Lab Masters, Oakland, CA (2026)

09/09/2026

Grand finale of the Lab Masters European food tour: Le Millésime in Nice! 🇫🇷🍄🍷✨

Wrapping up an incredible multi-week journey across Europe with the final dinner of the trip! We booked the multi-course truffle tasting menu by Chef Aurélien Nourry to see how an all-truffle lineup would land. 🍽️🇫🇷

A look at the final service:
The Courses: A full progression highlighting black truffle across all the courses

Our honest take: It was a genuinely fun concept and a great, celebratory way to wrap up weeks of travel, but the truffles themselves lacked punch and could have delivered far more aroma and depth. Definitely not the top meal of the trip, but a memorable evening to close the chapter on our French Riviera stops! 🥂✨

From Genoa focaccia and Marseille bouillabaisse to pastry counters and calisson factories, this tour covered some unbelievable craft. ✈️🌍

Head to labmasters.net for R&D consulting services or to chat about custom culinary tours!

FoodTour NiceFrance FrenchDining CoteDAzur CulinaryCulture

09/09/2026

A moment of appreciation for the cheese section in a moniprix grocery store in Nice France. I wish this was what my local stores offered in the US.

09/09/2026

Next stop on the Lab Masters European food tour: Pâtisserie LAC in Nice! 🇫🇷🍫🍓✨

A member of the prestigious Relais Desserts association, Master Chocolatier & Pâtissier Pascal Lac crafts showstoppers that look like contemporary modern art! 🏛️🎨

Here is what came out of the pastry box:
🍫 Opéra: A sleek, razor-sharp French classic featuring delicate layers of almond sponge soaked in coffee syrup, paired with rich coffee buttercream and dark chocolate ganache, all encased between wafer-thin dark chocolate plaques and finished with a touch of edible gold leaf.

🍓 Vanilla & Strawberry Entremets: A velvety vanilla bean mousse studded with real vanilla bean specks, hiding a bright, sweet strawberry center and finished with an elegant mirror glaze, piped meringue kiss, silver leaf, and a delicate red sugar shard. 🤍✨

🌈 Les Macarons: A vibrant trio of crisp, chewy shells with perfect feet pistachio, passion fruit/citrus, and cocoa-dusted raspberry.

Flawless pastry, clean cuts, and pure French craftsmanship! 👨‍🍳✨

Head to labmasters.net for our R&D consulting services, or if you're ever interested in booking a custom food tour! Next stop coming soon! ✈️🌍

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09/09/2026

Next stop on the Lab Masters European food tour: Marché aux Fleurs Cours Saleya in Nice! 🇫🇷💐🍋🫒✨

Stepping right into the beating heart of Old Town Nice! Beneath the iconic striped awnings of the Cours Saleya, this historic open-air market is an absolute sensory explosion of vibrant Riviera colors, floral perfumes, and regional Provençal food culture. ☀️🌸

A feast for all the senses across the stalls:
🌸 Les Fleurs: Buckets overflowing with fragrant lavender, sun-drenched sunflowers, delicate dahlias, and fresh-cut Mediterranean blossoms that have made this market world-famous for generations. 💐✨

🫒 Provençal Terroir: Tables piled high with glossy Lucques and Niçoise olives, jars of fragrant tapenade, small-batch cold-pressed olive oils, and mountains of sun-ripened citrus and fresh figs straight from local orchards. 🍋🧄

🟡 Market Bites: The air smells like woodsmoke and olive oil thanks to stalls dishing out piping-hot slices of authentic socca the iconic local chickpea pancake blistered over open flames in giant round copper pans. 🔥
The ultimate morning stroll to take in the culinary soul and living history of the Côte d’Azur! 🚶‍♀️🥖

Head to labmasters.net for our R&D consulting services, or if you're ever interested in booking a custom food tour! Next stop coming soon! ✈️🌍

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09/09/2026

Next stop on the Lab Masters European food tour: La Charrette à Crêpes in Nice! 🇫🇷🥞🍓🍫✨

Nothing captures the charm of French street food quite like grabbing a fresh crêpe to go while wandering the sunlit streets of Nice! ☀️🚶‍♀️

Watching the crêpe maker pour the thin, silky batter onto the screaming-hot circular cast-iron billig, smoothing it out with a wooden rozell in one fluid sweep, is pure street-side artistry. Within seconds, you get those perfect golden-brown lacy edges, folded up hot with classic sweet fillings whether it's rich melted chocolate, gooey hazelnut spread, or simple sugar and fresh lemon! 🍋🍫🔥

Folded neatly into a paper sleeve, it’s the ultimate handheld treat to fuel the next leg of our walk through Old Town.

