When in Provence…

While staying in Marseille, we took a day trip down the coast to the town of  Cassis. The landscape was beautiful and everything, from the hand painted boats in the harbor to the bright orange clementines at the market,  matched the way I had always envisioned a small Provencal town to look and feel.   We had no agenda, whatsoever, so we walked aimlessly through the streets of the little town– just enjoying the picturesque setting.  

    

We toured the market…. 

  

 

 

….. shared a plateau de mar of oysters, welks, sea urchin, and even fresh mussels for lunch ….

… drank some Cassis Rose…. 

… and, of course, did a little shopping!

Paris’ Greatest Hits- Restaurant L’AOC

Paris is an amazing food city! Here are some snapshots
of the cafes, the bakeries, the boulangeries, the fromageries,
etc, etc. {Stay tuned for photos from Provence coming
soon}

Fromagerie

 

 

 

 

Baguette

 

Oeufs a la Coque

 

Quiches

 

Oysters

 

Escargot

 

Duck Farm Shop

 

Croque Madame

 

Chocolate Shop Windows

 

Cappuccino at Cafe de Flore

 

Boucher

 

The Turkey still has the feathers- to prove where it camefrom!

Paris: Restaurant Les Cocottes

LES COCOTTES 

In February of 2008 I took a trip to Paris,  and, literally, the week I got back to the states, the Gourmet issue dedicated to Paris restaurants hit the newsstands.   We had eaten in so many great places while we were in Paris, but when I saw this issue of Gourmet, I created a long list of restaurants I wanted to try the next time I was in Paris. The restaurant at the top of my list was Les Cocottes.  Just the name “Les Cocottes” invokes a sense of warmth.  A cocotte [not to be confused with the other definition of a cocotte meaning a woman prostitute] is a “small casserole dish in which individual portions can be cooked and served.” 

Last month, after photographing the Eiffel Tower in the freezing cold rain, I finally made it to Les Cocottes.  A casserole filled with body (and soul) warming food was exactly what I needed.  In addition to the food being DELICOUS, there were so many details that made this dining experience unique.   Here are some of the dishes and details I loved at Les Cocottes:

  The menu was written on the back wall in chalk.

There was a section on the menu of cold items that were served in small ball jars.  Our group ordered two: one had tuna and eggplant topped with tomato jelly (tuna and eggplant seems to be a very popular combination in French cuisine) and the other was a crab salad layered atop a bed of shredded and lightly dressed lettuce.

 

 

The entrees were all served in Staub dishes. This cast iron bakeware is engineered to keep food warmer, retain and redistribute heat better, add to the flavor etc…. (Check out the Staub website for more details).  Here are two entrees we enjoyed:  Seared Cod a la Plancha with lentils and the second photo is Langoustine Ravioli.

And of course,  dessert was served in Staub dishes as well. We ordered a pear and apple crumble and the clafoutis of the day.  A clafoutis is a baked French custard   flan   dessert that is traditionally made with cherries and is sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Paris: Restaurant L’AOC

Over Thanksgiving, I was lucky enough to be invited to a family member’s wedding in Marseille, France. Though flying over to France for just a weekend would have been worthwhile, my cousins and I thought, “well, while we’re over there… we might as well see Paris too.” So we did! We spent 5 days in Paris dining on modern French fare, then took the train to Provence for 4 days where we scoured a farmer’s market and experienced a bouillabaisse!

With a tour book and some blogger’s recommendations in hand, we ate some wonderful food that already has me itching to go back!

PARIS:

L’AOC

This is a restaurant that I think epitomizes the “farm to table” food philosophy that has recently become popular in the US (the French, however, have been cooking this way for ages). What made this restaurant even more interesting in a foraging sense, though, was the fact that their farm to table menu was not based only on the produce that was currently in season and locally grown, but it was centered around the cattle, the ducks, and the pigs from specific areas throughout France. This concept was very cool, but, as we all know, a restaurant can not run on cool concept alone. The concept of the menu was the hook, but the extremely talented chef in the kitchen is what keeps everyone coming!

We started the meal with bone marrow that was heavily seasoned with garlic and parsley…and spread like butter on the toast points. This was an agressively indulgent start to our meal- but it was delicious!

The cassoulet I ordered was phenomenal and I think it was one of the best dishes I have ever eaten. The sauce of the cassoulet was so flavorful and well seasoned that I could have licked the staub dish dry. The duck meat fell off the bone as if it had never attached and the tender white beans contributed a creaminess that brought the entire dish together. It was truly and amazing dish.

For dessert, we ordered Ile Flottante. Which in English is known as a “floating island.” This is a dessert that I would not rank among people’s top 5 favorite desserts… and I would not even rank it among their top 100 favorite desserts. I, however, have always loved meringue and NEVER see this on menus in the US. So, I made it a point to order this in every restaurant where it was on the menu (after all, that’s what traveling and trying food is all about, right?). The floating island is made by poaching meringue, then “floating” it on a pool of creme anglaise. It is so silly, but I love it! By this point in our trip, I had already made our group try floating islands at two other restaurants and they were not stellar. I was still determined, though, to find a good one. Whether or not I converted anyone in the group to being a fan or not… the floating island at L’AOC was by far the best and I think everyone agreed with that fact.

Check out their website for more details and a sample menu here: L’AOC

Le Souffle!

I have been in Paris for the past 3 days and wanted to share some photos of my favorite meal yet, from a restaurant named Le Souffle. The sign was cute, the name was enticing, and after inspecting the menu with over 20 different souffles, we knew it had to be worth our while.

