On Tuesday the autumn rains arrived, which was fine by us as we had indoor lunch plans with some old friends of Stephanie’s and indoor shopping plans at CAP 3000, both in Saint-Laurent du Var.

The restaurant, La Sartaïa, specialized in local Niçoise cuisine, so it should be no surprise that I ordered the assiette niçoise, which included a sampling of beignets de courgettes, sanguin mushrooms, roasted peppers with sardines, petits farcis (vegetables stuffed with ground meat), and the universally-popular insalata caprese.