Head to labmasters.net for our R&D consulting services, or if you're ever interested in booking a custom food tour! Next stop coming soon! ✈️🌍

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09/09/2026

Next stop on the Lab Masters European food tour: La Boulangerie par Michel Fiori in Nice! 🇫🇷🥖🥐✨

Seeing that official Boulanger de France seal on the awning is a badge of serious honor because in France, baking isn’t just a tradition; it’s strictly codified into law. ⚖️👨‍🍳

Here is how the craft breaks down behind the counter:

🥖 Boulangerie (The Bread): Under French law, a shop cannot legally call itself a boulangerie unless every single loaf is mixed, shaped, fermented, and baked entirely on-site from scratch—zero shortcuts and never frozen. A true traditional baguette relies on just four basic ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast, with all that incredible flavor coming straight from slow fermentation and a blistered, crackling crust.

🥐 Viennoiserie (The Bridge): The golden, buttery favorites like croissants, pain au chocolat, and brioche. Named after Vienna, these bridge the gap between bread and sweets by enriching yeast dough with milk, sugar, and generous blocks of butter folded into dozens of flaky, melt-in-your-mouth layers. 🧈✨

🍰 Pâtisserie (The Pastry): The elegant sweet world of tarts, eclairs, cakes, and mousses. While breadmakers master yeast and flour, the pastry chef focuses on delicate crusts, silky creams, rich fruit fillings, and gorgeous finishes.

Snagged our warm baguettes and fresh croissants, grabbed a green chair on the sidewalk, and soaked in the morning sun! ☀️☕

Head to labmasters.net for our R&D consulting services, or if you're ever interested in booking a custom food tour! Next stop coming soon! ✈️🌍

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09/09/2026

Next stop on the Lab Masters European food tour: Gina Caffè in Nice! 🇫🇷🍰🍋☕✨

Taking a sun-drenched terrace pause in Old Town Nice to dive into classic French pâtisserie craft! ☀️🪑

Here is what came out of the pastry case:
🍋 Tarte au Citron Meringuée: A generous, towering slice featuring bright, velvety lemon curd with just the right punch of tartness, tucked into a buttery shortcrust shell and piled high with light, toasted meringue. ☁️🔥

🍰 La Torta di Gina: The café's signature beauty layered with tender sponge, tart raspberry gelée, and luscious vanilla bean cream, finished in blush-pink glaze with delicate piping. 🍓🍦✨

Head to labmasters.net for our R&D consulting services, or if you're ever interested in booking a custom food tour! Next stop coming soon! ✈️🌍

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09/04/2026

Next stop on the Lab Masters European food tour: Musée du Calisson - Confiserie du Roy René in Aix-en-Provence! 🇫🇷🌸🍈🍯✨

Stepping into the world of heritage Provençal confectionery at the historic Maison du Roy René, founded in 1920! Located just outside Aix and surrounded by blossoming almond groves, their factory and museum offer an incredible inside look at the craftsmanship behind the iconic Calisson d’Aix! 🌳🏛️

Here is a breakdown of the artisan confectionary science behind this classic lozenge-shaped delicacy:

🍈 The Fruit & Almond Paste Matrix: The chewy, dense heart of the calisson is made by crushing blanched sweet almonds and fresh almonds, with finely with candied melon and a touch of candied orange peel and sometimes other fruits for the specialty flavors. Hot sugar syrup binds the paste, creating the signature aroma and tender texture.

🌾 The Wafer Base (Pain Azyme): The almond paste is laid directly onto a paper-thin sheet of wafer paper. This acts as a moisture barrier and structural base, allowing the calissons to be clean-cut into their traditional almond-leaf silhouette without sticking!

