Restaurant
Alsace, a former coaching inn, a family of experienced restaurateurs, a harmonious team. That's it for the frame. Add to that an enthusiastic, smiling and talented young chef and you get a starred restaurant where elegance and gastronomy rhyme with joie de vivre.
Latest edition : 26 April 2020
Alsace is a blessed region for gourmets. Whether in town or in the countryside, the food is good. The taste buds are delighted in the small inns as well as in the gourmet or even starred restaurants. Among the latter, the Saint-Laurent inn in Sierentz in the Sundgau.
This beautiful family home emerged from anonymity thanks to the tireless work of Marco and Anne Arbeit who took it over in 1982. In 2000, the inn over which Saint Laurent, patron saint of hunters (one of Marco Arbeit's passions) watches being hunting), earns a star in the Michelin firmament. Their daughter Marie manages the hotel part, and their son Laurent has taken over the restaurant.
Laurent Arbeit has plenty of ideas. As a little boy, he had decided that he was going to become a cook, like his father. But it was with "Monsieur Paul" at the Auberge de l'Ill that he wanted to do his apprenticeship. This is what he decided at the age of… eight, during a family lunch in the famous three-starred establishment.
Laurent Arbeit's career reads like a gourmet directory. After Illhaeusern, he went to Chamonix for two years at the Albert 1er ("I would have liked to have stayed there because I like skiing too much!"), to Monaco at the Louis XV, Ducasse's restaurant, where he stayed for four years. "In six months, you learn, of course, the recipes, but not the organization of the whole, crisis management...". Laurent Arbeit would have liked to continue his gastronomic journey even further. “I was only 25...but my father needed me to take over. »
The transfer was done in harmony. “After a few months, everything was going well. We have the same philosophy in the kitchen: seasonal and quality products, the pleasure of good food. And then, I'm not a revolutionary: before thinking of changing something, I first want to understand why my parents did so! »
Laurent Arbeit brought the vision of his generation to the cuisine developed by his father. It adds aesthetics to taste and the dishes are a feast for the eyes before delighting the taste buds. “It's a pleasure to finalize the look of a dish, even when I'm cooking just for us”.
The cuisine at Auberge St-Laurent is very seasonal. Laurent only keeps a few emblematic dishes on his menu, such as Vieux-Strasbourg beef tenderloin with a slice of roasted apple, roasted foie gras and truffles… Or even foie gras prepared according to Marco Arbeit’s recipe served with a sauerkraut confit and a small golden kougelhof.
From his wanderings, Laurent Arbeit obviously brought back recipe ideas. “When I came back from Monaco, I prepared risotto for a few months, a dish that I really like. But I ended up telling myself that it was not very logical. “I really like it, but we were in Alsace! So I replaced the rice with spaetzle. This is how the menu does indeed include a “creamy black truffle risotto”, but with spaetzle the size of a grain of rice! .
It is this inventive spirit that characterizes the cuisine of Laurent Arbeit who knows how to bring elegance and refinement to good local products and rejuvenate classic cuisine. His peers predict a bright future for him!
The bistro next door
If Laurent Arbeit looks like a big kid, he knows very well what he wants and he has plans in his head. Two years ago, he opened the “Bistrot À Côté”. This contemporary winstub is connected to the hostel by the terrace (“the house next door was for sale…”). Lots of extra work but also a great adventure. “It makes everything stand out. When I receive game, I use the fillets and fine cuts at the inn. For the bistro, the other pieces are prepared in stew, transformed into terrines. »
If he oversees the two kitchens, Laurent Arbeit knows that he can count 100% on the manager of the Bistrot. “Régis worked for 27 years at the inn, we understand each other without having to talk to each other! »
Several formulas from 45 € to 140 € are proposed. You even have the option of reserving one of the ten rooms to enjoy the delicious breakfast!
Perhaps you will then have the opportunity to meet Auguste, the son of Laurent and Éléonore, who, from the height of his 18 months, already feels at home in the kitchens of the inn.
Auberge Saint Laurent, 1, rue de la Fontaine, 68 510 Sierentz
Closed Monday and Tuesday
Tel: 03 89 81 52 81
www.auberge-saintlaurent.fr