Food & Drink in Provence and the Riviera
As any French person will attest, French food is the best in the world. That’s as true today as it was during the 19th-century heyday of the master chef Escoffier. A demanding patriarch who codified the rules of French cooking, he ruled the kitchens of the Ritz in Paris, standardizing the complicated preparation and presentation of haute cuisine.
Such cuisine is found on the top tables of the South of France. After all, the region has a century-old legacy of high-end tourism, and it boasts more Michelin stars than almost any other geographical area on the globe. Experimental fine dining ranges from the 500€ dinners in Monaco’s Louis XV to local cuisine specialists in the Provence countryside like La Cabro d’Or , where lunches can cost one-twentieth of that price.
However good classic dining gets, it is the earthly pull of Provençal flavors that attracts foodie pilgrims from across the planet. The South of France was originally colonized by Greeks and Romans, and has accepted several recent waves of Italian immigration. Thus a liberal splash of olive oil, wild herbs, and fresh vegetables goes into every dish.
Furthermore, Provence was once a poor cousin of Paris. Locals couldn’t afford the butter, foie gras, and fillet steak of their northern brethren. Instead, local ingredients like pigeon, pigs’ cheeks, and beef skirt accompany eggplant, zucchini, and lashings of tomatoes in many a dish. Not only that, the southern coast has had an enviable supply of fresh fish since time began. Local red mullet, sea bass, bream, and grouper meld with mussels, oysters, and sea urchins on most coastal menus.
Regional must-eats are a delight. Bouillabaisse, an exquisite fish soup claimed to have been invented by Venus, is Marseille’s best-known dish. Between Avignon and Aix-en-Provence expect lamb from the Sisteron hills, truffles from the Lubéron, and trout plucked fresh from the river. Sanglier (wild boar) makes it onto the menu in more mountainous areas as well as in Corsica. French Riviera specialties include daube (slow-cooked beef stew), soupe au pistou (vegetable soup with basil), and salade Niçoise (traditionally made with tomatoes, olives, radishes, scallions, peppers, and tuna or anchovies). All are best served with a glass of ice-cold rosé in the afternoon sun.
Finally, the region has scores of ways for food lovers to get closer to the cuisine they adore. A swath of new cooking courses and market tours covers the entire South of France. But nothing beats breakfast or lunch purchased from a daily market. These colorful additions to every town run year-round and are stocked high with olives, cheeses, pâtés, saucisson air-dried sausages, free-range roast chickens, baguettes, tapenades, and much, much more. Bon appétit.
To accompany such cuisine, let your own good taste—and your wallet—determine your choice of wine. In the best restaurants, wine stewards, called sommeliers, are there to help you in your choice, and only in the most dishonest of restaurants will they push you toward the most expensive selections. Of course, if you prefer only bottled water, or perhaps a beer, then be firm and order your choice without embarrassment. Some restaurants include a beverage in their menu rates (boisson compris), either as part of a set tasting menu in ritzy restaurants or as part of a fixed-price formula in cheaper places. Some of the most satisfying wines we’ve drank in France came from unlabeled house bottles or carafes, called a vin de la maison. In general, unless you’re a real connoisseur, don’t worry about labels and vintages. When in doubt, you can rarely go wrong with a good Côtes du Rhône, Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence, or Côtes du Provence, the region’s largest AOC appellations.