Le Bistrot du Paradou

Le Bistrot du Paradou is as authentic as possible when it comes to a real French bistro. Located in the small and idyllic village of Paradou, it’s about a 15 minute drive from Saint-Remy-de-Provence and well within driving distance from Arles or Avignon. Another reason to visit is it's one of cookbook author Patricia Wells’ favorite bistros. Patricia Wells is well known throughout Provence and divides her time between Paris and her lovely farmhouse and cooking school in the Var department of Provence.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This quintessential French bistro is an institution that is loved and adored not only by the locals but also the international set and tourists that are “in the know.” Even though Le Bistrot du Paradou has been discovered, it feels about as far from a tourist trap as anything could possibly be. Case in point, the two couples seated next to us were from Dubai and Scotland and were spending a long weekend in their second home in nearby Saint-Remy.

The atmosphere in the bistro oozes with character and old world charm, the generous servings of fabulous food, wine, and cheese, all served in a leisurely fashion, never disappoint. You can tell by the pictures that it is a warm and friendly bistro. Dejeuner (lunch) is 49 euros per person and includes wine, dessert, and coffee.

As you can see, each day of the week features a set menu with specialties of the area, such as aioli, lamb, lapin (rabbit) and Breese chickens. We wisely called a couple of weeks in advance for a reservation for Tuesday, the day their wonderful local lamb, Agneau de Pays, is on the menu. Local lamb is also one of the most popular dishes in Provence. We had house guests and didn’t not want them to visit Provence without having the pleasure of dining here. I can’t emphasize enough how essential it is to make advance reservations for this very popular bistro.

Here are examples of our meal.

Salade Italienne - Italian salad

Sauccisson lyonnaise aux Pistaches - Sausage with pistachios and lentil salad

Gigot d'Aneau - roasted lamb 

This is the cheese tray, which is passed from table to table after you make your selections. Can you imagine a more generous cheese course?

If you have room for dessert, they're all homemade at Le Bistrot du Paradou.

Mousse au chocolat

Creme caramel

Thanks for our friendly waiter, Meakin was able to have a peek in the kitchen. That’s the Chef in the green jacket that the waiter is kissing on the cheek.

Le Bistrot du Paradou

57 Avenue de la Vallée des Baux

13520 Paradou, France

+33 4 90 54 32 70

Reservations are essential
A "do-not-miss" experience when you're in Provence
Highly recommended - you'll thank me for this one
The bistro doesn’t have a website, but you can find them on Facebook 

Although it was very tempting to take a leisurely drive through the countryside after this splendid meal and retire to our house for a nap, we wanted to introduce our guests to the Moulin Jean Marie Cornille, an olive oil mill dating back to 1610 in the nearby tiny village of Maussane-les-Alphilles. Most olive oils are pressed from a single variety of olives, but here they are pressed from a variety of olives. Patricia Wells calls Jean Marie Cornille’s olives oils “the Chateauneuf-du-Pape of olive oils.” I don’t know how you could get a higher recommendation.

While browsing and tasting their various olive oils in Cornille boutique, we purchased two bottles of olive oil for our French kitchen to use in vinaigrettes and also for dipping pieces of crusty French bread. One was a virgin black olive oil that uses only black (ripe) olives with a fruity flavor that was reminiscent of cooked artichokes. The other bottle was a green extra virgin olive oil that was also fruity with undertones of fresh almonds, grapefruit, and fresh artichokes. Meakin had a peek inside the 17th century mill and here is a close-up photo of one of the granite stone wheels that they use to press the olives on arrival at their mill.

Olive harvest time begins at the end of October and lasts until the end of December. For more about olives and how they are grown, click here. For more about how the olives are harvested and pressed, I think you’ll enjoy this informative video, link here. You’ll see the special combs and nets that are used to harvest the olives and the plastic crates that are used for transporting the olives to the mill, along with interesting photos of how the huge granite wheels such as the above press the olives to produce the oil.  

Moulin Jean Marie Cornille

Rue Charloun Rieu

13520 Maussane les Alpilles

+33 (0)4 90 54 32 37

Highly recommended if in the area

I was anxious to try Le Bistrot du Paradou’s lentil and sausage salad that they served as an entree (appetizer) at home. It satisfied me as a light dinner or also makes a nice beginning to a French meal. They used a Lyon sausage with pistachios, which I couldn’t find, so I substituted garlic sausage that gave the look and feel of what I was after to the dish. It’s important to use French green lentils because they have a nutty flavor and don’t fall apart as ordinary supermarket lentils tend to do. Just be sure not to overcook the lentils and you’ll be fine.

