La Cuisine, Ocala The Horse Show Season Place to Be
With equinista, LA Sokolowski-Pomeroy
Where do Ocala horse people go to celebrate after a good show?
They choose
Florida Trend
Magazine’s
six-time
(since 2011)
consecutive
Golden Spoon
Award-winning
French restaurant,
La Cuisine, of
course.
Since 2009, equestrians and gastronomic enthusiasts alike have
been trotting over to 48 SW 1st Avenue and the traditional redwalled
ambience and savory satisfactions served up by Executive
Chef and Proprietor, Patrice Perron, and his wife, Elodie. In
France, the term “la cuisine” refers to the kitchen – that most
intimate of enclaves where time is devoted to preparing food for
the ones we love.
“I always enjoyed helping my mother in the kitchen, as she prepared
all sorts of foods from the terroir, a French term meaning
fresh, native ingredients. She explored new recipes all the time
and if for some reason a recipe didn’t work,” he says with a laugh,
“she would just add more butter or cream!” Patrice was born and
raised in Lyon, the ‘French capital of Gastronomy,’ into a family
that avidly embraced good food and wine. It was in Lyon that
Patrice worked under the direct tutelage of Josef Viola, a worldrenowned
Master Chef and recipient of the Meilleur Ouvrier de
France (MOF).
Love found Patrice and Elodie twice: First in 1999 when the two
met, and again in 2005, when they stopped in Ocala during a
road trip in Florida to visit a friend. “We literally fell in love with
the town and its unique charm, gorgeous oak trees and beautiful
horse farms,” Elodie says. “As we’d always wanted to have
an ‘American experience,’ we decided to be adventurous and
opened La Cuisine three years later.”
Adventurous might be an understatement. They chose to open
their restaurant just as America faced its Great Recession. “It was
too late to back up,” she says. “We just started to sell everything
we had in France and had to pray harder.” Their prayers were
– and have remained -- amply answered.
“We opened La Cuisine with a very traditional French menu, even
our red walls are exactly what you could find in a bistro in Paris or
Lyon,” she adds. “We balanced our menu with more continental
options to please every palate. Today, we’re getting back to
our roots. Our fresh produce comes from a hub of local farmers.
We like to have the freshest possible because it makes such a
difference in the final plate. We like to play with traditional French
dishes in different flavors. Our specials may include a blueberry
basil soufflé or lavender honey crème brûlée. We insist on fresh fish
and had a big ‘hit’ with lion fish carpaccio with chorizo.”
As for staying in stride with Ocala’s horse show clientele, the key
to La Cuisine’s success has been in hearty specials like New York
strip steak, beef short ribs with a sweet chili ginger sauce, or rack
of lamb, served with a generous consistency in hospitality.
“We have lots of equestrians that we love seeing back during ‘the
high season.’ They know we have live music on the weekends.
Listen live on line anywhere at
FloridaSportsTalk.fm, follow
us on Facebook at Horse Talk
Show or listen to unlimited
podcasts on
HorseTalkShow.com
Louisa Barton
Horse Talk Show Host
and Executive Producer
Listen Every Saturday
Morning Starting
at 8 a.m.!
66 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
/HorseTalkShow.com
/www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
/www.ocaladentalcare.com