is by far the most expensive. The cream of the world is going to eat there
," was the unanimous and individual response of four referents.
Hidden by a dense garden and without pretensions of wanting to seduce with its exterior appearance, something rare in the city of exhibitionism,
La Bourgogne has been in Punta del Este
and on Pedragosa Sierra Avenue for more than 40 years.
A sign welcomes you in four languages and a little further on,
a bronze stands out for being one of the very few Relais & Chateaus in South America
.
It's noon on a weekday and there's still little movement.
You can see color and good taste in its interior, where the yellow walls, vivid paintings, the wooden ceiling, and a vase with orchids on each table stand out.
From one of the windows you can see
a healthy garden where the herbs are grown and then delivered to the customer
.
There is also a bakery - the distinctive touch - where a wide range of breads are cooked that could star in the first and second courses, and why not the dessert.
Amandine (31) is the chef who appears to make the recommendation of the day.
She is the daughter of one of the eminences of Punta del Este gastronomy: the charismatic
Jean Paul Bondoux, a Frenchman born in Burgundy
, who for 25 years commanded La Bourgogne Buenos Aires at the Alvear Palace Hotel.
While looking at the heavy menu, out of the corner of your eye you spy a
table of assorted cheeses that, the waiter gossips, are imported from France
and are served after the meal, although it is up to the diner's discretion.
Each piece has a little flag that identifies them: Brie, Ile de France, Gaperon, Saveurs du Maquis, Roquefort Papillon, Munster Alsace, Fougerus and Ossau Iraty.
We return to the menu.
The appetizers offer a variety that ranges from a tasting of pata negra with toast with heirloom tomatoes, to sardines with watermelon gazpacho and cashew cream, eggs with wine
meurette
sauce with bacon chips, prawn petit choux with citrus sauce and foie gras schnitzel with lemon port sauce.
Prices range between $50 and $90 per plate.
The color, good taste and tables with orchids illuminate the La Bourgogne room.
Photo: Ramiro Souto
There are other "entries" under the item
Classiques
by Jean Paul Bondoux, which consists of
four varieties of caviar
: traditional, royal, imperial and master selection, ranging from $250 to $350 per serving.
Something cheaper but also recommended is the salmon tasting ($48).
And, of course, there is no shortage of "the traditional appetizer and one of the stars of the place" -the waiter blows-, which are
snails Burgundy style, with butter and garlic
(also $48).
You order - with the help of your waiter friend - an appetizer of
sardines marinated with lemon, watermelon gazpacho and cashew cream and, of course, the
escargot
(snails).
Chronicler of a very poor palate (and no sense of smell), the delicacy first enters through the eyes.
Although for the snails there was first reluctance, then hesitation.
Once persuaded by the waiter and chef,
you have to have a certain skill to remove them with tongs from a small container
, typical of an elite place.
The probability of it crashing to the ground is high.
Burgundy snails, a local classic.
Photo: Ramiro Souto
"What wine are you going to drink?" Sebastián asks directly - we give the waiter a name - and reaches for a leafy menu.
The prices are in dollars, unlike the food, which is in Uruguayan pesos.
Also in matters of alcohol, whoever writes these lines is completely ignorant.
Alejandra, a Paraguayan sommelier, approaches to help.
She proposes a Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes-de-Nuits, which compared to other bottles is the cheapest: 190 dollars.
The letter is so attractive that it captivates and astonishes.
It is priced
at Chablis Premier at $750, Meursalut at $380 and Macon-Ige at $290
.
"The ones that sell the most are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay de Bourgogne, also Uruguayan wines and champagne," she adds.
"Wine is very important for La Bourgogne and we try to suggest to the customer which one to drink according to what they eat," says the restaurant's sommelier.
Photo: Ramiro Souto
The young specialist gives a lesson in all her alcoholic wisdom and slips that
At La Bourgogne there is "
the best menu in Uruguay
. For us, wine is essential on the table and we seek to advise the diner to achieve a delicate balance between what is drunk and ingested."
Professionalism is evident even in the smallest details.
He is asked about the
crème de la crème
of the wines, and shows a menu page titled "Special Selection from Jean Paul's Cava."
Two champagnes appear there:
Krug 1989 (Reims, France) at $5,200
and Don Perignon 1973 at $5,000.
Among the wines, the Chateau Petrus 1982 (Pomerol), which costs $15,000, causes chills
.
"He is one of the nine knights of the zodiac," sells the sommelier, who emphasizes that "the French are the most expensive."
One of the tastiest appetizers: sardines with watermelon gazpacho and cashew cream.
Photo: Ramiro Souto
The extensive list finds the Aloxe Corton at $1,400 and a Felipe Rutini (Valle de Uco, Mendoza) at $450. In the "Magnum" column, La Grande Dame (Reims) lists $3,500 per bottle.
