Bonjour Colorado

Sizzling Sensations from Saint-Tropez

Sexy Saint-Tropez

O.K., I mentioned Saint-Tropez a few posts ago and I’m still tapping into a well of exhilarating emotions.  What a scintillating town!  And all under the guise of an old fishing village that exudes a delicious combination of Provençal charm and Côte d’Azur pizazz.  It’s both glitzy and real.  To me, it’s one of the most picturesque and authentic tourist destinations in the world.  It’s also a great place for shopping and gallery going, so be sure to meander within the maze of old streets to seek out your favorite boutique.  K. Jacques, renowned maker of sandals, is most definitely one of mine.  You’ll also find lots of great pottery shops, antique dealers and fashion-forward clothing and accessories boutiques tucked within this glamorous enclave.

Hotel Byblos: A Saint-Tropez Classic

The celebrated Hotel Byblos is still the magical place to be for lodging, dining, drinks, spa treatments or lolling on the beach (hiding behind designer sunglasses in a skimpy little number, bien sur).  The whole establishment is awash with cheerful, fresh colors characteristic of Provence and the French Riviera.  The hotel has clearly not spared a dime in recent refurbishments since most of the rooms have been beautifully decorated in luxurious fabrics from leading French names Canovas, Frey and Lelievre. Here your beach experience is extended in bathrooms beautified with Italian marble, exotic tiles and polished pebbles.  For further pampering, visit The Byblos Spa that features a host of treatments created exclusively by Sisley Cosmetics for Byblos.  A stay here (and to Saint-Tropez) is not complete without dining at Spoon Byblos where you can enjoy Mediterranean-inspired cuisine along with an international wine selection.  An Alain Ducasse restaurant, the first Spoon, opened over ten years ago in Paris, a highly successful concept that has been replicated in several other countries.

Les Caves du Roy at Hotel Byblos

If nothing else, you must check out the scene at the Byblos club, Les Caves du Roy.  Here you’re sure to have a blast hanging with lots of beautiful people while dancing the night away to some of the most up-to-the-minute music in the world.

Simply Beautiful: La Réserve Ramatuelle

For a sleeker, more stream-lined experience, take in La Réserve Ramatuelle, the newly-opened resort in the oh-so tony neighboring village of the same name.  World renowned architectect, Jean-Michel Wilmotte has created an experience here like few others on the Côte d’Azur. Timeless style, seamless design and purity of line have been employed to produce a stunning hotel and spa that integrates harmoniously with the raw beauty of the coast.  You’ll find no frou frou embellishments here.  The result is a haven of peace and tranquility like none other that you’ll find on the hustling, bustling French Riviera.  I sent Dr. Jeffrey Walker, a world traveler and one of my contributors, here for dinner and he marveled about the space, adding that it was the most exceptional establishment he visited in his whole two-week trip to France.  This is a must for all discerning travelers.  Even if you don’t reserve a room at La Réserve, definitely carve out time to luxuriate at the restaurant or spa.

The Bar and Restaurant of La Réserve

If you do stay at La Réserve, you’ll be so content there that you might not want to venture out.  You must though, especially for the Saint-Tropez market (go early), beach going, boating and drinks in the cafés along the waterfront.

K. Jacques, 25 rue Allard and 16 rue Seillon, Saint-Tropez, (33) 4.94.97.41.50, www.lestropeziennes.com or www.kjacques.fr

Hotel Byblos, avenue Paul Signac, Saint-Tropez, (33) 4-94-56-68-00, www.byblos.com

La Réserve Ramatuelle Hotel and Spa, Chemin de la Quessine, Ramatuelle, (33) 4-94-44-94-44; www.lareserve-ramatuelle.com

Other Favorite Addresses

Potier Augier, 22 rue Georges Clémenceau, Saint-Tropez, (33) 4-94-97-23-72; for boldly colored pottery

Sénéquier, 2 pl aux Herbes (tea salon) and quai Jean Jaurès, Saint-Tropez, (33) 4-94-97-00-90 and (33) 4-97-97-97-81, www.senequier.com; this sprawling café is a veritable institution and possibly one of the best places in all of the south of France to people-watch.

Saint-Tropez: Where Sailing is King

Thank you to LCI/CDT VAR for the use of some of the above images.

