Local Fare

Some say the cook is the most vital ingredient for a perfect meal. Tell that to Jean-Luc Rabenel, head chef of France's only organic Michelin-rated restaurant, La Chassagnette, who has more gardeners working for him than kitchen staff. "I'm the son of a farmer, the earth is my passion," says Rabanel in his restaurant, which lies just outside Arles in southern France, "and I'm going back to my roots." His kitchen uses vegetables, plants and aromatic herbs cultivated in the restaurant's 21/2-hectare garden.

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If the ingredients of dishes aren't homegrown, they come from the surrounding Carmargue region. The menu, chosen daily by the chef, features 20 full courses; some of them bite-size, others a little more substantial. Locally-reared meat and fish make the occasional appearance in a predominantly vegetarian menu. The organic vegetables take longer to cultivate, but "the absolute bottom line is that they are tastier," says the chef. That seemed true of each dish I savored on a recent visit: courgette-flower soufflé with cinnamon and basil, pan-fried squid, chorizo and root vegetables, and warm chocolate tartlet with mint. "Nearly everything on the table, I've seen it grow," says Rabanel. "It gives me confidence in what I serve and it makes me happy." He's not the only one. tel: (33-4) 90 97 26 96