Archive Dining Out

Festival of Food and Literature in La Colle-sur-Loup

2012-04-17 12:08

What: Food and Literature Festival
When: 10am-7-pm, 3 June 2011
Where: La Colle-sur-Loup
Entry: Free

Two colours dominate La Colle-sur-Loup, the attractive mediaeval village nestled in the hills between Nice and Valbonne - rose and blue.

Rose, because of the ancient Rosa centifolia, which grows abundantly here, and whose petals have been cultivated for centuries for the perfume making industry of nearby Grasse. And blue, not only because of the brilliance of the Mediterranean sky and sea, but because of the vivid hue made famous in the 20th century by Yves Klein, who was buried here in the local cemetery not far from his family home.

Klein and his luminous IKB (as the blue is still known to designers all over the world) will be the focus of events on 3 June, since the 50th anniversary of the artist's death falls three days later. Colle sur Loup also happens to be the home of a huge variety of the region's best known gourmet restaurants, and they will all be participating in this year's second annual 'Food and Literature' festival: Restaurant Alain Llorca, Le Blanc-manger, Villa Nicolas Juste, La Vie Est Belle, La Bastide Gourmande, Le Mas d’Artigny, Auberge La Clé des Champs, le 541, and l’Atelier des Saveurs.



^{Photo: Shakti/Creative Commons}

Once again this year, some of the greatest names in the business will be arriving through the historic Canadel gate - along with hundreds of onlookers - to enjoy a day of top food and drink, and to let us in on some of the great secrets of French cuisine.  Celebrated Michelin chefs, sommeliers, TV cooks, authors and restaurant critics will be there, all with only one thing in mind: getting to the heart of what makes a true gourmet experience.

Last year's guests included Alain Llorca - whose eponymous 'Cafe Llorca' restaurant opened in the Grimaldi Forum in December 2010; Arnaud Poette, head chef at the Hotel Eden Roc in Cap d'Antibes; and internationally-acclaimed chef Jacques Pourcel, who with his twin brother Laurent is about to add a twelfth restaurant to his stable - the SeaSens at the new boutique and spa 'Five', which is due to open in May on Rue Bivouac-Napoléon in Cannes.

What links all of the speakers, as well as their wealth of culinary experience, is that they are all authors of some of France's bestselling books on cookery and the history of cookery, and it's this that gives its name to the festival - it's not just about good food, but good writing, too.

During this special festival day, La Colle-sur-Loup will be celebrating cookery in every conceivable way, with drawing competitions, contests, parades, activities for kids, cooking classes, art exhibitions, demonstrations, wine tastings and cinema screenings.

But the event is far more than the sum of its parts: in this spectacular setting amid the limestone gorges of the river Loup, there's no more natural place for these leading lights to demonstrate the art form in which the French are arguably more famous than any other nation on earth.


^{12 Balades Gourmandes: the recipes of Alain Llorca}

Getting there:

From Marseille: A8 motorway, take exit 47 signposted 'Vence'. Follow signs to Vence and Saint Paul by D436.

From Monaco/Nice: A8 motorway, exit 'Cagnes sur Mer, Vence'. Take D336, then follow signs to Vence and Saint Paul by D436.