Where to Eat: La Bastide de Moustiers in Provence, France

Picture this – a warm summer night. A 17th-century Provencal farmhouse just outside one of France’s most charming villages (Moustiers St. Marie). Dinner on an outdoor stone patio, with panoramic views of rolling hills and olive groves. The scent of lavender in the air. An ever-changing seasonal menu. A rustic cheeseboard that is solely dedicated to locally produced goat cheese. This is a typical dinner experience at Alan Ducasse’s La Bastide de Moustiers, a countryside retreat/restaurant in the heart of Provence.

Rumor has it, the food and wine at La Bastide de Moustiers is so celebrated that a helipad was installed on the property grounds to make it easy for guests (wealthy ones, that is) to stop by the restaurant for a leisurely afternoon lunch or dinner.

Now, we didn’t arrive at La Bastide de Moustiers by helicopter (unfortunately, a helicopter ride was a bit out of our budget…so a standard rental car had to suffice), but we were lucky enough to secure reservations to the restaurant for a lovely romantic dinner on our recent trip to Provence. It was the most memorable meals of the trip (and one of our favorite dinner experiences ever!). There was even one point in the meal where I felt like I had to pinch myself… the food and atmosphere was so lovely, it felt as if I were living in a fairy tale dream! If you’re looking for a special night out in Provence…this is the place to go.

Our 5-course meal started out with a refreshing cold turnip amuse bouche, followed by a huge Yorkshire-pudding like cheese-stuffed bread that was so light and airy, I almost cried of happiness.

Every plate that came out of the kitchen was absolutely beautiful – from the chicken oyster and truffle starter, to the fennel and wild onion veal rump. The restaurant focuses on seasonal ingredients, and we were tickled pink to see one of the chefs picking out fresh herbs from the garden, and return to the kitchen with a full basket in hand.

TIP: We learned from a recent truffle-hunting tour that the best way to tell if truffle is being served ‘fresh’ or not, is to look for the ‘veins’. If there are no veins in the truffle, then it’s not fresh! A truffle is only fresh for 5-7 days. We were pleased to see that the truffles at La Bastide de Moustiers had ‘veins’. 🙂

The best part of the meal was the magnificent cheeseboard, which came with a generous assortment of 14 locally produced goat cheese. Now, it’s important to know that goat cheese is a particular specialty of Provence. In fact, when a neighboring table asked if there was any cow or sheep cheese available, the waiter proudly explained “Non. In Provence, we only serve goat.” This is because the milk in Provence is not produced by cows, but rather, an unusual breed of goats (Rove) who thrive in the scrubby hillside and arid conditions of the region.

As a bona fide goat cheese lover, you can bet that I was pretty excited about trying all of the different types of goat cheese. Each cheese was better than the last, and we were amazed at the large range in flavors and textures! One of them was so delicious that we ended up chasing down the waiter after dinner so that he could write the name of the cheese (Tomme Grose) on an old crumpled receipt.