As a young chef in training, I worked at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo way back in the good old days of the 1970s. I found the work intoxicating - beautiful food, working in one of the world's super luxury hotels on a coordinated team of 50 cooks (!) just in the main kitchen. As beautiful as work was, my one day off of work was even better. I often went to the "big city", which in this case was Nice, a 30 minute train ride up the beautiful coast from Monte Carlo. The colorful markets, the street food, the smells and flavors - it was a symphony of great taste. Nice, like Monte Carlo, is not unlike Santa Barbara, bordered by the clear blue ocean on one side and steep hills on the other. I bought cookbooks - old traditional ones like Reboul "La Cuisinière Provençal and Medécin "Cuisine Niçoise", an English version which is available here, and more "modern" ones like Richard Olney's "Simple French Food" - and I studied them, and talked about the recipes with the staff at the hotel - few people in the south of France are short of opinions, and some lively conversations resulted among the cooks I worked with.
The food of Nice is Provençal - don't say Italian! - and I happen to think that it is one of France's great cuisines. Garlic, fennel, zucchinis and peppers, fresh fish from the coast, all figure promenently in Niçoise cuisine. There's Bouillabaisse, of course, but there's also the voluptuous Bourride, a velvety fish stew we've included on our menu this month. I hope you can find some of the wonderful flavors I experienced in my first and my future visits to "Nice the Beautiful".
So, with that in mind, here's Sly's latest 3 course fixed price menu. You'll notice that there's a great three-course meal for vegetarians hidden in there, too.
Celebrating the Cuisine of Nice & the Côte d’Azur
- First Courses
- Aubergines à la Niçoise
- Marinated Eggplant with Anchovies & Onions
- -or- Fenouille braisée aux Tomates
- fresh Farmer’s Market Fennel, braised with tomatoes
- -or- Moules Marinére, mussels steamed in white wine with shallots
- Main Courses
- “Merda de Cana”
- Nice's typical Gratin of Spinach Gnocci au Pistou. And yes, the name means what you think it does! We make our own spinach and potato gnocci. After rolling them out, we cook them, layer them in a gratin dish with "pistou" - sort of like pesto, but without the pine nuts - and then cover in a rich bechamel, and bake it in the oven until it is bubbly.
- -or- Braised Duck Leg “aux Olives”, Pilaf Rice
- Canard aux olives is one of many duck dishes from around Nice, and I think one of the best. The duck is braised in a rich stock with diced tomatoes and green olives - we've taken out the pits for you - and served with pilaf rice.
- -or- A Bourride of Local fishes
- garlicky fish stew with potatoes, local halibut, sea bass, and snapper.
- - La vraie Ratatouille accompanies all main courses. That means "True" - and I've seen enough strange concoctions called "ratatouille" that I feel it important to make a "correct" ratatouille for everyone to enjoy. Naturally, the vegetables are Farmer's Market, and we make it "comme il faut" - like it should be.
- Desserts
- Warm Clafoutis of Mixed Berries A Simple dessert - sort of a freshly baked custard around fresh fruit - here we use raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries from the Farmer's Market.
- -or- Nougat Glacé aux Oranges The city of Nice is as full of flowers as is Santa Barbara - and that means plenty of honey. Nougat is a tradtional honey & almond candy. Here, we've made a lighter frozen mousse with homemade candied orange peel and an orange sauce. Light, refreshing, delicious.
- -or- Mousse au Chocolat Mi-Amer -yes, there seems to be chocolate everywhere, including Nice and this bitter-sweet chocolate from Santa Barbara Chocolate Company makes a great light, rich, and chocolaty mousse.
- Warm fresh Chèvre with Acacia Honey - our cheese selections come from Santa Barbara's premier cheese shop, C'est Cheese. The south of France doesn't have the rich, creamy cheeses of say, Normandy, but the markets always have a great selection of fresh and aged goat cheeses. We've chosen a good fresh one, and we're serving it warm with mild acacia honey for a delightful end to a meal - if you can resist the temptations above, that is.
The three course menu is just $35. per person, plus tip and tax. $55. per person with two glasses of wine. (We recommend the rosé with this menu!)
Sly's next fixed price Menu will feature "La Cuisine du Sud-Ouest"- the cooking of the South-West France, which, of course, will include Sly's now famous Cassoulet with duck confit and our homemade sausages.
