Situated between Italy and Monte Carlo in Roqbuebrune~Cap~Martin is a lovely “newish” beach club called La Môme Riviera where French Provençal charm and Italian Il dolce far niente {the sweetness of doing nothing} are elegantly intertwined.
I love their play on the classic French Panier du marché served as a centerpiece. All along the riviera restaurants offer this basket of whole fresh vegetables and hard boiled eggs with a savory Anchoïade {recipe below}. Traditionally the basket or cork bowl is passed around the table and people will cut up the vegetables they would like to try, sharing bites with their neighbors, adding a spoonfuls of anchoïade on the plate to dip away to their hearts desire.
La Môme is definitely a bit more refined, instead of the traditional basket or cork bowls the vegetables are in a charming little ceramic vessel with a bamboo handle. They’ve also peeled and sliced some of the vegetables for us. It’s a very casual, hands on way to start a meal.
This was a birthday celebration so we felt there was a need for local oysters on the half~shell with dollops of oscietra caviar, a lovely mignonette sauce and my favorite La Conviette mini French butter rolls {to order some for your abode click on La Conviette} and click there -> for Lemon half covers
Oh how I love the Italian artichokes that grow in the nearby hills. At La Môme they relieve you of all of the effort of leaf plucking, crown removing, heart slicing and they even sprinkle it all with a lemon~Parmesan vinaigrette, herbs, pistachios and lovely slices of more Parmigiano Reggiano.
For dessert they served this cake that had the most elegant crumb, red berries & figs, vanilla white chocolate petals {to create something similar where you can see the ground vanilla bean click on Splendid vanilla bean} and some creamy dreamy custardy filling topped with gold flake. To add that fancy touch to your next dessert click on Splendid edible gold flake 24k.
After lunch, the sea beckoned.
Splendide Anchoïade
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- One 2-ounce can anchovy fillets from (see note)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (or to taste)
Preparation
- Fit a food processor with a blade. Drop in the garlic and salt grind them up well. Drop in all the anchovies in at once. Add the olive oil and vinegar. Then stop the machine, scrape down the sides, and purée again until well blended and smooth.
- Spoon into a small bowl and serve with a a collection of fresh, washed vegetables and hard boiled eggs, include some paring knives so guests can help themselves.
If you want to mellow out your anchovies soak then in milk for 15 minutes, pat them dry before adding them to the them to the processor.
To see cork bowls I loaded with produce and rosé for a gift basket click on cork bowls.
