Nashman I really hope you have a thorougly enjoyable and fulfilling gastronomic tour of the Cote d'Azur, and would therefore like to add my $0.02 to the numerous suggestions above. Firstly, if you are likely to rent a car, it is certainly worth checking out some out-of-town places. Peillon I can definitely second Jonathan Day's proposal that you visit Auberge de la Madone. It is one of my favourite country restaurants, and sits in the village perché of Peillon with lovely views down the valley from the sun-trap dining terrace. The auberge has been in the Millo family for generations, and is very much a family-run affair; brother Christian runs the kitchen while sister Marie-José effortlessly creates a warm and friendly front-of-house. The cuisine is authentically regional, using locally-sourced (and even home-grown) produce to give flavours of both depth and subtlety. The menu changes daily, reflecting the availability of produce, but draw on a diverse portfolio of well-practised and flavoursome dishes to provide a perfect well-balanced meal. My wife and I had our 2003 Xmas lunch there, and the ensemble of food, ambience, service, etc was nothing short of sublime. (BTW, regarding well-balanced meals, I would strongly suggest that you avoid La Zucca Magica! The food is stodgy and unsubtle, with monotone flavours. Unless you just want vast volumes of fodder, and have a HUGE appetite, then give this place a wide berth. On the once and only time I ate there, each of the diners consumed less and less of subsequent courses, and almost without exception declined the 5th and/or 6th course. I left the restaurant extremely bloated - to the point of feeling physically ill - and spent the afternoon flat out on my bed in pain!) Lorgues For a real "standout" meal, however, I would highly recommend that you make the pilgrimage to the medieval town of Lorgues (in the Var department) to eat at Chez Bruno, the undisputed "Roi des Truffes". At an unbelievably affordable €53 (for the truffes de saison - €100 for the same meal with truffes noires), the 5 course menu (plus amuses, etc) consists of three savoury dishes - each containing truffles in one form or another - and two dessert courses. I have eaten there 3 times in the last 6 months, on each occasion with different friends, and the food and ambience has been close to divine; of course, this may be due in part to the intoxicating and narcotic effect of the truffles . [FYI - To get a feel for Chez Bruno, check out the Friday entry in my friend Jay Cross's blog of his stay with us in Nice last October.] The cuisine is fairly rustique and is very wholesome, so you should aim to request a pause and make a trou normand - with a glass of the exquisitely characterful 25-year-old Vieux Calvados they serve here - before the dessert courses. Then afterwards, a quick trip to the little on-site boutique to stock up on Truffle goodies, before a bit of degustation de vin at the many local vineyards nearby! Nice Although Nice has been well-covered in earlier postings, I would like to do a bit of "cheerleading" for the relatively unknown Aphrodite. The cuisine of the greatly under-rated David Faure is exciting in both form and flavour, and is deeply-rooted and influenced by the produce, place and people of his native Nice and its environs, of which the menu "Autour du Comté de Nice" is inter alia a typical example. Again, this restaurant (and its predecessor, the Auberge des Arts) is one I have been frequenting for many years, and have always come away with superlatives on my lips. Anyway, I guess you now have enough suggetions to fill two or three trips to the Cote d'Azur, so I will simply wish you "Bon Appetit!" Cheers, Philip Hart
