Chuck and Carol Tweedle - Broadcast Executive, San Francisco - June 2008

Now that Carol and I have dialed back the pace a bit from last week's birthday activities, I want to take a moment
and thank you for an absolutely wonderful day on Friday. After our market visit in the 16eme and cook-a-thon
that followed at Villa Dancourt, both under your capable guidance, we talked endlessly about how much fun
we had and how delicious our lunch was. From the starters of the home made crackers and baked French
radishes, to the salad course followed by the delicious main event through wrapping up with our moulded
almond milk dessert, every bite was savory and intriguing. My only fear is that I am now destined to be
the primary "chopper" for all of our future home prepared meals in San Francisco!
More than the enjoyment of the food, however, your enthusiasm, patience and friendly guiding hand
made the entire experience extra special and memorable in the best sense of the word. I will enthusiastically
recommend a "day with Theresa" to all who are interested in a Parisian "hands on" cooking experience.
Please don't hesitate to use me as a reference for potential future clients.
Theresa, thanks again for helping to make my wife's birthday celebration in Paris
such a memorable and positive experience.

Scott Brannon - Musician, composer- Los Angeles - APRIL 2008

Where Vegetables Abound:
While others were scurrying out of Paris for the Easter weekend “pont” (their word for a 3-day weekend, literally, bridge) my friend and I trekked up to Villa Dancourt in Montmartre on Good Friday afternoon
to participate in a cooking class given by Theresa Murphy of La Cucina di TerrESa. She offers organic,
plant-based cooking classes and tours to Americans vacationing or relocating to Paris. I knew of her passion
for fresh vegetables,what each season generously offers, and her affectionate attachment to Italian cuisine,
but I was unprepared for the dishes we conjured up under her patient, encouraging instruction.
We started off at the Square d’Anvers open-air market where, among other things, she gleaned an unfamiliar vegetable called“puntarella.” Spring chicory from the Latium region of Italy, you might mistake it for dandelion but for the white,greenish tips of its heart. It’s bright bitterness would serve as a light bed for the honey-lemon roasted fennel appetizer we would soon be cooking up to eat with a fresh chevre from the Selles sur Cher region of the Loire Valley, known for it’s sweet, nutty rounds of A.O.C. protected goat’s milk cheese coated in edible ash—which, by the way,we also bought at the market from a jolly man tending his tiny stand and its array of artisan rounds at different stages of ripeness. To set the record straight, puntarella is usually served alone as a salad, after trimming the hearts out of its large leafy head, slicing them thin, plunging them into ice water till they curl up, and then tossing them with an anchovy dressing—a favorite dish of the Romans that issues in springtime. But as Theresa demonstrated,it was a harmonious match with the sweetness of the fennel.
On the way back to the apartment at Villa Dancourt we stopped in at a new neighborhood wine shop featuring wines from small producers, many from regions further south and west. I even got an enthusiastic lesson on the different soils of the Languedoc region and the characteristics they impart to its wines from a small producer…there for the occasion. Theresa decided on a Jurançon, Cuvée Marie Sec from Charles Hours and a 100% Carignan from Jérôme Calmes. Then we went back to the apartment and went to work. While I chopped up vegetables for the broth we’d be using for risotto she tossed fresh red and white radishes, leaves and all, with some extra virgin olive oil and roasted them in the oven, then passed them around. An amazing little treat: the radishes were sweet and al dente, the leaves crisp and crunchy like sage leaves when sautéed in butter. She calls them “radis vitrifiés.”After whipping up a crème anglais that we set aside to cool for tiramisu (her recipe’s a variation on Toni Vianello’s tiramisu, the former owner of l’Osteria, with whom she worked in 2002-03) we prepared treviso rosso tardivo, a chicory from the land around the northern Italian city of Treviso (found in markets from December to April) for the risotto we would be making. Finally we assembled her honey-lemon roasted fennel hors d’oeuvre then sat down to begin eating. The Jurançon sec with its mineral earthiness was splendid with the fennel and goat cheese. Now since we were making risotto, and since a true risotto is not a dish one can make in advance and then warm up,we were soon back in the kitchen sautéing onions, watching the carnaroli rice turn translucent, adding ladles of broth,eventually the treviso…and then the final step, adding the parmesan and butter, and creaming the risotto (mantecareas they say in Italian) into a delicious al’onda (wavy) consistency. We ate it piping hot with the light, spicy Carignan,which paired beautifully with the slight bitter savor of the treviso. In the meantime, of course, we had assembled the tiramisu, and after a gentle pause we dug in and let it’s velvety texture melt in our mouths. It was a wonderful culinary experience from beginning to end that clung to my senses all weekend long. And while others scurried back into Paris after the Easter “pont,” we made our way back to the airport en route home to Los Angeles. I know I’ll find a lot of Theresa’s inspiring affinity to and harmonious play with vegetables inhabiting my kitchen, my cooking, and my sensibility from this day forward.

