I’m just leaving LA. where I’ve been visiting Anne Willan, my long-time mentor from my France days who recently moved here.  It took an adjustment to get used to seeing furniture from Château du Feÿ, where I spent so many years, now in a Santa Monica house.  So much in life seems permanent when we’re in the thick of it (our childhood homes, friendships, stages of our lives) that it can be a real shock when we realize that, in fact, nothing is forever – everything moves on.  It’s a good thing, really. It’s even a bit like having your cake and eating it if you can manage to keep alive fond memories of what was while, at the same time, being happily present in the now.  (Not to get all Oprah on you.)

 That’s a picture of me and Anne at the farmer’s market in Santa Monica – and what a welcome sight that market was! My market at home is full of root vegetables right now. But, here there are endless varieties of citrus fruits, organic dates, greens and lettuces. Every meal has been a treat.  Bob Blumer cooked me dinner at his house which included a funny lemon variety called Buddha’s Hand, which looked like a closed up octopus (only yellow) and had no flesh, just pith all the way through (it was delicious, not bitter at all!). Another highlight was lunch with Anne and the food editor of the LATimes, Russ Parsons, at a newly opened restaurant called Rivera.  The food was a cross between southwest and French, and it was absolutely delicious and gorgeously presented. Do try it out if you come this way!  (www.riverarestaurant.com).

A bientôt,