Picard

2 cônes gourmands with crème brûlée flavor

Picard
Just around the corner
France

Notes:
Cannes is not really short of ice cream parlors but B and I have a particularly soft spot for French supermarket chain, Picard, specialized in high-quality frozen foods. We thus opted for their gourmand cones with crème brûlée flavour when an ice cream craving suddenly occurred - and they were delicious and even cheap at 3euro for 2. Every time I visit Picard I struggle to understand we do not have such a concept in Denmark. I never had anything bad from Picard and can personally recommend everything from their foie gras to croissants.

Le Comptoir des Vins

Assiette de Cochonaille - Pork Charcuterie

Fromage de Tête

Salade de Chèvre Chaud et Jambon Serrano + Tartare de Boeuf

Le Comptoir des Vins
13 Boulevard de la République
06400 Cannes

Notes:
Just off the hectic shopping street rue d'Antibes you will find one of the best value-for-money lunch spots in Cannes, Le Comptoir des Vins. B and I went on a casual Monday were many stores were closed anyway - perfect excuse for an indulgent lunch. The place is mainly frequented by locals and the food is traditional and simple yet very honest. For starters we had a plate of pork charcuterie and fromage de tête (head cheese, a French delicacy, and much more tasty than it sounds), while mains consisted of beef tartare and salad with warm goat's cheese croûtons and more Serrano ham. While this is hardly molecular gastronomy or even very elaborated food, it most certainly can be described as honest cooking with excellent ingredients. Two dishes for lunch cost 12,5euro, and we even decided to splurge and had two glasses of wine from a decent wine list at 4euro each. By CPH standards that is hardly a splurge and the quality is way above Danish standards. Highly recommended.

20 sur Vin

Bubbles and olives.

Tartare de boeuf, hand-chopped.

20 sur Vin
18 bis rue Biscarra
06000 Nice

Notes:
We visited 20 sur Vin for a casual meal on a Friday night. On their website they list a number of vignerons, most organic and biodynamic, which had tempted us to visit. They have a lovely little walk-in cave, the crowd is laid-back but the ambience lively, and the tartare we had was delicious, and most certainly chopped à la minute. For our apéro we had a glass of some natural bubbly made from chenin blanc, called Fée des Bulles from Domaine des Sablonnettes in Anjou, which was the drinkable highlight of our evening. Recommended for a casual evening of classic french food and interesting wine.

Villa d'Este



Antipasti Misti

Another serving of antipasti.

Villa d'Este
6, rue Masséna
06000 Nice
Mon-Sun 12am-2:30pm, 7pm-11pm

Notes:

Do you think the above picture looks a huge mess? Well, it is. A beautiful mess of Italian antipasti and according to the restaurant it can even be categorized a starter. Whenever I have inhaled such a plate I can hardly walk thereafter, but I tell you it is worth the pain. For my family it has almost become tradition that we need to visit Villa d'Este for lunch at least once when we're in Souther France to enjoy this beautiful plate of antipasti. It changes from day to day but includes all sorts of Mediterranean delicacies like little squids, marinated mussels and anchovies, brushette, all sorts of grilled or marinated vegetables and mandatory objects like olives, sundried tomatos, artichoke hearts and a huge chunk of Parmigiana. This will set you back around 15 euro, which I consider quite a bargain. Highly recommended.

Signatur Spisehus

3 x smørrebrød.

Signatur Spisehus
Kongens Nytorv 16
1050 Copenhagen K

Notes:
On a casual Wednesday my mother and I impulsively decided to have lunch and opted for newly opened Signatur Spisehus. The place was packed with business men and we did also choose their business lunch special of three pieces of smørrebrød priced at 175dkk, thus not exactly a bargain. When the food arrived it quickly occurred to us that Signatur wants to belong to the group of restaurants that do "new takes" on the classic smørrebrød. We were served thinly sliced pork belly, topped with cress and "Italian" salad of peas, carrots and mayonnaise. Then there was smoked mackerel with egg yolk and bitter frisée. And finally there was potatoes with mayonnaise, cress and crispy chicken skin. The first two pieces I found to be very well-tasting but hardly memorable. The last piece was a really unbalanced experience, and to be honest I did not enjoy it very much. It was too rustic and fragmented in its expression - and I have honestly never seen crisp chicken skin this thick! All in all, we had an ok experience at Signatur but I doubt that we will return.