French Lentil Salad with Garlic Sausage
From My Carolina Kitchen, serves 4
Printable Recipe

1 cup French green lentils
4 ½ cups cold water
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 medium peeled onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot (or 2 small ones), peeled & finely chopped
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, more to taste
14 to 16 ounces fully cooked garlic sausage
4 fresh sprigs of parsley for garnish, optional

In a heavy 2 quart saucepan or stockpot, bring lentils and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are just tender but not falling apart. This will take between 12 and 25 minutes. Taste as you go along for doneness.

While the lentils simmer, heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in a non-stick sauté pan over moderate to low heat, then cook onions, carrots and fennel seeds, covered, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender but not browned, about 10 minutes, then add a bit of kosher salt to taste.

Meanwhile slice the garlic sausage into ¼” slices. Heat sausages over low heat, taking care that they do not brown. You want them just to heat through.

To serve, place a good size spoonful of lentils in the center of 4 plates and arrange 4 slices of the garlic sausages around the lentils. Drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil if you wish and serve right away, garnished with a sprig of fresh parsley if desired.

I haven’t had a chance to roast a lamb since we’ve returned, but had I, I would have definitely chosen this recipe from Patricia Well’s Bistro Cooking. We have used this recipe for lamb on numerous occasions and it has never failed us.

Roasted Leg of Lamb
Gigot roti au gratin de Monsieur Henny, serves 8 to 10
Adapted from Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells
Printable Recipe

1 boneless leg of lamb, about 6 to 7 pounds
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced into very thin slivers
2 pounds of baking potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
5 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 T chopped fresh thyme
2/3 cup dry white wine
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat the oven to 400F. Arrange the vegetables as follows: first a layer of the potatoes, then the onions, followed by the tomatoes. Season each layer with one third of the garlic and thyme plus some salt and pepper. Pour the wine over the vegetables, followed by the olive oil.

Trim the leg of lamb if it’s fatty. Season liberally with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the fresh chopped rosemary. Place a rack over the vegetables to hold the lamb. Roast, uncovered, for about an hour and fifteen minutes, turning the lamb every 15 minutes and basting it with some of the liquid underneath.  For rare to medium rare, remove the lamb from the oven when it reaches 125 degrees for rare and 130 for medium rare. Tent the lamb with foil and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes to rest. Slice and serve alongside the vegetables.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

La Cantina Italian Pizzeria, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

La Cantina in Saint- Rémy-de-Provence quickly became one of our favorite restaurants during our recent visit to Provence. We had gotten to know and like the  owners, Claude and Dana, on our trip several years ago when they owned Bistro Decouverte. Friends had told us that not long after we saw them then that they sold their very successful bistro and opened an Italian pizzeria across the street and finding them was one of our first priorities. We quickly became regulars at La Cantina and dined there for lunch or dinner at least once a week, often more. I loved it that they put VIP by our name on the reservations list.

It didn’t take long for us to realize that not only does La Cantina make the best pizza in all of Saint-Rémy, but we thought it was the best pizza we had ever tasted. Our favorite on the menu was the Pizza Margherita shown above and consists of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and beautiful fresh basil leaves. La Cantina’s dough is made from Italian flour and yeast, ferments for a minimum of 48 hours, then spread by hand to bring that nice crunch everyone loves to the pizza. More about their dough here on their website. Another secret to the success of their pizza is they have two new professional pizza ovens from OEM Optymo Concepts - the very first ones to be installed in France. Read more about these ovens here on La Cantina's Facebook page.

The pizza arrives at your table with a fabulous arugula salad, also called a rocket salad in France. The salad was served in a bowl family style along with a crusty baguette.

The arugula was dressed in a simple balsamic vinaigrette and topped with a very generous serving of shaved Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

If you prefer a more substantial salad, we recommend their rocket salad accompanied by asparagus spears dressed with a creamy Parmesan cheese sauce.

La Cantina also has a nice selection of specialty salads and antipasti. We invited author and blogger Vicki Archer of French Essence to lunch at La Cantina while we were there and her favorite salad is La Cantina’s “La Grande,” shown above. It consists of rocket, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, bresole, mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. La Cantina is also one of Vicki’s favorite restaurants and she and her family dine there often and know Claude and Dana well.

La Cantina’s affogato was one of the best I’ve ever tasted. Affogato is one of my all time favorites and I order it every time I see it on a menu. It is an Italian coffee based beverage and makes a great ending to a rich meal. There are only 2 ingredients in an affogato – hot espresso and cold vanilla gelato. The combination of these two simple ingredients creates the most delicious cup of coffee you’ve ever had.

