My guest this week is Makenna Held, Host, and Co-Owner of La Pitchoune (often shortened to La Peetch) the former vacation home of Julia Child and husband Paul. Makenna and Julia share a number of things in common: They are both incredibly tall, deeply passionate about French cooking, have a ‘what the hell’ attitude in the kitchen, and call Smith College their alma mater.
Nestled just outside of Grasse, France ‘the house that Julia Child built’, La Pitchoune, adorns the hillside with it’s jewelbox charm. Home to the only working pegboard kitchen, styled after the walls of E. Dehilerin in Paris. La Pitchoune is home to the Courageous Cooking School half the year, and a short-term vacation rental the other half the year. Our food focus here is instilling solid French cooking techniques grounded in new flavors.
Courageous Cooking™ recipe-free school, runs April-June, and September-October. To book the Courageous Cooking school follow this link: www.lapeetch.com/cookingschool
Makenna in addition to being host and co-owner of La Pitchoune is a graduate of NYU’s Global Affairs program, studied Philosophy at Smith College, mastered whipping up mousse’s, sauces, and the like at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, and now studies the gendering of food at the European Graduate School’s Critical Studies program. Learn more on Facebook
Check some great photos from La Peetch on Instagram
Good life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2020 Chehalem INOX Unoaked Chardonnay
INOX, Chehalem’s 100% stainless steel fermented and aged Chardonnay, is a perfect example of the range of this varietal. The 2020 offering is rich and bright, with initial stone fruit aromatics jumping out of the glass. They give way to notes of lemon curd, dried mango, and honey. The mouthwatering palate is weighted by a slight viscosity that creates an alluring texture on the finish that begs for another sip.
Critical Acclaim