There could not have been a better way to launch the first ever Fig & Olive cookbook than at the Los Angeles location of the restaurant with its author, and Fig & Olive’s founder and owner Laurent Halasz.
Halasz wrote the gorgeous recipe book, published by prestigious house Assouline, with his mother, from whom he inherited a passion for seasonal ingredients and olive oil as he grew up in the beautiful French Riviera coastal town of Mougins, about 5 miles outside of Cannes.
Francine Halasz would take her son to local markets in nearby towns like Valbonne and Cannes to shop for ingredients for her simple yet refined style of cooking. The region’s food is internationally recognized as “The Cuisine of the Sun.”
Halasz enthusiastically greeted invited guests for the hour and a half long cocktail “hour,” as he signed their copies of “Fig & Olive: The Cuisine of the French Riviera” with individualized dedications.
And then it was time for the supreme taste test, a private dinner he hosted that started with a champagne toast with one of the world’s finest bubblies, Veuve Clicquot La Grand Dame.
Four courses with wine pairings from Cotes de Provence, France and Rioja and Penedes, Spain followed, including chestnut and butternut squash soup, sea scallops and salmon papillote with citrus and chives, and then a main course of roasted veal filet mignon with rosemary and braised endives.
Perhaps the piece de resistance was dessert, which appeared to be a work of art but was a sliced in half pear poached in spiced orange juice with lightly whipped mascarpone at its center, accompanied by Loxarel Cava.
Diners appeared to be in culinary heaven, and Halasz was of course the center of attention as they offered their compliments on the wonderful and incredibly memorable meal.
Halasz opened the first Fig & Olive in New York in 2005 and now there are eight locations in the United States, including three more in New York along with one in Chicago, Los Angeles, Newport Beach and the most recent outpost, Washington D.C.
The signature of the restaurant is using seasonal, market-driven ingredients and its well-regarded olive oils in place of butter or cream.
Many of the cookbook’s more than 60 recipes are dishes featured at Fig & Olive, including Zucchini Carpaccio, Fig and Gorgonzola Tart, Whole Branzino with Rosemary and Green Apple and Olive Oil Sorbet. There is also advice on pairing the right olive oils with each dish.
All are accompanied by mouthwatering photographs that also serve as a window into the culinary culture of the South of France and the philosophy of entertaining, which is about enjoyment.
Fig & Olive restaurants are also partnering with Air France to celebrate the launch of the book and running a contest for guests to win two round-trip business class airline tickets to Nice.
(Fig & Olive: Cuisine of the French Riviera ($50) is available at Assouline boutiques worldwide and through assouline.com.)
