La Bastide de Moustiers  

From the beginning he was chef at Andana, the country palazzo overseen by Alain Ducasse in Tuscany. Now he's here in Provence to interpret another region but in the same spirit: what does the market say each day, what can be plucked from the garden, what are the local suppliers carrying? From these essentials Christophe Martin will create a seasonal cuisine, simple but not simplistic, with no unnecessary flourishes, in platters pleasing to the gourmand. This is the calling card that Alain Ducasse printed up some 17 years ago in his establishment at the foot of the village and that Alain Souliac - now departed for his native Southwest - followed last year. Surrounded by four hectares of park land, this table's enduring virtue is to safeguard its culinary standards no matter who's at the stoves. We expect Moustiers to remain within the category of country gastronomy and to give pleasure in the spirit of the good, the healthy, and the simple. Here we find up-to-date savors and standard-setting dishes: Robine escargot fricassee with house olive oil; a Mediterranean / Provence blend with cuttlefish, zucchini, and fennel or La Palud (Verdon) lamb en brochette with golden panisses; farm pidgeon emerging perfectly cooked from the vertical rotisserie; veal jowl cooked for hours with carrots, rutabagas, and creamy onions; fresh and aged cheeses from local providers; bread pudding crostini and roasted fruit; orange gratin and citrus sorbet... are exclusively sunny dishes. Good Provence vintages hold their own next to grand crus and world labels. Jérémy Barbet manages the dining room in a tender and welcoming establishment with an upstairs dining room, shaded terrace, view on the hills of the park and artwork throughout - and an atmosphere of guest living.