Restaurants

January 2, 2022 5

ON THIS NEW YEAR’S EVE, I LET THE WINE TRANSPORT ME TO ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE

If ever I wanted a wine to transport me, as a good wine can do, it was this past New Year’s Eve. By the time 2021 was mercifully drawing to a close – amidst sky-rocketing COVID rates, fires burning more than 500 homes in Boulder, Colorado, record snowfall in California, record heat in parts of France, unprecedented threats to... [...]

October 25, 2020 11

Diary of a Master of Wine in Provence
Solidarité – “Le coeur des chefs”

Written in Saint Martin Vésubie 18th October 2020. I am often described as living in Provence – which makes sense being a rosé specialist, but I actually live in the southern Alps, just over 40 miles north of Nice on the Italian border in a small medieval town called Saint Martin Vésubie. Originally on the salt trade route between Nice and Turin... [...]

September 13, 2015 8

NEWS FROM AUBERGE LA FENIÈRE: REINE SAMMUT PASSES THE REINS TO DAUGHTER NADIA

After 40 years at the helm of one of Provence’s most renowned restaurants, La Fenière, Chef Reine Sammut and sommelier husband Guy are handing over the reins of the cuisine to Nadia Sammut in October. Nadia, who is the third generation of Sammuts at La Fenière, credits her grandmother and her parents for her culinary knowledge and passion for food but brings her own personal experience and education to the table, too: growing up with celiac disease and learning to cook creatively sans gluten... [...]

August 17, 2014 6

CHÂTEAU LA COSTE: THERE’S SOMETHING FOR ALL AGES

There is no shortage of places to go, people to see, or things to do in Provence, especially in August when [...]

August 2, 2014 9

LOU PÉBRE D’AÏ IS A GREAT REASON TO MAKE A DETOUR TO LAURIS

Aside from watching my daughter play soccer in Lauris, I never had a reason to get out of my car in this [...]

July 20, 2014 9

24 HOURS AT ALAIN DUCASSE‘S HOSTELLERIE DE L’ABBAYE DE LA CELLE—I ONLY WISH WE COULD HAVE STAYED LONGER

“It’s breathing history and serenity…and then there’s the food.” Tancrède Barale, Managing [...]

January 20, 2013 6

RACLETTE: THE BEST MEAL YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF

It is 12 degrees outside as I write this post. The wind is howling and the ground is covered with several [...]

October 14, 2012 6

LE CASTELLAS ENCORE: IT’S ALWAYS A WILD EXPERIENCE AT LA FERME DE CHÈVRE IN SIVERGUES

At Le Castellas, to guess who else is coming for dinner is always part of fun. You can count on the [...]

September 2, 2012 10

ENCHANTING EVENING IN PROVENCE: WINE TASTING AT CAVE AURETO AND DINNER AT “LE JARDIN DANS LES VIGNES” IN LA COQUILLADE (AT AN ENCHANTING PRICE, TOO!)

We began at Cave Aureto where we met our friend Pierre Schott, the retail cavistes of the winery’s cellar. After a very interesting tour of their uncommonly modern winery and a tasting flight of their award-winning wines, we made our way to the [...]

July 15, 2012 30

ROSÉ, WHITE, AND BLUE ON BASTILLE DAY

Yesterday was Bastille Day. I know I should have been thinking red, white and blue—thick swaths of each color—as I arranged our small French Tricolors around the dinner table, listened to French CDs, chopped fennel, onion and parsley for our soupe de poisons aux [...]

1 2 »