Luxe Retreat

Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc Cap d'Antibes, Côte d'Azur, France

A throwback to the F. Scott Fitzgerald era, this grand 19th-century mansion on Cap d’Antibes has 117 rooms and two villas with sumptuous Louis XV and XVI furnishings, gilded mirrors and chandeliers. The gastronomic Eden-Roc Restaurant has recently been renovated and serves classics such as roasted sea bass and lobster with tarragon. There is also a juice and ice-cream bar in a cabin in the garden, and at breakfast time there are hot crepes at the buffet. Set among nine hectares of landscaped gardens, there are five clay tennis courts, an incredible spa, sauna, steam room, gym and beauty salon, a boutique and a seawater pool cut into the natural rock. A seafront diving board and overwater trapeze launch bathers into the Mediterranean and there is a jetty for guests arriving by boat. Best of all are the 33 beach cabins where the illustrious and notorious come to hide. Sitting on a quiet road at the rocky tip of Cap d’Antibes, the hotel is a 30-minute drive to Cannes and a few other amazing places. In summers, the kids club holds daily programmes including cultural and sporting activities: team games, treasure hunts and nature walks. There are also jet skis, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards and parasailing equipment available for the guests.

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A delicious punch of French flavours

Foodies all over Karachi had ample of reasons to get excited, as their taste palettes got ready to welcome deliciously authentic French dishes. The La Mamma resturant at Movenpick recently hosted its Bistronomie promotion, the term is characterised by good food in small portions. Exploring the menu full of French delicacies, I tried their Cordon bleu au comté and Cabillaud à la bordelaise. A clear winner from the selection, the former is a varient of the famous cordon bleu which is basically meat wrapped around cheese then breaded and deep or pan-fried. This was made with veal escallops, calf meat without bone, and had a good amount of comté cheese oozing out of it. The French cheese is made from unpasteurised cow's milk and is a specialty in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. The good thing about it is that it has a very silky texture and doesn’t have a strong taste nor does it feel heavy. The veal was cooked to perfection and tasted perfectly juicy under a crunchy coating. The cordon bleu was served with bite-sized potatoes seasoned generously with dried rosemary, and a small serving of cold salad in vinaigrette dressing. Next came the pan-seared cod fillet served with cherry tomatoes. While the fish was absolutely soft to the point of melting in the mouth, it had a semi-hard crust which is basically made from a mix of fine breadcrumbs, chopped parsley and salt and pepper seasoning. The fish is then baked with just a hint of oil. The rather plain-in-taste fillet got a bit of sour kick from cherry tomatoes. The dish was served with silky smooth buttered potato mash seasoned well with chopped parsley. The pomegranate-grapefruit juice added the perfect amount of sweet and sour flavour to the entire dining experience. – SSK

What’s in the menu?

Champ

Champ is an Irish dish made by combining mashed potatoes and chopped spring onions with butter, milk, cheese and optionally, salt and pepper. The traditional inclusion of cheese into the recipe is no longer followed. As recently as the mid-20th century, it was sometimes made with stinging nettle rather than green onions but this is rarely seen now. The dish is simple and inexpensive to produce and is loved all around the world. In some areas it is also called "poundies". Champ is similar to another Irish dish, colcannon, which uses kale or cabbage instead of green onions. A 100gram serving of champ provides approximately 100 calories; 3.5g fat, 1.8g of protein, 16g of carbohydrates, 1mg of cholesterol, 231mg of sodium and 260mg of potassium.