May 1st, 2011 | 
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Le Petit Moulin baguette
Oh, so what. A baguette, you might think. How good could it be? It’s just bread, after all. Granted. If all you’ve been eating is that tasteless, industrial, feeble excuse for a baguette that’s on sale everywhere from supermarkets to your lesser boulangeries, I can forgive your cynicism. Reader, I submit for your consideration Le Petit Moulin, a boulangerie under the loving supervision of Christian Rassent and winner of the 2010 Best Traditional Baguette in the Alpes-Maritimes award.
Where the standard baguette is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, Mr Rassent’s loaf has a slight crispiness on the outside giving way to an airy but chewy intererior. The standard baguette is almost odorless and has a slightly cloying, immediately forgettable flavor. At Le Petit Moulin the baguette has a distinctly nutty aroma and the robust sweet/sourflavor lingers in the mouth. It’s a bready-bread. Best of all, it lasts. The standard baguette is pretty much finished in 12 hours and is rock-hard in 24. Rassent’s bread is still delicious after days.
What’s his secret? The starter dough. Eschewing baker’s yeast, this bread-man uses a sourdough starter. It takes longer but there’s just no comparison when it comes to the texture, the taste or the longevity of the loaf.
Must cost a fortune, then? Not so. His loaf is a mere €1.20, only slightly more expensive than inferior bread. But you will have to go out of your way for it. Le Petit Moulin is far from anyplace a tourist would ever think to visit in a neighborhood the French tactfully call populaire. It’s at 144 bd Madeleine, Nice not the most convenient location but what is convenient is the automatic bread dispensary just a few blocks away at the intersection of Route de Canta Galet and Route de Bellet, not far from Nice’s vineyards.
Automatic bread dispensary open 24/7.
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For the first time the Nice Jazz Festival will be held in the center of Nice at the Jardin Albert 1er. Following is the program:
Friday July 8
Scène Masséna
Hommage to Miles Davis
19h30 KIND OF BLUE REVISITED : Avec Alex Tassel, Rick Margitza, Pierrick Pédron, Franck Avitabile, Diego Imbert, Julien Charlet
20h15 MIKE STERN & DIDIER LOCKWOOD
22h JOHN MC LAUGHLIN & the 4th Dimension
Scène Théâtre de Verdure
Greatest Jazz Vocal Standards
19h30 NICE JAZZ ORCHESTRA
20h ROBERTA GAMBARINI
21h15 MICHEL LEGRAND
Saturday July 9
Scène Masséna
Soirée world
19h30 ANTHONY JOSEPH AND THE SPASM BAND
20h30 ASA
22h CARLINHOS BROWN
Scène Théâtre de Verdure
Blues Night
19h30 Homemade Jamz Blues Band
20h15 JEAN-JACQUES MILTEAU
21h45 JOE-LOUIS WALKER
Sunday July 10
Scène Masséna
Nu Jazz & Electro
19h30 NO JAZZ
20h15 NILS PETTER MOLVAER
21h45 MORCHEEBA
Scène Théâtre de Verdure
Jazz made in France
19h30 DOMINIQUE FILLON
20h30 MARTIAL SOLAL & STEFANO BOLLANI
21h45 MICHEL PORTAL BAILADOR
Monday July 11
Scène Masséna
Sweet Soul Music
19h30 CHARLES BRADLEY 20h30 MACY GRAY (to be confirmed)
22h SEAL
Scène Théâtre de Verdure
New Generation
19h30 Vainqueur du tremplin NJF
20h15 TROMBONE SHORTY
21h30 AVISHAI COHEN
Tuesday July 12
Scène Masséna
Soul & Funk
19h30 ALOE BLACC
20h30 KEZIAH JONES
22h MACEO PARKER
Scène Théâtre de Verdure
Masters of Jazz
19h30 ROY HARGROVE Quintet
20h30 AHMAD JAMAL
22h00 WYNTON MARSALIS & Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
For ticketing see the Nice Jazz Festival website.
Thinly-sliced radish adds extra crunch
Long known by the local cognoscenti, Flaveur recently burst onto a wider scene when Michelin awarded it a star only a month ago. Since then it’s been a scramble to get a reservation but oh, is it worth the wait. It clearly belongs on any list of the best restaurants in Nice. The lunch deal provided an unbelievably good value for money. For only €32, you got an starter, main course, dessert plus a glass of wine plus coffee. And the food was exquisite.
We all began with a kir as aperitif and enjoyed a tiny disk of smoked haddock with a cream sauce as an amuse-bouche. For my starter, I chose the Risotto au vert / Gambas et Pétoncles / Copeaux d’asperges et citron caviar an exciting and highly original interpretation of risotto with shrimp, sliced asparagus, sprouts and peas. Each mouthful was an adventure that involved the clever combination of myriad flavors all smoothed into harmony. A crunch here, a tart touch there, a whiff of an exotic spice, an undertone of lemon; it was impossible to pin down but the result was divine.
The main course was Volaille fermière rôtie sur la peau / Brocoletti et Grenobloise / Jus corsé au thym citron. The morsels of free-range chicken breast were topped with a juicy skin and surrounded by a delicately seasoned broccoli puree dotted with pine nuts and teensy croutons. The flavors were superb but the meat was a little drier than I would like. Then again, if you want a juicy chicken breast, don’t choose a free-range chicken I suppose.
Dessert was a flower
The dessert was another triumph: Croustillant Rose-Litchi / Mousse Ivoire / Glace chocolat blanc. To accent the pairing of rose and litchi flavors, the dessert was served with a small vial of rose-water infusion that you squirted over the concoction. What I liked was that as you spooned your way through the dish, a little morsel of litchi would pop up here and there in the white-chocolate ice cream.
The meal was creative without being precious, inventive, intuitive and an eloquent ode to a spring day on the Cote d’Azur.
The Cannes Film Festival has yet to release the selection of films for 2011 but they have announced the president of the jury: Robert De Niro. The 67-year old veteran has already been president of the Cannes Film Festival Jury in the 1980s and has pronounced himself “very honoured and happy to head the jury for this year’s Cannes Film Festival.” And, as co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, this is a man who knows from film festivals.
Not to quibble, but much as I appreciate De Niro in the public eye, I appreciate him a lot more on screen and I don’t mean in a movie with “Fockers” in the title. Why can’t we have another Scorcese-De Niro collaboration? Come on, guys.
Anyone passing through the main train station in Nice is immediately struck by the inadequacy of the structure. Built in 1867, the facade is attractive but the interior is nowhere near large enough to handle the influx of travellers to Nice. Everything about the Nice Gare seems ancient from the gloomy decor to the quays with stairway access only.
Nice mayor, Christian Estrosi, has just announced an 80 million euro project to modernize the building and it’s about time! Work is scheduled to begin in 2012 and last for 4 years. The project will include the refurbishment of the quays, a footbride, parking and improved access including a direct access from the tramway. There will be more shopping in the extended structure with space set aside for boutiques and shops. There’s no word yet on improved escalator access to the quays but here’s hoping.
See more about the Nice train station.