Claude has a rich history with wine and food and was named “Sommelier of the Year” in London in 1999. He has worked with other food greats such as Joel Robuchon and Marco Pierce White. We highly recommended that when dining at La Cantina you allow Claude to choose your wine. You will definitely not be disappointed with his choice.

The day of the running of the sheep, the Fête de la Transhumance, we arrived in Saint-Rémy very early and promptly went to La Cantina to reserve one of their outside tables by the street. Claude graciously arranged a reservation for us to sit as close to the street as possible and put a “reserved” card on our table. I'm the blonde at the middle table. You can see how close our table was to the street.

The Fête de la Transhumance in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is without a doubt the most famous festival in the south of France. Transhumance brings back to life the day the shepherds move their sheep to the mountains for the summer. It is a traditional and moving fête dear to the hearts of the Provençal people. Read more about it here.

The sheep are marched through the center of the village and what a thrill to see. It was so exciting to sit so close to the sheep as they ran by. We were actually able to reach out a touch a couple and were surprised their coats were not as soft as they looked. I’ll have more about this festival in another post.

While the sheep and shepherds passed by right in front of our eyes, we shared La Cantina’s delicious antipasto plate. Merci beaucoup to Claude for reserving these ring side seats for us.

Whatever you do, if you are anywhere near in Saint- Rémy-de-Provence, do not miss a chance to dine at La Cantina. I can’t recommend it highly enough and I am positive that you won’t be disappointed.

La Cantina
"The best pizzeria in Provence"

18 Boulevard Victor Hugo

13210 Saint-Rémy-de Provence, France

04 90 90 90 60 

Closed Mondays

Reservations recommended
Website & Facebook page

I know some of you are hoping for or expecting recipes. As much as I enjoy visiting with professionals about what makes their food so good, I am not comfortable asking them for their recipes. Sorry, I’m just not. But the good news is that I've tried my own versions of some of these recipes and I’ll share what I’ve found with you.

I’ve made the arugula salad frequently since we’ve returned. I take handfuls of fresh baby arugula and dress it with a vinaigrette composed of 1 part best-quality aged balsamic vinegar to 3 parts extra-virgin olive oil, add a good sprinkle of French sea salt to the vinaigrette, then top the dressed salad with lots of  freshly shaved Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, the best quality I could find. Claude didn’t skimp on the cheese and neither did I.

I did ask Claude about his sauce for the asparagus and he said it was just cream and Parmesan. I found several Parmesan cheese cream sauces on the web and the one here tastes similar to his. My recipe for preparing poached asparagus can be found here. We served the asparagus as an accompaniment to a steak the other night. Right before it was served I sprinkled a dusting of bright red Aleppo pepper flakes over the cream sauce to add a touch of color and a peppery flavor. It was delicious.

Photo from Bialetti's website

Regarding the affogato, it’s a breeze to make at home, although mine never turns out as pretty as Claude’s. I did find that the espresso they serve in France was out-of-this-world fabulous and so is French gelato. I haven’t been able to duplicate either here. To make affogoto, simply brew some espresso, and for every scoop of gelato, top it with about 1 ounce of hot espresso. I use a Bialetti Moka Express pot like the one above. They’ve been making these little pots since 1933. An Italian neighbor once shared her secret espresso many years ago.  Now, just like she did, before brewing my espresso I sprinkle the coffee with a pinch or two of sugar and anise seeds before I brew it to give the coffee a hint of anise flavor. For a perfect affogato, it’s best to brew your espresso just before serving it so everything is as fresh as possible. I’ve also read to chill your glass and make sure the gelato is very, very cold and I think that would keep the gelato from melting right away, which mine has the tendency to do. I don’t know what Claude’s secret was, but his gelato wasn’t melting when it was brought to the table.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Dark Chocolate Molten Cake & Le St André Café in Bonnieux

One of the desserts we saw all over Provence was beautifully presented individual servings of dark chocolate molten cakes. The one above is from Le St André Café in the gorgeous perched village of Bonnieux.

Bonnieux is one of the beautiful villages of Provence. As early as 972 AD, it was a fortified village and has an interesting history. According to the website Luberon.com, Bonnieux started off lower down the hill, but inched its way up the slope as events got harrier in the 13th century and barricaded itself against invaders and attackers with ramparts, which sometimes kept them out and sometimes did not.” Hmm, just when I thought those perched villages were safe from the invaders during the Middle Ages.

Today Bonnieux is one of the most impressive villages in the Luberon. Here are a few of the pictures we took while we strolled around before lunch.

The French adore their dogs and take them everywhere, including restaurants. This man kindly allowed us to take his picture with his cute little pooch.

On the day we visited Bonnieux we decided to have lunch, or dejeuner as it is called in France, at Le St André Café.

