Lunch with Lulu; dinner in Nice

Avenue George V, Nice, March 19, 2012—

AN IMPRESSIVE, UNFORGETTABLE woman I've long wanted to know a little better, Lulu Peyraud, kindly invited us to lunch today in the country house her grandparents built near Bandol, many decades ago, on the estate known to the world of wine as Domaine Tempier. At ninety-four, she is remarkable: pretty and pert and hale and nothing if not hearty, she looks twenty-five years younger. Her daughter Véronique joined us, and cooked the chops on the fire you see above, on the hearth forming one long wall of the kitchen.

Canapés to begin with, with a glass or two of Champagne, in the comfortable, intimate little salon, filled with light and crowded (but not uncomfortably) with pictures and mementos; then a delicious series of courses that might have come from her book Lulu's Provincial Table. We began with poached fish and thin-sliced potatoes and apples in aspic, then went on to lamb chops grilled over the fire, sprinkled with herbes de Provence. Afterward, a small, beautifully selected cheese plate; then silky egg custard.

Champagne, J. Lassalle, in half bottle; Rosé, 2009, Rouge, 2007; both Domaine Tempier.

Then dinner chez our hosts in Nice: a big platter of roast lamb with sautéed potatoes, a simple salad, three or four perfect cheeses, and Amélie's splendid apple tart…

Wines too many to recall, including Solus, a deep, serious red Villanyi Merlot 2007, from Hungary