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Uncle Orson's Restaurant Guide
Moulins de Mougins
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or those in the know, the name "Roger Verger" attached to this restaurant in the hinterlands of Cannes should be enough.
I, however, am never even remotely in the know, and even now I had to ask my wife how to spell his name. What I care about is not fame, but food, and the Moulins de Mougins has it. The service is world class — gracious, formal, but helpful, and tolerant of foreigners with very bad French (though pleasantly welcoming to the good French spoken by some of my dining companions.)
The summer we rented a house in Cagnes-sur-Mer, we made the drive to the countryside, where the restaurant can be found — if you're watching carefully — down a narrow drive below the road. Don't try to park the car — believe me, you want the valet to do it, since the narrow lane is both the ingress and the egress.
Inside, you will find yourself treated to a full provençal dinner, which means that it's early if it begins before nine, and was hurried if you leave much before midnight. (Unlike American restaurants, provençal restaurants have no intention of selling your table again the same night, so they never rush you.) You begin with the house appetizer, which shouldn't stop you from ordering your own appetizer course. The breads will be excellent, and the main course unforgettable. But then comes the cheese cart, and you have to save room for dessert. But wait! You don't have to save room! You've been here so long that the appetizers and main course could have been a separate meal!
Provençal cuisine is French in that it relies on sauces, but the flavors are delicate and almost never rely on wine. We were there in summer, so the emphasis was on fish; but it almost didn't matter which fish you chose, because the sauces would make any one of them memorable. My favorite, though, was dourade in a citrus sauce, which had bits of tart and sweet fruit all over the perfectly cooked fish.
No, I won't try to elaborate on the menu — it will be changed by the time you get there. What I expect to remain the same is the high standard of the Moulins de Mougins, so that whatever you try is bound to be among the best presentations of that particular dish that you have ever had.
Moulins de Mougins
address forthcoming
Mougins, Provence, France