Restaurant "La Passagere" at
Hôtel Belles Rives*****, Juan-les-Pins, France.

Chef Guillaume Anor gave us the grand tour of the remodeled kitchens and all his domain before treating us to a selection of his menu favorites out on the terrace. A quiet and unassuming young man, he is driven by a love of his region of France and all its gifts from the land and sea.

The menu is filled with dishes that combine both the cuisine of the Cote d'Azur as well as influences from Nice and Italy and other Mediterranean coastal spots. There is a Risotto a l'Espagnoie, a Lobster en cocotte au beurre with iced gnocchi, a boat like dish of "cassette de legumes", his own recipe for Bouillabaisse, Selle d'Agneau with local asparagus, local cheeses and desserts by none other than that celebrated chef Jean-Michel Llorca recently of the Moulin de Mougins who also bakes the excellent breads and rolls. There are many more choices than these of course.

We our meal started with a long, skinny dish of Amuse Bouche just to get the palate started. One was a glazed globe of foie gras on a round of toast accompanied by a small deep fried ball of fish puree in a carrot sauce. We moved on to a second little starter of a Tartar of Salmon served in a small shot glass with a cap of citron and dill cream. Our appetite thus stimulated, as though it needed to be, Peter enjoyed the Lobster in a delicate tomato sauce served with chilled gnocchi and tiny cockles while Linda had the Vegetarian squash, sweet pepper and tomato stuffed with a duxelle in the style of Nicoise cookery.

For the main course, we both had the "Loup" or "Bar", which is also known in English as Sea Bass, served with a tempura of truffle instilled artichokes in a shell of polenta. By this time the sun was just a memory of light across the bay.

The necklass of lights lining the shoreline around the bay came to life and the candles on our table took over with just a little help from the fading twilight in the sky. Dessert arrived in the form of small Baked Alaska but in the shape of a Bouche Noel. At its core was vanilla ice-cream surrounded with vanilla cake and encrusted with a flambéed meringue sitting in a pond of mango and apricot sauce. Officially known on the menu as "Bouche glacee falcon 'cheesecake' with strawberries" its similarities to cheesecake eluded us. But that notwithstanding, we dug in with alacrity. This was followed, just in case we still had some room, with a tray of post-dessert goodies - there was a thimble of Cream of Apricot, a Pistache cookie and a red mound of raspberry topped with a sprig of gold leaf on a tile of chocolate cake.

The final treat was a 1982 Don PX dessert wine from Cordoba, Spain that was coffee colored, and tasted like a sweet balsamic and was superb to sip as we watched the last of the light disappear from the sky.

We made the most of the fabulous weather. But when nature decides to be contrary or in the off season, the stately interior of the hotel's restaurant "La Passagere" was restored from old photographs. The frescoes you see today are exact replicas of opening-day Plasterers, held prisoner under 1970’s for mica… Now a bold harmony of oranges and greys, underlined by gold-leaf arabesques. The «cabriolet» seats were hand-painted in the same style by designer John Dick Unsaid. The Bernards porcelain uses the original 1929 Belles Rives theme of the wave, while each presentation plate pictures a detail of the hotel, unique pieces envisioned by artist Christian Bailet. As a tribute to Provence craftsmen, the glassblowers of near by Biot that created the shiny pieces of blue, yellow, green, red glasses that enhance the colorful warmth of the room.

In a country where dinner is the event of the evening, this delightful experience was one we will remember.