Golfing and Much More in Puerto Rican Paradise

Gran Melia Puerto Rican Paradise

How about zipping off to an island Shangri-La where you can enjoy great food and golf?  Of course such a trip would involve lots of other activities including relaxing by the pool or beneath a flower-draped pergola, spa going, tennis playing or even participating in a Salsa or Merengue dance class.  A good friend, who also happens to be a very discriminating traveler, recently discovered Gran Melia Golf Resort Puerto Rico, a breathtaking and luxurious enclave in Puerto Rico that embraces one of the most gorgeous sites of the Caribbean.  The resort’s two 18-hole golf courses are so picturesque that you might find it hard to keep your eye on the ball!  Both have been designed by PGA-legend Tom Kite and are located at the hotels’s Trump International Golf Club (Click on that link to see some awesome photos of the courses!)  Be sure to ask about their terrific offers valid now through December 22nd (must book by November 30th).  The hotel also opens to PR’s largest-lagoon-style pool, a heavenly kingdom lush with flora, perfect for swimmers, golfers and loungers alike.

Gran Melia Golf Resort Puerto Rico, 200 Coco Beach, 787-809-1770, www.gran-melia-puerto-rico.com

One of Many Delightful Bars and Lounges to Enjoy After a Round of Golf

Top Chefs

Pasta from Panzano

What does it take to become a top chef?  Certainly lots of training, years of experience and a passion for creating a memorable dining experience.  The desire to make people happy seems to be the driving force behind the success of most culinary whizzes, professional and amateur alike.  (Just think of your grandma baking you your favorite cake.  My grandmother’s was a special boiled raisin cake with thick butter cream frosting that neither my mother nor I have been able to duplicate.)  This notion of people-pleasing became abundantly clear to me recently when I interviewed two notable chefs on Travel Fun.

Chef Kenny from Capella

Chef Kenny Gilbert, Executive Chef at Capella in Telluride, told me that he became interested in food when he’d watch his father barbecuing as a child.  Growing up in the South, there was always lots of barbecuing and Kenny had many opportunities to see how people enjoyed it so much.  

Chef Elise Wiggins, Executive Chef at Panzano in Denver, talked to me about a similar experience.  She explained that in her native Louisiana, much of life revolves around eating.  “It’s about good times with family and friends.  I learned at a young age that you can make a lot of people happy by cooking.”

Both went on to pursue their love of cooking at culinary school and began to rack up experience at home and abroad in the kitchens of some of the best known restaurants in the world.  Chef Kenny draws largely upon basic French techniques that emphasize such fundamental practices as kitchen organization and garde manger (pantry) management.  Chef Elise has been greatly influenced by her mother who spent summers in northern Italy, preparing regional dishes for her family and also by many Italian chefs with whom she studied over the years.  Her regular travels to Italy have helped her to hone her knowledge of largely northern Italian cuisine, the emphasis at Panzano.   Chef Elise pays particular attention to how flavors change according to the terroir in Italy, especially in products such as cheese and salumi.

Chef Elise from Panzano

So it comes as no surprise that at Capella in Telluride you might find a barbecued pulled pork sandwich on the menu at Suede, the hotel’s swanky informal bistrot, and a superior cut of meat served up at Onyx, this tony establishment’s more high-end restaurant.  Chef Kenny’s whimsical note is rolled out in the form of a multi-tiered candy cart that showcases everything from puckery lemonheads and swirl pops to luscious truffles and pâte de fruits.  “I like to serve up childhood favorites,” Chef Kenny says.  “I’ve seen a diner moved to tears over Swedish fish.”  Creating and conjuring up memories is after all an essential part of the dining experience.

At Panzano, gorgeous plates of food composed of the freshest ingredients and many house made specialties such as hand cured meats delight discriminating diners in Denver, a city that is quickly becoming one of the food capitals of the country.  If you haven’t tried one yet, this is where you’ll find the best grilled Caesar salad on the planet.  Who would ever think grilled romaine could taste this good?  “It’s a simple technique with simple ingredients,”  Chef Elise says.

Lighting Up Mountain Village with Telluride Festival of the Arts

Chef Kenny and Chef Elise will have the opportunity to meet up and create some culinary magic together at the Telluride Festival of the Arts, a celebration of the visual and culinary arts that’s taking place this year August 14 through 16.  They’re both participating in a gastronomic extravaganza with Hosea Rosenberg, winner of Bravo’s 2009 Top Chef.  “It’s a well-organized, flawless event that features a great mix of people,” Chef Elise told me.    This will be her second year at the festival and my first.  I’m really looking forward to it, too, not only since one of this year’s highlights will be a free concert by Joan Osborne but also because it has become abundantly clear to me that foodie events big and small are about making people happy.

One of Chef Kenny's Creations

Kitchen Tip from Chef Kenny Gilbert

“Time management is key.  It’s really about the mise en place,” Chef Kenny emphasizes.  “Have everything in place, write your list out, check inventory and have everything right in front of you.”  I’m hoping this will up my chances of having everything ready at once and served at the desired temperature!

Culinary Advice from Chef Elise Wiggins

Memorize flavors.  “Act like a three year-old and put everything in your mouth in its raw state and then you will remember its flavor,” Chef Elise says.  “This also helps you to realize that you can overdue it with certain herbs.”