Before we ordered our lunch, Meakin went inside the restaurant and found some of the staff, including our server and the hostess, both pictured below, enjoying their own lunch before the noontime rush.

As it turns out, they were eating an omelet and a chef’s salad. He thought it looked so good and, as yet, we hadn’t eaten an omelet on this trip, so he asked them if we could order the same meal as they were having. The hostess looked over to a gentleman (we presume to have been the chef or owner) of the restaurant and he nodded in the affirmative, so you’ll see below our chef’s salad and omelet, customized to our request.

For dessert we both chose the dark chocolate molten cake sitting atop a crème anglaise sauce, served with a scoop of pistachio glacée and a dollop of whipped cream sprinkled with a few miniature chocolate chips.

I could not wait to get home and try a version of their dessert myself.

I chose this particular molten chocolate cake recipe (there are a lot of recipes out there) because cookbook author Peggy Knickbocker had adapted her recipe from the Russian Tea Room, an iconic restaurant in New York City. One evening in the late seventies Meakin and I stopped into the Russian Tea Room (next door to Carnegie Hall) prior to attending a Frank Sinatra concert at Carnegie Hall and ran into to Gene Shalit, famed New York movie and television critic. It's just another reason this recipe is special to us. Funny, you never know when old memories related to recipes can crop up. Below is how dark chocolate molten cake turned out.

Try as we might to find a similar pistachio glacée or gelato, which to us seems very similar to a French glacée, we were unsuccessful. I found pistachio gelato, but unfortunately it wasn’t very green, so we settled on quality mint chocolate chip ice cream. We skipped the crème anglaise sauce, but it was a very nice addition. If you don’t want to bother with making your own crème anglaise sauce (we didn’t) and want to cheat a bit, you can melt some vanilla ice cream and swirl a little underneath the cake to take its place. We’ve done that in the past and it works great. All in all, the molten chocolate cake was easy to make and we were pleased with how it turned out. If you want it a little runnier, remove it from the oven a minute or two before the recipe calls for. I really like the fact that you can make the majority of the recipe in advance and cook it right before you plan to serve it.

The mint chocolate ice cream is very pretty with the dark chocolate, but a bright raspberry gelato would be equally stunning.

Here's our version of Le St André Café's molten chocolate cake.

Dark Chocolate Molten Cakes
Adapted from Simple Soirees by Peggy Knickerbocker, serves 6
Printable Recipe

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, plus additional for buttering the ramekins
10 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus additional for flouring the ramekins
¼ cup sugar
4 large eggs, beaten
Powdered sugar

Optional toppings:
French glacée, ice cream or gelato
Whipped cream

In a double boiler (or set a bowl tightly over a pot of simmering water), melt the butter, then add the chopped chocolate to the hot butter, stirring constantly until all of the chocolate has melted. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 30 minutes. If desired you can place the bowl in the refrigerator briefly, but do not let the chocolate harden.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Butter and lightly flour six 6 ounce ramekins, making sure not to miss any spots or the cakes will stick. Place them on a sheet pan (lined with Silplat if available to keep the ramekins from sliding.)

Combine the flour and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk in the eggs until well blended and there are no visible lumps. Whisk in the cooled chocolate mixture until combined completely. Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins. They should be two thirds full.

At this point the recipe can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to 6 hours. Bring to room temperature before baking.

Bake in the middle rack of the oven until the cakes have puffed up a bit and the cakes still jiggle slightly when shaken, about 10 to 12 minutes. (I advise checking them at 9 minutes.) The cakes will be slightly fluid at 10 minutes and a little more cakelike if baked for the 12 minutes. If you like the centers very solf, taken them out at 9 minutes. Let sit for 1 minute.

Carefully remove the ramekins for the sheet pan. Place a plate on top of each ramekin and, with a potholder to protect your hands, carefully invert the cake onto individual plates. Let it sit for 10 seconds, then lift up each ramekin off of the cake. Alternately you may serve the cakes in the ramekins if you wish. Sprinkle the cakes with powdered sugar and if desired, a scoop of French glacée ice cream, gelato, or sorbet and/or whipped cream.

We highly recommend the food and the quality of service at Le St André Café in Bonnieux. For more information on the cafe, visit their website here.

Friday is Market Day in Bonnieux. If you plan to have lunch afterwards, we suggest that you call ahead and reserve a table no matter where you dine. If you are planning to have lunch at Le St André Café and you find yourself parked too far away to comfortably walk, call ahead and they will send the cute French golf cart above to fetch you.

Photo courtesy of Le St André Café website

Le St André Café Bonnieux

1 Freedom Square

84480 Bonnieux

Phone: 04 90 75 11 72

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.