Here is what I had….
To drink: Rose Champagne
Entree: Smoked salmon and lightly dressed salad with pine nuts
Dessert: Grand Marnier Souffle

Every bite was delicious!

Napa’s Greatest Hits

Two weeks ago I traveled through Napa Valley with  two chefs who had previously scoured the area’s restaurant scene and were kind enough to take me on the grand tour  (I really had to twist their arm to get them to take me) .  Thanks for a great trip, guys! 

If you have read my post on Chez Panisse, you know my thoughts (and new found love) of Northern California.  So finally, here are some photos and notes that show why I’m so obsessed with this area of the country!

 

 MUSTARDS:  

Grilled lamb two ways with wild rice

The grass fed lamb chops and tenderloin were simply seasoned with salt and pepper,  grilled to medium rare, and lightly brushed with a fresh herb oil.  Though you can’t see it in this photo, the lamb was served atop a wonderfully fragrant wild rice that complemented the lamb perfectly. The wild rice was bursting with the flavor of fresh leeks, thyme, and sage  (I’m practically drooling as I recall the dish).   What I’m about to write may be a bit bold and somewhat sacreligious, but I have to tell you: this lamb and wild rice dish was one of the best lamb dishes I have ever tasted.  And I’m Greek… and have eaten a ton of lamb in my lifetime. Cindy Pawlcyn’s kitchen does things right and as the chef I work with said “that dish was classic Napa on a plate.”  I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting the area.

The Garden at Mustards

BOUCHON:

Bouchon Bakery breakfast pastries

Nothing beats a mid-morning snack at Bouchon Bakery: coffee, croissants, danishes, muffins, and more. Once the freshly baked buttery croissant hits your mouth,  you know why the line is out the door and around the corner….. and you also know why the birds in the area are so FAT- they eat Bouchon Bakery every day! If I come back as a bird in another life, you know where to find me: the Bouchon Bakery patio in Yountville.

REDD:

We ate lunch at Redd one afternoon and were VERY impressed by everything about our meal. Chef Richard Reddington is very talented and (as we later found out) worked with quite a number of renowned chefs along the way to craft his style of cooking.  Reddington describes his restaurant as  ‘… the type of restaurant that I like to spend time at — an inviting place that serves creative food and thoughtfully chosen wines in an elegant, contemporary space.’ And it truly was!

  

  

   

SOLBAR:

The photos I took of our meal and interior space at Solbar did not come out (it was too dark in the restaurant) so I don’t have any to post for you.  This restaurant, though, is one of a kind. It is located in the Solage Resort in Calistoga, CA.  The resort is very spa driven and therefore the menu at Solbar is too. Half of the menu was described as “healthy, lighter dishes to nourish your soul” and the other half was  described as “hearty cuisine to comfort your body.”  It was a very neat concept and dishes from both sides of the menu were delicous.  This restaurant just received a Michelen Star for the second year in a row, just proving that healthy food can be tasty too!  The architecure of the restaurant and the entire property was very cool, so check out their website for more photos and details.

There were even more photos from the trip, but I think this gives you an idea of the wonderful food being created throughout the Napa Valley- and maybe even promps you to take a trip there! Let me know when you’re going, though, I’ll be sure to clear my schedule!

 

 

Chez Panisse!

Until last week, I had only traveled to California once.  To be exact, I spent a weekend in San Diego  last February, it rained the entire time, and the food was awful!  As a food-lover, this was not quite the experience I was looking for in my maiden voyage to California-  the US state that produces nearly half of U.S.-grown fruits, nuts and vegetables and is home to restauranteurs like Thomas Keller and Alice Waters.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure San Diego is fantastic in the right season, but after visiting Berkeley and Napa last week, I have to say that Northern California is the most beautiful and culinary rich part of the state….. and I would even venture to say the country.  The grapes were freshly picked, the leaves were turning orange, and the beginning of the fall harvest was being served.

After arriving into Oakland, our group went straight to Berkeley for lunch at Chez Panisse.  In my mind, that was the perfect way to start a first-timer’s  food-focused trip to California.  I have always loved Alice Water’s cookbooks so it was such a delight to see, smell, and taste her food in the environment that she created.  Everything about the meal was wonderful, from the bread and butter at the start, to the fresh mint tea at the end.

Alice Water’s cooking philosophy is simple: base your cooking on the finest and freshest ingredients that are sustainable and locally produced.  This is evident when reading the farm names on her menu, but it is also evident in every bite.  The beets were sweet, as if they had just come out of the ground.  The nettles were earthy, as if they had just been picked.  And the lamb was tender, as if… well it was tender.  What I also feel added to the freshness and light feeling of her food, was the fact that the vegetables are not doused in dressing and the meats are not covered in sauce.  The produce and meats are the stars and the rest of the ingredients are supporting characters. I could eat in here every day and I could go on for hours about this meal.  So now, I’ll just show you the photos:

Blue Heron Farm fennel and persimmon salad with grilled fig toast

Baked Andante Dairy goat cheese with garden lettuces

Avocado and beet salad with citrus vinaigrette

Sonoma Country duck leg braised by the wood fire with cipollini, rapini, and polenta

Grilled Soul Food Farm chicken al mattone with spinach, fried delicata squash and chili sauce

Pizza with wild nettles and ricotta salata

Northern halibut with romano beans, sweet peppers, cumin, and mint raita

Sierra Beauty apple and raspberry tart with vanilla ice cream

Caramel cream puffs with bittersweet chocolate sauce

Buttermilk panna cotta with Frog Hollow Farm Warren pears and pomegranete

Middleton Gardens French Butter pear-huckleberry and Meyer lemon sherbets

Fresh Mint Tea

 

a peek into the kitchen