Le Fromager de Saint-Paul

Luck would have it that Mijune would be in Nice at the same time as us and she would have time to meet!  We ended up driving over to St. Paul de Vence to rendezvou at Le Fromager de Saint-Paul.  Similiar to Mougins, but bigger, St. Paul is a medieval town that sports beautiful views, artisans and of course, excellent places to eat!  Like the name suggests, the restaurant specializes in cheese with other accompanying dishes as well.  We didn't go for anything complex and shared a bunch of little bites.

This included their absolutely delicious rendition of Pissaladeriere.  For those who haven't had this, it is basically a flatbread with caramelized onion, olives, capers, thyme and nutmeg.  Well, this was truly excellent with a thin crust that was slightly crispy in places.  The intense sweetness from the onions was balanced off well by the saltiness of the olives and capers.  Of course the tanginess from both also helped keep things from being too heavy.

Even though we had left Italy several days ago, we couldn't resist ordering some Burrata with tomatoes and balsamic. Mind you, Nice and the surrounding area used to be part of Italy...  Anyways, the burrata was supremely fresh with a creamy and cheesy centre.  It was topped with an aromatic and nutty pesto.  This went really well with the supplied baguette.  We got more of it since there was so much burrata (and other things on the table).  The tomatoes were super fresh and juicy.  Loved the simple balsamic and EVOO drizzled on it.

We ended up also getting our meat fix with a Charcuterie plate consisting of coppa, saucisson and jambon cru.  This was a nice collection of familiar items including the nutty and firm saucisson and the coppa was salty with plenty of fat due to use of pork shoulder.  Essentially prosciutto, the jambon cru was nutty, salty and fairly lean.  It was soft with the classic chewiness.  We had a baguette on the side and we ate that with the meat and cheese.

Also on the table was the Terrine de Cochon Maison served with a green salad, conichons and pickled onions.  We found this terrine very rustic and almost a bit fluffy.  This was not a tightly packed terrine and it was not overly meaty.  The combination of whipped meat and fat, it was almost spreadable.  I say almost, since it still had some chunks, so it didn't really spread.  Flavourwise, it was meaty but mild-tasting.  It was nutty from the pistachios strewn throughout.

And finally we had a slice of Truffle Brie as per my daughter's request.  This brie was really good being creamy and buttery without completely melting upon contact.  It was lightly sweet and nutty while the thin layer of truffle add the usual woodsiness and aromatics.  We combined this with the baguette and some meats to create layers of flavour.  So as you can see, the things we had at Le Fromager de Saint-Paul was pretty simple.  But really, this was sufficient as a light meal especially on a hot day.  Was cool to sit outside and catch up with Mijune while thinking of other things to eat later!

The Good:
- Outstanding location with a nice view
- Quality products
- They have hot dishes too, but we didn't try them

The Bad:
- Limited parking in the area, but that is a given