squid.jpg

Today I cooked one of the almost perfect risotto. I have been slowly emptying the boat’s fridges these days so I used whatever vegetables I could find. I chopped yellow pepper, courgettes and carrots and served lunch with steak and risotto ala primavera Shalimar’s recipe what ever she could find in the fridge.

The boys said its so creamy and asked whats the secret? What secret on arborrio? I joked to them that am feeling rested and just have the good vibe to cook.

Rested somehow that we have been working just 9 to 5pm unlike the days we would start 830 and finished 8pm on day trips or midnight or even past midnight when we were cruising.

The very day we had our first day off, I had a very slow lazy morning when my friend Nikos , a Greek chef working on one of the yachts owned by the Saud family called me that he was outside on the quay.

sardines.jpg

He was passing time before his flight to Athens and the usual way of Greek greeting… pame ya cafe? In Greece everytime people go out we always say pame ya cafe? Lets go for coffee. This can mean anything not just coffee….it can be a lunch, a drive…. the verb pame means lets go!

Since it was almost mid day Nikos and I thought of pame ya cafe what so ever we could think of. I said to him that we better go away from Antibes away from the ports where we are both based. Well he said my wishes he is my Genie!!!

We drove along the sea and ended in Villeneuve Loubet. We can still see Antibes and the yachts from the distance but it was just great not to hear other people speaking English nor hear yacht talks… Nikos and I were babbling in Greek.

nikos.jpg

L’aventure Restaurant _ Plage (beach restaurant) is so unpretensious.Its pretty much like a shack right on the beach with the entrance on the main road of route de mer.
Nikos said the owner goes fishing and its guaranteed the seafood is fresh.

I ordered calamaris ala provencale while Nikos had sardines au feu de Bois (if my french is right.. this meant grilled on wood fire). When the food came,the fusion of herbs on that calamari was just heavenly. It was stir fried with lots of garlic, tomato, onions and parsely in very hot pan, simple yet so delicious, the calamari was just so soft. To cook a very fresh squid it does not take that long to cook it otherwise they get rubbery!

Nikos sardines grilled with lots of garlic too, it was so fresh. Nikos knows my weakness of seafood, as I have spent few days with his family down in south of Greece where we spent time cooking and eating. The very Greek way of family gathering.

sha.jpg
Lunch was accompanied with a bottled of rose Chateau Sainte Croix and would I refuse a dessert?
I ordered tarte aux pommes and Nikos knowing my eating habits called for ala mode.
I was just more than happy to obliged, few hours later after the lunch Nikos called me from Athens just to tell me, how happy he is to have me as a friend!!!

tartpommes.jpg

L’Aventure
Restaurant Plage
Specialites de Poissons et de Moules
Route du bord de Mer
06270 Villeneuve Loubet
South of France
+33 493 20 51 12

oysters.jpg

Just after writing this post Nikos passed by and brought me oysters so I could feel sexy as he put it!!! Thats what friends are for indeed.