Hvar, Croatia

A holiday should be a departure from the grind of everyday life to a place of beauty and creative stimulus, a time to relax and rejuvenate your normal life. But in the case of Julia Restoin-Roitfeld — born and raised in the city of lights and surrounded by the world’s finest art, fashion, and food, breathing in the very air of romance, glamour, beauty, and sophistication — what constitutes a holiday getaway?

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld can go virtually anywhere she wants in the world and her favorite spot to escape is Hvar, Croatia. Julia's gorgeous boyfriend Robert Konjic just happens to hail from Croatia and she has come to adore not only Robie but his homeland, feeling quite comfortable on holiday there. Hvar is the crown jewel of the Dalmatian Islands. The weather is always picture perfect and the beaches, where Julia likes to spend much of her time, are pristine rock-pebbled wonders situated along freshwater turquoise bays surrounded by pine forests. Paradise!

Since Hvar is separated from the mainland of Croatia, the enticement of privacy attracts other beautiful and well-known celebrities from around the world. It is a spot where you can truly connect with nature. Ancient olive trees, fields of lavender, robust vineyards, and of course fresh fish and seafood make up the staples in this Mediterranean nirvana. After a long day on the pebbled beaches with Robert, Mademoiselle Restoin-Roitfeld loves a bit of wine along with her favorite Croatian dish of Lobster Spaghetti made with the freshest tomatoes. While booking your plane fare and packing your bag, whet your palate for your journey to Hvar with Julia's favorite Croatian recipe. Sretan Putovanja! This really is the perfect holiday...

Lobster Spaghetti With Fresh Tomatoes

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
½ cup fruity extra virgin olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, sliced thin

2 ½ pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled and very finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 one-pound lobsters, cooked and shelled, or ¾ pound cooked lobster meat

3 tablespoons finely slivered fresh basil, plus sprigs for garnish
1 pound spaghetti alla chitarra or spaghettini

Red chili flakes

Directions

1. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 5 quart sauté pan or a wide saucepan. Add garlic, cook over low heat until it softens, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook 3 minutes over medium heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for spaghetti.
3. Dice lobster meat. Place 1 tablespoon oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Add lobster and cook until just warmed through. Fold in half of the basil. Cover and set aside.
4. When water boils, add pasta and cook until barely al dente. Drain and place in pan with tomatoes. Stir in remaining oil. Cook, stirring gently over low heat, about 5 minutes, until pasta and tomatoes are warmed and well incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper; fold in remaining basil.
5. Transfer to 6 shallow soup plates. Top each portion with lobster, garnish with basil sprigs and serve, with red chili flakes on the side.

Yields: 6 servings – Invite your traveling companions!

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld in Hvar, Croatia photographs courtesy of twitter.com/RestoinRJulia

Croque Madame

One of Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's favorite foods is the croque madame, a feminine version of the croque monsieur with the addditon of an egg of course. "The first thing I eat as soon as I get back to Paris," Julia declares, most likely stopping into her preferred restaurant, Café de Flore, to savor this treat known there as "Le Jockey."

This beloved French bar snack is traditionally made with melted Gruyère or Emmental cheese and ham, grilled to perfection between two slices of crusty bread perhaps dressed in a Mornay or Béchamel sauce with an egg sunny side up on top. In parts of Normandy they refer to this culinary comfort as croque-à-cheval. The decadent croque madame first appeared on menus in Paris in 1910 and in literature in Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu (Remembrance of Things Past) in 1918.

In a pinch in France, McDonald's locations offer the "Croque McDo" sandwich. In the US, a new restaurant called Croque Madame opened recently at Kennedy Airport in New York and Chef Andrew Carmellini features the signature namesake proudly on the menu which you can order directly from the iPad attached to your booth. Located at Gates 25 and 26 in Terminal 2, Croque Madame assures the food will be delivered in ten minutes or less; in the meantime, guests can use power strips in the booth to charge electronic devices while enjoying the free wireless signal.

Croque madame or "Le Jockey" at Café de FloreEven better, try making your own croque madame at home, below is a simple recipe in both French and English. The amounts listed will make four sandwiches.