"These are wines that are not found in the room,
they are stored and must be ordered in advance,"
remarks the sommelier.
For the main course, the menu offers
roast
turbot (turbot fish) with
choron
sauce and
bouchon
potatoes , which
is to share and costs 150 dollars
, duck magret with orange carrots, filet of beef flambéed in cognac with three peppers, rack of southern lamb with garlic and parsley sauce,
chateaubrian
(sirloin) with béarnaise sauce.
Any of those dishes is around $75.
The waiter shows one of the main dishes, a rack of southern lamb with garlic and parsley cream.
Photo: Ramiro Souto
Of course there is no shortage of recommendations from the lord and master of the place, who advise that it is located in another location, opposite, which serves as an office.
Sea couscous with lemon sauce and catch of the day with hollandaise sauce
, with lime and ginger (both dishes, $77).
Also proposed is a grilled octopus with chutney, garlic and parsley,
potato
galette (tart) and candied bell peppers (US$58).
To finish, a selection of cheeses (US$ 50).
It is expensive?
Without a doubt it is for the Argentinean's pocket, but the prices are in line with the most expensive city in South America, such as Punta del Este, called "the Saint Tropez of the River Plate", but it is fair to highlight that quality prevails in each of them. the branches of the restaurant.
The detail and exquisiteness of a high-level restaurant.
Photo: Ramiro Souto
"The last time I came with my wife and two children we paid 3,500 dollars.
You can easily pay 1,000 per capita.
Of course it was a special event and of course it is an effort for me, but I can do it every once in a while," says Jorge, a Argentine businessman who lives in Trump Tower in this city.
It would be a mistake, although it is inevitable to convert it to Argentine pesos,
because the cheese tasting alone costs 50,000 and a duck with orange, 75,000.
The waiter is shown a handful of one thousand and two thousand bills, telling him that he will be paid with this currency.
The employee's spontaneous laughter shatters any prepared joke.
The kitchen of La Bourgogne, the most exclusive restaurant in Punta del Este 2024. Photo Ramiro Souto
From the kitchen comes a rack of southern lamb with white beans, garlic cream and parsley that, so delicious,
invites you to eat it with your hand and lick your fingers, taking advantage of the fact that there are no invasive eyes
, and despite the fact that the place is not the most conducive to such vulgarity.
Sebastián, the courteous waiter, provides a piece of information that doesn't say much but sounds valuable.
"Do you know where Jean Paul brings the racks from? From the mountains of Aiguá, considered one of the most important therapeutic and educational centers in Uruguay."
Sebastián leaves a "
granite
" (frosty ice) on one side of the table, which looks like lemon and orange ice cream.
It is to cleanse your mouth and go from salty to sweet
if you order a dessert.
The break is good to walk around the bright living room and take a look around the kitchen, which looks like Córdoba Avenue on a Monday morning, but organized.
Amandine, the owner's chef and daughter, is hands-on and has little verbal skills, the complete opposite of her father.
"I was born in a kitchen, I work all day, it's what I'm passionate about, if I hadn't left
. What do I like to do? Explore and investigate new flavors."
"How much does electricity, gas, taxes cost? Food is pleasure, magic and you pay for it," says Jean Paul.
Photo: Ramiro Souto
We return to the table and wait for some
petit fours
,
a sweet detail that lives up to its name... because of the size
: in no time at all the cocoa truffles, a blueberry and hazelnut tartlet, a
joux
caramel and the candied grapefruit are devoured.
.
"For coffee, Jean Paul is waiting for you at the other location," the waiter gently advises.
Having a coffee and eating a cake while doing numbers, Jean Paul is, at first glance, very characterful.
Chatty, he gestures and does not miss anything that is happening around him.
"Why is my restaurant expensive? Who said it was expensive? How much does electricity, gas, eating on the beach cost?
I sell magic, love and pleasure and you pay for that, it costs money
," he says seriously and vehement.
And he surprises: "La Bourgogne is a place for people who know how to eat and the food here produces a cerebral orgasm."
The selection of La Bourgogne cheeses, imported from France, is one of the favorite and most requested dishes.
Photo: Ramiro Souto
Jean Paul insists on love and, now, honesty.
"Here we work like this, with excellence and we always go for more. But
there is no perfection in gastronomy, there is evolution
," he explains more in French than in Spanish.
"Fewer Argentines come... In the '90s and the 2000s, 80% were Argentine, which today dropped to 15% of the clientele. The majority, 60%, are Brazilian."
And it closes with a reflection in which it defends its charter and its values.
"We live in Punta del Este, where the most expensive electricity, gas and gasoline in the world are. Here, with luck,
we have one month of season throughout the year. What is the point, that we give away our art!?
" .
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