Someone Check on the Weather Gods

Can someone do a wellness check on the weather gods? Ask them who hurt them. Because this heat has been so far out of control that we did the unthinkable: we made this week's special a salad.

But not just any salad. The Niçoise — quite possibly the most controversial salad on earth. (More on that in a second. The French have opinions, and they are strong.) It's cool, it's fresh, it's loaded with good stuff, and it's exactly what this weather demanded. Denise has been perfecting it, Yanni keeps requesting it, and now it's yours.

Let's get into it.

This Week's Special: The Niçoise

This one's Denise's. She's been putting together a summer Niçoise these past couple of weeks, and it's so good that Yanni has asked to have it made more times than he'll admit. We wanted to share it with you.

First, the drama. The Niçoise might be the most controversial salad in the world. Purists in Nice, France insist it's a raw salad — tomatoes, olives, anchovies — and consider it very nearly a crime to add cooked potatoes, green beans, or lettuce. One former mayor of Nice wrote an entire cookbook lamenting "the crimes committed in the name of this pure, fresh salad." So, naturally, we committed a few.

Here's Yanni on it, in his own words:

"The Niçoise originates in Nice, France — actually, go further back, to Marseille. It began the way Bouillabaisse did: fishermen's food, a poor man's meal. Traditionally tomatoes, olives, and anchovies. Eventually it became tuna, then got embellished with potatoes and green beans, and the eggs came later — all over the 19th and 20th centuries. It's the perfect food for a hot summer day: protein from the yellowfin tuna, antioxidants from the tomatoes, greens from the lettuce and green beans, more protein from the egg. Being Greek, we make our own version with Kalamata olives and potatoes. The dressing's a vinaigrette — garlic, olive oil, Dijon, a touch of pickle juice, lemon. And we embellish it with avocado, since we're in California."

He's not exaggerating about eating it, either: he and Denise practically lived on this salad for two weeks while traveling through Italy earlier this year — taking Italian lessons, too hot to cook anything. Now it's our salad for the week. And yes, we know the purists are clutching their fists.

We're pairing it with a Vermentino di Gallura from Sardinia — the only DOCG wine on the entire island (Italy's top classification). Grown on granite soils in salty sea winds, it's crisp and mineral, with pear, peach, citrus, and Mediterranean herbs, and the signature whisper of bitter almond that makes Gallura Vermentino unmistakable. Coastal Italian white, briny summer salad — a match written by the sea itself.

Wine Notes

Vermentino di Gallura DOCG — the only DOCG (Italy's highest classification) on the island of Sardinia. Grown on granite soils in salty coastal winds that give it real minerality and backbone. Straw-gold, with apple, pear, peach, lemon, grapefruit, white flowers, and Mediterranean herbs, finishing with the slightly bitter almond note that is the signature of Gallura Vermentino. Crisp, saline, and built for briny summer food — olives, tuna, and sea salt included.

A Garden Patio Engagement — Shot by the Bride Herself

We recently hosted an engagement party in our garden patio, and the photos are stunning. The best part? They were shot by the bride-to-be herself — Elizabeth Chavez / @ezphotographybyec on instagram, a talented photographer who also happened to be the guest of honor. (Congratulations again. We're not crying, you're crying.)

Take a look at the full gallery — it's a gorgeous window into what our garden patio can be for your celebration, engagement, shower, or big night. And give the photographer some love while you're there.