Gosh, our executive editor Rick Reiff already quoted me last week as saying that our trip at the beginning of the month to the Loire Valley of France was rather magical. No need to belabor that point. I’d venture to say that when someone mentions France, most of our minds are immediately on good food and wine. We had plenty of that. In fact, the way we happened into this trip was quite serendipitous, through the connection of food.
Almost two years ago I got a phone call from the artist Jonathan Scott Robinson, who lives in the Loire Valley. He’d been in New York and San Francisco and was then in LA meeting with his patrons. One of his collectors took him to dinner at Ciudad, which is owned by Mary Sue Milliken and Sue Feniger, the “Two Hot Tamales” of the TV Food Network. Somehow, in his conversation with these two chefs, he was told to call me because I lead small, intimate tours here and there (we restrict our tours to groups of 12 or less). He did call, but was on his way back to France the next day, thus we first talked a lot on the phone and through e-mails. Finally, early this spring, Jonathan was back in LA and I hosted a reception to introduce him to locals.
This month, three other couples joined us in experiencing “his” Loire Valley: Jovie and Dr. Stan Rosenblatt of Huntington Beach, Cindy and Gary Thomas of Coto de Caza, and Judy and Rich Maggio of Nellie Gail Ranch.
The Loire, as a whole, has more castles than any other region on earth. Part of the Loire, including Jonathan’s mill and his ancient village of Linieres Bouton, of which he owns a good chunk and is totally refurbishing, has recently been designated by UNESCO as an internationally protected region because of its unique cultural significance.
The mill dates back two centuries, and has been authentically restored by Jonathan and furnished with fine antiques. Rolling green meadows and the stands of stately poplar trees surround the mill and the silence is broken only by river, the pets and the rooster that announces the dawn each morning. The pet ducks and geese met us morning and night at the dining room door for their food, which, like children, we loved feeding them.
Castles and manor houses fashioned centuries ago of local stone nestle in the gentle hills all around.
We went to local wineries and researched thoroughly the outdoor flea market that one-upped anything we’d ever seen: a grand parade of booths nestled at the edge of the Loire river with a fine array of goods rather than the junk usually associated with such gatherings of merchants. We visited the ch & #226;teau whose gardens served as the model for Versailles and trekked through the gardens and interiors of beautiful private ch & #226;teaux, meeting the “real” people who live in them. The Loire remains the most inexpensive place in France to purchase antiques and collectibles, and shops handling such goods abound.
Oh, the glorious food. Only twice did we eat out at significant restaurants. Once, we had lunch at a serene little caf & #233; on the lower steps of the famous church in Cande. Another evening, we went to the famous Jeanne de Laval restaurant in the intimate village of Les Rosiers and took along a duo of guests besides Jonathan. Pascal Merillou, the mill’s chef who cooked for us every evening we were there except this one, and Bernard Levenez, the person who endlessly did the phoning, toting of purchases and all manner of small details to make our stay extra comfortable. Bernard helped explain the historical perspective of the foods on this menu. Barbue, bar and sandre (three kinds of fish) and anguilles (eels), veal kidney with miniature onions, roasted duck with wine sauce and farm-raised chicken with fresh tarragon were but a few of the fine main dishes that enhanced this evening.
As with all meals, we had plenty of good wine.
We seemed to raise our glasses to toast Pascal every evening. He’s a superb chef who will soon be hosting the chefs of the San Francisco Culinary Academy and then a group of pastry chefs from New York. He spoiled us with his cuisine, all made with organically grown vegetables from the mill’s garden, and meats, fish and poultry also from organic farms. We supped well on foie gras, beef bourguignon, roasted spring lamb, pintade (guinea fowl), fresh mussels with wild mushrooms, trout with fennel, and salmon flown in from Scotland, to name but a few dishes.
I have long been “educating” our friends here on the grace of certain wines from the Loire. Next week is my Fifi’s Best issue, and I am saving my discussion of the wines for that. I will be hosting more small tours to the mill, so feel free to contact me if interested, or email Jonathan at jonathan.robinson@wanadoo.fr for further information.
