Le Mas Candille****, Mougins (Cote d'Azur), Southern France.

Le Mas Candille is a lovely four star hotel set on the hill-side that slopes down from the famous gastronomic village of Mougins, a stone's throw from the sparkling Mediterranean sea as well as Cannes and its glittering starlets of festival fame. Nice is just a bit further down the coast. While not the height of luxury, it enjoys a lovely setting with spacious grounds, 2 swimming pools (the main pool is ultra modern), jacuzzi, an award winning Shiseido Spa, but most notable for us, a superb chef de cuisine with one Michelin star - Serges Gouloumes.

The dining room, terraces and even the main swimming pool have been set to face west giving a view of the sea to the left (south) and the perfume town of Grasse to the right (north) with the main feature being the sun sets. Originally an 18th-century 'mas' or farmhouse, the main hotel consists of both old buildings in the Provencal style as well as new additions. It is a melange of lovely traditional Nicoise colors and styles in the old section which was totally redesigned and refurbished just a few years ago as well as a whole new section on the up hill side of the property that features the modern pool and bistro as well as a new annex with many rooms and suites, not to mention the tranquil, self contained Shiseido spa with its own hydrotherapy pool.

With its accessibility to planes, trains and freeways as well as all the treats of the region both seaside and hinterland, this is the ideal place to stay whether you are on vacation, business or planning to attend the Cannes film festival and want to be close but out of the center of craziness. That coupled with the great food, you can't go wrong.

For us, though, it was the innovative and very modern cuisine of French native Serges Gouloumès that drew us. Born in the south west of France in the land of cepes, foie gras and figs, Serges rose through the culinary ranks all over France, ending up at an important point in his life in Los Angeles where he worked under Chef Claude Terrail at "Ma Maison Hotel" in Beverly Hills for a short time before taking over as Executive Chef. He then returned to France after a few years and was offered the helm of the two restaurants of the brand new Mas Candille in 2001. The flag ship restaurant “Le Candille” is on the lower level of the hotel with an indoor dining room walled in glass for the view as well as a lovely dining terrace with a view that extends from the sea to the mountains. He is also responsible for the bistro by the pool “La Pergola”.

While the hotel staff exhibit an old fashioned Gallic snootiness we have not encountered in many years that seems to spill over to many of the restaurant staff, Serges is both professional, friendly and most accommodating. If you don't find what you want on the menu, just ask. If he can provide, he will. But his recipes are so interesting, that unless you are locked into your ways, you will always find something to tantalize your gastronomic imagination.

His is a style all his own. He blends ingredients from around the Mediterranean with his roots in Gascony and the results are dishes that are totally original. The hotel literature claims that the style is pure Italian and Provençal based cooking, we beg to differ since that description would tend to imply a menu of dishes that we would all recognize as regional. Rather he dips into the considerable regional cornucopia of fresh products from the Forville market in Cannes. When questioned about his inspirations for creating recipes he said “sometimes I start with a traditional recipe and then make changes to it to fit my own imagination and common sense; other times I take my inspiration from the ingredients themselves and experiment with matching tastes. The Mediterranean climate is conducive to a vast choice of vegetables, meats and of course very fresh fish. The possibilities are endless.”

And so plates like Cray fish with Peaches, Flaky Fillets of Rouget with delicate spears of asparagus, Parma ham sitting on the “basquaise” (the red and yellow sweet pepper stew) and a baby fried egg appear. Or Bass Carpaccio with Pink Peppercorns set in a crème Anglaise of Almonds or how about a "hamburger" of Blue lobster served with eggplant, vegetable chips and olive chutney. The list goes on with new menus and recipes every season.

And since the hotel and restaurant are open virtually all year, you can enjoy the products of chef Gouloumès' imagination all year long, all four seasons, in the warm fresh air of summer, the crisp sunny winters or the changing of the seasons in Spring and Autumn.

Like a growing number of top chefs, chef Gouloumès also likes to share his love of cuisine by presiding over cooking classes. After an early morning trip to Forville market in Cannes with his students in tow showing them how to pick the best products, he gathers participants around the stove to prepare said products and passes on his recipes, sleights of hand and advice about preparing these ingredients. The students can watch the finishing touches being put to the dishes before they are whisked off to the dining room.

This hands on time is followed by a marvelous private lunch behind the scenes at a “table d’hôte” in the chef's kitchen where the students can sample the dishes they helped prepare and ask any more questions they have. Chef Gouloumès speaks fluent English so communication is not a problem.

A tasting of regional wines by the head sommelier rounds off this gourmet experience, which will climax in a delicious dinner in "Le Candille" with a “tasting” menu created specially for the students. Picking the right wine for the dish is an important consideration for chef Serge Gouloumes who advises “The easy way to avoid an ordering disaster is to listen to what the Maitre d'Hôtel and sommelier advise you to eat and drink. Create your order with them, taking into consideration your budget and what kind of food you like”. “Le Candille” like most fine French restaurants, has an excellent wine list with very drinkable wines at all prices and like most sommeliers, the head sommelier at Le Candille spends a lot of time visiting most of the best of the local wine makers in the area.

Le Mas Candille is open year round.