chez pim

It's gonna take more than mud to dampen our Jazz Fest spirit!

And we don't just make do, we make it New Orleans hot! 

The chef and his secret garden: Mauro Colagreco of Mirazur

This is a story that began with a meal. The location was the improbable Côte d'Azur, the blue sky coast of Southern France.  Think Malibu, only with more money and even thinner, tanner bodies.  Needless to say it's not the land of great restaurants, despite the temperate climate, abundant produce - from just over the border in Northern Italy on one side and Provence on the other - not to mention the pristine seafood local fishermen bring in daily from the Mediterranean.  

We heard of an ambitious young chef, fresh from the sublime l'Arpège in Paris, who had fallen in love with the region and opened a restaurant, Mirazur, in Menton, the last little town just before the Italian border.  When we made our way there, we found a chef whose story was as unlikely as his locale. 

Argentinean-born of Italian and Spanish descent, Mauro Colagreco found his love of gastronomy under the talented and lamented Bernard Loiseau, Le Côte d'Or in Saulieu, and perfected his craft under the exigent Alain Passard in Paris.  He was awarded his Michelin star the first year Mirazur opened, and when he was named Chef of the Year in the French guide Gault Millau, he became the first non-French chef to have been given the title.  To this day he remains the only one.

The first taste of his food, I understood why.  Here's a chef who understands and celebrates quality ingredients, not with the indignant refusal to "do much to the food", but with exquisite skills and wild imagination - the Argentinean side of him I'm sure - that both surprise and delight.  I still dream of the impossibly sweet red prawn, enrobed by ribbons of fresh young asparagus, borage and wild garlic blossoms and a drizzle of buttery Ligurian olive oil.  Biting into it, I realized that one of the asparagus ribbons was sweeter and had a more delicate perfume than the rest.  It was in fact a thin, long sliver baby green zucchini, just pretending.  That little gesture changed the dynamics of the whole composition, and it'll make you beg for more.  Asked where the superlative prawns came from, Mauro told us that he drove to Ventimiglia, a small market town just over the Italian border to his favorite fish monger to get them - Gamberi Rossi as they're called there - a couple times a week.  Some of the vegetables came from the budding potager that he just started down the street.    

a view from Melbourne

I'm here in Melbourne, enjoying the amazing weather and the fantastic Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.  I've been enjoying myself far too much to write a proper post, so you'll have to make do, for now, with the snap shots of people and things I've been enjoying here in Melbourne.  More when I get home, promise.

The famous Melbourne Bratwurst sandwich at Queen Victoria Market.

Gippsland blue cheese from Victoria and Pyengana cheddar from Tasmania, at the T'Gallant winery lunch.

A sign at a market stall in Prahran market wishing us a great soirée at the Earthly Abundance dinner.

Jazz Fest Love

Pie Ranch barn dance

still in Vegas, and quite desperate for good coffee

No, you won't find it at Illy. It's surprisingly disappointing. And I'm not even going to mention the pastries there. Anyone has a better idea?

Vegas, baby!

As soon as we stepped off the boat yesterday, we stepped onto a plane and headed out here to Vegas.  The fun's already begun last night with the Michelin party at the Wynn and then the after party at Blush.  More on that later.  I'm here through the weekend for the James Beard Foundation Taste America events.  It's going to be fun.  If you're here, be sure to say hi.

Sailing off to the sunset

No, not really.  Not quite yet, at least.  But if you are wondering where I've been, this picture should give you an idea.

This year, David gave me the most fabulously fabulous birthday present, ever, an 8-day sailing class package for the two of us to take together!  So that's where I've been in the past few days, busy learning how to tack and jibe and tie a lot of knots.  Not to mention figuring out how to cook on slightly dodgy, if fascinating, boat stove.  Yes, we're living on a boat as well--not the one in the picture but a larger one docked nearby!  My blog might be a bit slow for a few more days. 

For a more up to the moment stuff, you can follow me on Twitter and Plodt.  Or, you can just check on the middle column here on Chez Pim where I will be posting regular pictorial updates via my trusty--if also slightly dodgy--iPhone camera.

too busy eating to blog, apparently

landing

Chez Pim is now broadcasting from the (not so sunny) South of France for the next week or so.  The shot above was taken on my iphone as the plane approached the Côte d'Azur before landing at Nice airport.  David and I are here for the fun-filled and food-filled conference Les Étoiles de Mougins.

No, no, I'm not live-blogging the conference--at best it would be live-ish blogging it.  Stay tuned.