Many of Glasgow’s fine dining fans would put Brian Maule’s Chardon D’Or at the top of the city’s culinary achievements. Maule honed his skills under the Roux brothers, in their legendary Gavroche restaurant in London, and that same personal attention to details is what keeps the Chardon D’Or at the head of the pack today. Brian Maule at Chardon D’Or has earned a mantelpiece of awards and a lifetime’s worth of great reviews but they are not what keep the celebratory couples, food lovers and business dinners coming back. It’s the French style food that makes Chardon D’Or one of Glasgow’s top restaurants.
French Glasgow
Seasonal, locally sourced produce combined with traditional French techniques are the key to Brian Maule’s success in Glasgow. His menus tend to be deceptively simple. Fillet of Scotch beef with dauphinois potatoes and a red wine jus doesn’t sound complicated at all but there are multiple layers of flavour hidden behind the menu’s straight-talking descriptions. If anything, Maule’s skill lies in his clever flavour combinations. Roast lamb fillet with a spiced aubergine compote or a crab and Bayonne ham salad with a Parmesan crisp are good examples. Dinner and show packages, dances, wine events and cookery demos are the icing on the Chardon D’Or’s already enticing cake. It helps that Brian Maule is a local man and his Glasgow regulars know that he is working in the kitchen every night because, at the end of service, he will often emerge to chat to everyone.