Thursday, September 30, 2021

30 September 2021 Lunch at Auberge St Remy

 


Lunch may be an overstatement.  We estimate 15 courses in this gastronomic fiesta.  


Welcome to your tasty experience


Fanny is personally involved


Excited a bit?


One of dozens of plates that we cycled through


The dining room is tiny with only six tables


The first round was served on olive tree wood.  Here is a crab puff and a tuna snack.


More snacks on the big olive vine,  Everything on this first course made it to the favorites list.


We were given a wooden knife to use on our artisanal butter


The butter was shaved off of this puck of butter.  The knife spun around the center pole and thin slices of butter came off


The butter was placed on more olive tree wood


Round two:  A langoustine tail with a tasty sauce 


Round three:  tomato sorbet with seaweed


Here is the close up 


Round 4:  Another tomato stuffed with lemon, lime and pepper



The stuffed tomato's innards.  This item was a fan favorite


Round five:  Artichoke with Galere shrimp and black garlic


Round Six:  a cappuccino with the shrimp sauce 


This is just preparation for round seven


Getting bigger!  It's a towel for us to clean our hands off


Round Seven:  Caviar with honey served the traditional way on the meat of your hand


Round Eight:  A tasty fish wrapped in zucchini flowers and served with a eight hour reduction of carrots, fennel, tarragon and vinegar with zucchini foam and zucchini pasta on the side.  Also got votes.


A mustache bun


A mystery juice...we all tried to guess.  I guessed mead, Leslie guessed Kombucha and Laura Apricot Juice.  We were all wrong, it was melon juice mixed with white beer,


Round Nine:  A cold goat cheese bar with more goat cheese and black olive crumbles to dip into


Love this embroidery  


Round Ten:  Crunchy Caramel, strawberry and fig from the chef's garden


Here is the other chef garnishing round ten


Round 11:  Chocolate de l'Opera smiling up at me


Round Eleven part two, or round twelve?


Round Eleven part three or round thirteen.  A crème Brule


Round Eleven part four or round fourteen:  sobacha with cardamom






29 September 2021 St Remy France

 


Our own little Villa in he south of France,  Little only in comparison to the sprawling estates, it is a four bedroom two bath house that is all ours.  We stopped off in Arles to stock up on food but it was a busy day and the place we plotted had no parking.  I drove randomly to let the GPS catch up and lo and behold I drove right up to a supermarket  Luck is always welcome.  We bought enough for our breakfasts and dinners for the next two days.  The kitchen was great and we cooked up green beans and and shrimp.  Everyone got their own bedroom and we settled in quickly.  Happy hour stretched into happier hours as we danced and sang to the France playlist.  When the stars came out it was a delight!


The gated driveway brought us right to the house


Outdoor dining and grill area


The pool is a bit "le chilly"


Two stories of spaciousness


Why hello, Madam!


Nice touches 


As we pulled into the gate the smell of lavender was thick.  All along the drive there were flowers


Nicely manicured lawn


More flowers


Olives on all of the olive trees.  Some were ripening but most were still green


The sun setting through the trees gave a cool lens flare


A covered seating area




Gliders flying overhead


Mountains surrounding the area


Sun setting


Nearing the peak of color


Blam, there it is!


Time to cook dinner