Onyx and Suede are the two signature restaurants of Capella, Telluride, 970-369-0880, www.capellatelluride.com

Panzano, located in the Hotel Monaco, 909 17th Street at Champa, Denver, 303-296-3525, www.panzano-denver.com

Note that Chef Elise gives cooking classes once a month specializing in everything from pickling and preserving to the preparation of turduckin, a classic Cajun dish served at Christmas.

Type Capella or Panzano into the search in the upper right hand corner of my Web site to read more about my dining experiences at Onyx and Panzano.  You can also read my story on Hotel Monaco by typing Hotel Monaco into the search.  You’ll notice that I put a quirky spin on it.

Book Picks

Chef Kenny recommends “Developing the Leaders Around You,” by John C. Maxwell.  This book has helped him to look at his employees as potential leaders, not just employees.  “In the kitchen, I feel everyone is a struggling artist, so it’s important to understand people’s skill sets in order to help them create goals and to achieve them,” Kenny says.  “If I can give to the employee and they give to me, then they’ll give back to the guests and the guests will feel their passion.”

Chef Elise loves “Eat, Pray, Love,” by Elizabeth Gilbert and so do I.  The food scenes in particular are extraordinary!

Bon Appétit!

Pondering Provence

A Quintessential Provençal Scene

Ahhhh, mid August.  Here in the mountains I’m already chagrined by a certain crispness in the air.  Fall and the first snows won’t be far off.  The weather has been glorious lately but I’m still longing for a blast of furnace-like heat, sweltering days that force me to retreat beneath a shade tree until the delightful oppressiveness of the day subsides and I can emerge to take in perhaps a cultural site or just sip a perfectly chilled glass of rosé on a terrace.  The desert isn’t far from where I live now and certainly it provides plenty of warmth.  But I am thinking of Provence.  Sun-drenched days, shady plane trees, a plethora of cultural offerings, delicious wines and so much more.

We are approaching le quinze août after all, the holiday of all holidays for Europeans.  Many people don’t even know that August fifteenth marks Assumption, a Catholic holiday that is hardly celebrated in Europe except for the fact that most everyone has the day off.  People typically take a whole week off around August fifteenth (if they can’t manage the entire month!).  So you can imagine it is the big vacation week of the summer, the biggest of the year in fact.

I have been in Provence during this period many times, battling crowds at the renowned markets of Saint-Tropez and Ilse-sur-la-Sorgue (you have to arrive early at these and most others).  Yet somehow I always managed and it was always worth it. 

But traveling to Provence in the fall offers a whole other experience.  Yes, you might still have difficulty reserving a table on the patio at the famed Oustau de Baumanière, but you won’t encounter the throngs of tourists that invade this most delightful region of France in July and August.  You’ll still find the weather to be glorious and the cultural offerings just as exciting.

Bea (on the rt.) with Le Mont Sainte-Victoire, Cézanne's Mountain, in the Distance

So why not consider a small, escorted tour composed of fellow travelers of discriminating taste?  I recently became in touch with Beatriz Ball, founder of Golden Bee Tours, a Brazilian-born woman that boasts a huge passion for France, especially Provence.  

The Golden Vineyards of Provence in Autumn

Since Bea’s Provence Arts and Scents Tour for the third week of September has sold out, she has decided to offer it the last week in September as well.  The highlight of this tour is certainly a guided visit to “Picasso-Cézanne,” a much-talked-about exhibition at the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence that explores Cézanne’s influence on Picasso.  Being ferried about a beautiful place with a delightful lady in the know—now that’s what I call a real vacation.

Bea, a recent guest on Travel Fun, chatted with me mostly during our interview about why so many artists have been lured to Provence over more than a century.  ”I remember being so impressed with the quality of light the first time I traveled to Provence many years ago,” Bea said.  Indeed the skies are so clear and vivid that they offer up a kaleidoscope of colors that changes throughout the day.  Certainly this is largely why Picasso, Cézanne and countless other artists sought to capture this region of France on canvas.  ”The region celebrates your senses,” Bea added and I concurred.  It didn’t take much for my thoughts to drift off to the ever present crick-crick-crick of the cicadas, the wafting smells of rosemary and thyme, the taste of a rich tapenade spread over crusty bread, the feel of rubbing a sprig of lavender between my palms, the vision of Abbaye de Sénanque in all its Romanesque splendor on a late summer’s afternoon.

Ah—haaaa.  Mid August.  I should either book a flight to France or go buy myself a nice bottle of Bandol and a few olives.  No wonder it has captivated so many people for so many years.

Thank you to Bea and LCI/CDT VAR for the use of the above images.