Fantastic Mr. Fox

It was another rainy day, but we decided to go back into town and see the morning market. It was the same colorful stuff we would have seen in the sunshine, but why did the rain make it look less wonderful? 

Rain, rain, rain

This is still gorgeous, even in the rain!

Laura standing in front of the fountain near "Old Nice." The rain must have stopped for a minute.

We wandered around in the old city, and I was looking for the bakery that still uses a wood-burning oven to bake bread, after seeing it some years ago. Esipuno's baker was voted the best in France 30 years ago, and his son continues to produce excellent bread today. Today was Wednesday, so the bakery should have been open, but no luck. At least the sign in the window verified that we were in the right place. Of course, my French isn't that good, so I thought maybe they had to go to the forest to get more wood before they could open again! When I actually translated the sign, word-for-word, it was a bit different message.

"We have the last wood oven for the bread in the old Nice"

We ate lunch at a place not far from where we’d stayed 6 years ago. La Claire Fontaine had good pizza, and we were happy to be under the canopy, listening to the rain, eating our lunch.

I had texted the manager of our rental house to get a recommendation for a caterer to fix dinner at "chez nous" (our house) one night. She gave me the contact info for Tiernan Fox, and we communicated about the menu prior to our dinner. Tiernan is Australian, so we didn't have any trouble conversing, and he had a wide range of menu options for us to choose from. He came out to the house to scope out the cooking facilities, and we settled on a menu. His plan was to arrive at the house early in the afternoon, after getting the groceries for the meal. 

Our menu was printed up for each diner, and at our place settings

That afternoon, Tiernan let us know that he was delayed by a demonstration blocking the road, and would arrive a few hours later than he had planned. Not only did he have lots of groceries, but also cooking appliances and tools. And his chef hat and coat. He suggested that we also hire his assistant to help with the dinner, serving and cleaning up. We thought we could have done it ourselves, but thankfully, agreed to hire her too. It was a very nice treat to have our wine poured and dishes served and cleared while we all relaxed. 

We had the perfect kitchen to watch the chef in action

Evelyn set a beautiful table with the dishes on hand.

First course was antipasti platters and prawn, mango and avocado verrine (in jars, or glasses in this case)

We're loving it all!

Mont d'Or cheese, served warm with veggies

We didn't get pictures of the main course. I guess everyone was too busy eating. The Beef Bourguignon was delicious, and the potato purée was perfect.

Two desserts! 

Thanks Tiernan! We gave it all a "thumbs up"

Our dinner was not only delicious, but Tiernan made almost everything from scratch right in our kitchen, including the shortbread cookies to serve with our desserts. It was quite a feast.  Tiernan is a very personable and charming guy, and had some great stories about his experiences working in the area on private yachts and at luxurious estates. We enjoyed the whole experience - from watching Tiernan cooking and watching Evelyn setting the table, to seeing the food artfully arranged, to savoring the meal. I think we all would highly recommend Tiernan if you're looking for a special catered meal at your rental house, or on your yacht. 

Here's a link to his website https://www.fantasticmrfoxcatering.com/ 

And another fun detail to note is that Evelyn has opened a Mexican restaurant in Nice's old town, and it looks like it's a hit. So, if you're in Nice, looking for some great Mexican food, check it out! It's La Lupita. I don't think they have a web page yet, but plenty of info and reviews on TripAdvisor.

Tomorrow we leave Nice, headed for Paris. Another adventure awaits!