For the new season of her celebrated travel show, actor Eva Longoria pursues her passion for French cooking. Lale Arikoglu joins her on set in Burgundy
THERE IS NO BIRD IN FRANCE as highly regarded as the Bresse chicken. Unique to the region in Burgundy with which it shares its name, the breed is the most delicious and expensive poultry in the country—revered for its marbled meat and combination of stark white feathers, bright red comb, and slate blue feet that together resemble the colors of the French flag. To see poulet de Bresse on a menu here is as natural as seeing Dijon mustard or a bottle of Pinot Noir.
I’m being told this by Eva Longoria, who has paused midway through filming a scene for her CNN travel show, Searching for France, which airs April 12, to enthusiastically explain a detailed illustration of said chicken. We’re standing inside the kitchen of Michelin-starred Clos du Cèdre in Beaune, a charming medieval town considered to be the wine capital of Burgundy, which will be Longoria’s home base for the next few days. So far, the actor tells me, she’s ordered it both nights for dinner. “I continue to be surprised by how regional French cuisine can be,” she says. “Wherever I go, I’m asking: Where did this dish come from? How was it born?”
Clockwise from above: Eva Longoria with chef Jordan Billan in Clos du Cèdre’s kitchen; the dish escargot quenelle; Dijon, a Searching for France location; Château du Clos de Vougeot; a Beaune bookshop Opposite page: Longoria arriving at Woodland House, a cooking school and family home outside Beaune
Dining and Cooking