Ingrédients

8 pain de mie
4 jambon blanc
150 g de fromage râpé
60 g de beurre
4 oeufs
20 cl de crème fraîche liquide
Sel, poivre

Préparation

1. Coupez légèrement le bord des tranches de pain de mie. Tartinez-les d'un peu de beurre. Coupez de fines tranches de gruyère et disposez-les sur le pain.
2. Ajoutez la tranche de jambon pliée en deux. Recouvrez avec une autre tranche de pain de mie préablement beurrée.
3. Dans un bol, versez le fromage râpé, ajoutez la crème épaisse, une pincée de poivre et de sel. Mélangez.
4. Déposez sur les croque-madames une grosse cuillère à soupe du mélange de fromage râpé et de crème. Etalez-le délicatement sur la tranche de pain de mie et réservez. Préchauffez votre four à 180° C.
5. Au moment de servir, passez au four 3 à 4 min puis au gril.
6. Dans une poêle faites cuire les oeufs au plat. Déposez un oeuf sur chaque croque-madame et servez bien chaud.

Ingredients

8 slices of bread
4 slices of ham
150 g grated cheese
60 g butter
4 eggs
20 cl whipping cream
Salt, pepper

Preparation

1. Trim the edges of the slices of bread. Spread them with a little butter. Cut thin slices of cheese and arrange on bread.
2. Add the slice of ham folded in half. Cover with another slice of buttered bread.
3. In a bowl, add grated cheese, heavy cream, and a pinch of pepper and salt. Mix.
4. On toasted bread place a spoonful of the mixture of grated cheese and cream. Spread it gently on the slice of bread and reserve. Preheat oven to 360° F.
5. Just before serving, broil in oven 3-4 minutes.
6. In a skillet fry eggs. Place an egg on each croque madame and serve hot.

Croque madame at Croque Madame at Kennedy AirportCroque madame image courtesy of catastrophysicist.wordpress.com. Croque madame at Café de Flore photograph courtesy of foodspotting.com. Croque Madame at Kennedy Airport photograph courtesy of ultraclay.com.

Domino's Pizza

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld confesses that she rarely uses the kitchen in her apartment but keeps Domino's Pizza virtually on speed dial on her phone. As Julia sheepishly admits, "I'm very embarrassed but I like the thin-crust pizza. It's like, there's this amazing Italian restaurant called Don Giovanni on 10th Avenue, but I prefer Domino's." I understand her obsession, I have a pizza from Domino's on the way right now along with the warm chocolate lava cake. Yes, delivered to your doorstep! You can also monitor the progress of your pizza using their virtual order tracker, c'est amusant. I agree with Mademoiselle Restoin-Roitfeld, have Domino's deliver you the perfect pizza. Et n'oubliez pas les gâteaux au chocolat... chaud...

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld image courtesy of Mango, enhanced by Kellina de Boer.
Chocolate lava cake image © 2010 Domino's Pizza. All Rights Reserved.

Nutella

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld has a fondness for Nutella (pronounced "new-tell-uh"), a unique and tasty spread made from roasted hazelnuts, cocoa, and skim milk created in the 1940s by Pietro Ferrero, an Italian pastry chef. Chocolate was in short supply in Italy due to the rationing of cocoa during World War II so Ferrero used the more readily available hazelnut to stretch his ration. The original version of the spread was called "pasta gianduja," "pasta" meaning paste and "gianduja" from the name of a local carnival character that was used in the initial advertising for the product. Today Nutella is enjoyed in more than 75 countries worldwide and outsells all brands of peanut butter combined.

Nutella® image courtesy of amazon.com.

Sushi

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld is featured in an editorial spread in the June issue of UK Vogue which delightedly I acquired just today. When the interviewer asked her favorite food, Julia replied that she loves Japanese food and especially sushi. Her favorite Japanese restaurants in New York City are Blue Ribbon for sushi and Omen, a classic Kyoto-style restaurant. When Julia visits Los Angeles, she likes to go for sushi at Nishimura on Melrose.