🥚 La Glace Royale (Royal Icing): The top is crowned with a porcelain-smooth layer of royal icing made from whipped egg whites and confectioners' sugar, gently baked just enough to set the crisp meringue crust while keeping the interior moist.

It's really fun to see the automation and mechanical advancements in processing on such a historical treat. 👨‍🍳✨

Head to labmasters.net for our R&D consulting services, or if you're ever interested in booking a custom food tour! Next stop coming soon! ✈️🌍

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09/04/2026

Next stop on the Lab Masters European food tour: Une Table, au Sud in Marseille! 🇫🇷🇦🇲⭐🌊✨

Overlooking the Vieux-Port, Chef Ludovic Turac crafts an extraordinary 8-course tasting menu that weaves his Armenian heritage seamlessly with the bold, sun-drenched terroir of Marseille. ⚓🌿

One of the most immersive sensory touches: before each course, raw whole spices and aromatics—from mahleb, ajowan, and Ceylon cinnamon to saffron, sumac, and star anise—are presented tableside on a dedicated wooden tray, letting you connect the olfactory essence directly to the plate! 🪵✨

The incredible tasting journey:
🐟 Bluefin Tuna & Chaimen: Sustainable tuna paired with silky ajo blanco and an intense kick of Armenian chaimen spice paste.

🦪 Tarbouriech Oyster: Lightly grilled and contrasted with spicy merguez and crisp daikon radish.

🦑 The Squid: "Barely cooked" tender squid over aromatic saffron rice pilaf with concentrated basturma reduction.

🦐 Gambero Rosso & Pieds-Paquets: Sweet red prawn paired with a clever, rich reduction of Marseille’s iconic pieds-paquets and smoked carrot.

🐠 The John Dory & Soudjouk: Smoked John Dory over a deep favouilles reduction spiked with spicy Armenian soudjouk sausage.

🐟 Red Mullet "Bouille-Abaisse": A stunning, modern deconstruction of Marseille’s iconic rockfish soup with crisp scales and intense saffron notes.

🥩 Milk-Fed Lamb: Tender cut served alongside stuffed zucchini flowers scented with chermoula and ajowan seeds.

🍚 Gatnabour & Black Fig: An emotional finale—the chef’s grandmother’s fragrant rice pudding dusted with Ceylon cinnamon, followed by rosebud-poached black figs with aromatic mahlebi and green cardamom. 🌸🥛

We even got to meet Chef Ludovic Turac to talk flavor construction, spice layering, and the art of blending favorite flavors in dining. An unforgettable Michelin-starred highlight!

Visit labmasters.net for R&D consulting or custom food tours! Next stop coming soon! ✈️🌍

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09/02/2026

Next stop on the Lab Masters European food tour: Chez Michel in Marseille! 🇫🇷🍲🐟✨

Welcome to France and straight into the holy grail of Provençal seafood craft: authentic Bouillabaisse! ⚓🇫🇷

As an official signatory of the strict Charte de la Bouillabaisse, Chez Michel does zero compromises. You walk in to see the fresh morning catch displayed on a boat stand right in the middle of the dining room. 🛶 The server selects whole rockfish straight from the ice, presents them tableside, and once they run out of today's catch, service is done! ⏱️🔥

Here is how the tradition unfolds:

🍲 Le Bouillon & Sauces: Service begins with a rich, piping-hot rockfish broth simmered with saffron, fennel, and pastis. Paired with a generous platter of sliced crusty baguette and two house sauces—a classic, punchy garlic aïoli and a rich, slightly spicy aïoli to spread on the bread and float directly in the soup. 🥖🧄🌶️

🐟 Le Poisson: Next comes the main event the expertly cooked assortment of Mediterranean rockfish (like rascasse, vive, and conger), carved tableside and served alongside the broth. 🎣

👨‍🍳 The Kitchen: We even got an insider peek behind the scenes of their small but mighty kitchen to see how the team turns out this iconic classic every day!

Head to labmasters.net for our R&D consulting services, or if you're ever interested in booking a custom food tour! Next stop coming soon! ✈️🌍

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