Monaco

A food scavenger hunt might not have the luxury of Monaco’s casinos, but I was having fun. My first stop was Acme Bread Company in Berkeley. Last March, Suzy and I stood in line, six feet apart from the many other masked customers who stretched across the length of the adjacent building twice and then around the corner. I’m glad we had a goal because otherwise how could we chose from the hundreds of breads? We ate the fougasse, a large loaf of soft, herb crusted, leaf shaped bread, with Mom’s wonderful lentil, carrot, and potato soup. I hadn’t found a restaurant representing Monaco, but I had the following list of food and I was determined to track down whatever was available: https://flavorverse.com/traditional-monaco-foods/

I found the second Monegasque food item last June with Gladys and Joanie at Massilia in Santa Monica. They served their socca, a garbanzo flour cracker, in several ways. We had the smoked salmon socca flatbread, the socca chips with olive tapenade and pea hummus, the roasted red peppers bruschetta, and the spicy flatbread comte cheese pizza. The sea breeze filled patio was beautiful, maybe even reminiscent of Monaco.

I had to try twice to get the pissaladière from Sweet Lily Bakery in Los Angeles. They don’t make it unless you call a day in advance. The first time we went, last spring, Gladys, Phyllis, and I settled for avocado toast with cherry tomatoes, grapes, parmesan cheese, and raspberry coulis. Last month, I called in advance and came back with Gladys, Erika, Joanie, and Cathy. Pissaladière, an onion and anchovy tart, is mildly sweet, a little soggy, more onions than anything else, and not at all what I expected. I’m not recommending it, but we also re-ordered the really delicious avocado toast, as well as the salmon croissant, alpine tartine, chocolate croissant, baguette, and Orangina, so we had plenty of good food.

Since Monaco is more about luxury than a scavenger hunt might indicate, on Wednesday morning I impulsively googled “Monaco restaurant California.” I had already checked and rechecked, so I was surprised to find the newly opened Monaco Encino. I’m so grateful to Cathy who dropped everything to come out that night!

Monaco Encino has the luxury! Chandeliers, deep purple walls, and the chef whose parents are from Monaco all contributed to our enjoyment of the charred cauliflower, Moroccan scotched eggs, and wild salmon with jazmin and scallion fried rice, organic beech mushrooms, English peas puree, and Calabrian chili coulis.

This elegant atmosphere fit well with the other things I did to travel to Monaco while staying at home. I listened to Grace of Monaco by Jeffrey Robinson on CD from the San Bernardino County Library (it is also available on Hoopla). Jeffrey Robinson is a friend of Grace’s daughter Caroline and has spent time with the family. He covers the history of Monaco, tells stories of the romance between Grace and Prince Rainier, has anecdotes about their children, analyzes the car accident, and brings the record up to Albert's marriage. I had already seen the Grace Kelly movies Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, High Society, and Dial M For Murder, which is on Kanopy or here: https://tubitv.com/movies/326245/dial-m-for-murder

The highly fictionalized Grace of Monaco with Nicole Kidman is on Kanopy or here: https://tubitv.com/movies/554485/grace-of-monaco and if you want something more realistic, the documentary Grace Kelly: The American Princess is here: https://pluto.tv/en/on-demand/movies/grace-kelly-the-american-princess-1986-1-1

Grace’s son Prince Albert II is the advisory chair of the National Geographic Pristine Seas initiative, following in the footsteps of his namesake Prince Albert I. I would love to see the related oceanography museum in Monaco (Kaitlin has been there): https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/pristine-seas/

Moving beyond the royal family, there are ten movies on Rotten Tomatoes with Monte Carlo in the name. The highest rated is Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo. It’s on DisneyPlus, but I would only recommend it for Herbie fans. If you want to watch real racing in Monaco, check out the Monaco Grand Prix:

· Race highlights from last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK5qm8AZ1dQ

· A video of a lap from the point of view of a driver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVz6IW_wegs

· Packages for the upcoming race in May: https://www.roadtrips.com/auto-racing-packages/monaco-grand-prix/

Other fun things to participate in for Monaco include:

· A traditional dance La Palladienne de Monaco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T-TG-MX7sY

· Léo Ferré singing Avec le temps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH7dG0qyzyg

· Princess Stephanie singing from 1987: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIwmXdXt0SY&list=PLs6B1Uy9emJDeVJW6ULPAx4qSlG4b3iQZ

· The International Circus Festival Monte Carlo (the entire circus is fabulous but if you want to go straight to an amazing aerial performance, go to the hour and 30 minute mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsr5dfd8Qfc

Here are the fifteen best places to visit in Monaco according to The Crazy Tourist: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-monaco/#more-8009. I’m sitting here listening to Kaitlin’s stories about going to Monaco and I would love to go! I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in Monaco and throughout the world.

Photo credit: Roxana Crusemire https://unsplash.com/photos/i7B3AASGeRk