Sophie Devilliers - Air France Flight Attendant - Paris, April 2008
I wanted to surprise a friend for his 30th birthday and booked a 3-hour vegetarian cooking class with Theresa Murphy.What interested me initially was the fact that she used only seasonal vegetables in her dishes, as well as fresh organic produce in all her recipes. The lesson was a real success!! Theresa had created a simple yet gourmet menu especially for the day. For starters we had "Blancmange au petit pois", followed by an “Artichoke Risotto”, (made with fresh vegetable broth we prepared ourselves) and "Castagnaccio with Lemon-Pepper Marmalade" for dessert. In her cooking, Theresa uses many herbs, which she often grows herself, as well as different types of organic oils (colza, olive, pumpkin seed, etc.). She experiments a lot with vegetables and the different ways in which they can be cooked, which meant that apart from the many useful tips and techniques that we learned from her, we also discovered one or two vegetable delicacies that Theresa had discovered herself!! The day was an absolute success. The best part was sitting down to the wonderful lunch we had ourselves created!! The dishes were lovely, very fresh and original, but very easy to prepare. I was amazed at the knowledge that Theresa has about cooking, not only about vegetables but also herbs, oils,organic produce, vegan menus, fruits, cheeses, wines etc. What struck me was also the passion she demonstrates when cooking. We learned many new things and I know that I will retain them and put them into practice when next I want to cook up a storm!

Susan Stone - Virtual assistant - Colorado, Jan 2008
I am fortunate to know my good friend Theresa thirty years now and to have feasted upon her sumptuous dishes on many an occasion. When she informed me of her new culinary venture, I flew to Paris straightaway to be first in line to take her cooking classes. I must say that Theresa's enormous respect for the bounty of the earth lent an almost sacred aura to the whole ritual of shopping for and preparing meals in her sunny kitchen.
Each moment of the process was something to savor. As we strolled through the local organic open-air market, Theresa pointed out what to look for and why she buys her produce from a particular vendor. Whatever looked best on a given day determined the substance of the dishes we prepared, whether it be appetizer, risotto, salad, or dessert. Theresa then thoughtfully suggested accompanying wines, cheeses, and bread from her favorite specialty shops where she has a long standing personal rapport with their proprietors. But Theresa's real genius lies in her ability to highlight the inherent beauty and flavors of individual fruits and vegetables, as if each one were a precious jewel set audaciously yet harmoniously within a crown of many other such jewels. The dishes she prepares are edible studies in color, texture, and composition; moment by moment she creates the palette for each new gastronomic delight. For example, I was happily surprised to see her add roasted brilliant orange squash to salad greens and to garnish gnocchi with lovely fresh sage leaves and a smattering of blueberries. Simply put, as a spiritually conscious culinarian and artist, Theresa will inspire you to create elegant,artful dishes that leave you with a most peaceful sense of well being - dishes that nourish body, mind, heart, and soul!

Jeffrey and Jason Friedman - Owners, Villa Dancourt - San Francisco, Nov 2007
If you're like us, you'll start to wonder, after three or four restaurant meals, why the heaps of gorgeous vegetables you see in the stores and the markets near the apartment don't seem to make their way onto the plate. "The French don't like to pay for vegetables when they go out" was how one French friend explained it to us. Lately, though, this has been changing. More and more restaurants, including many of the ones we recommend in the "Welcome Book" that awaits you in the apartment, are giving vegetables, if not a starring role, then at least an interesting supporting one. In August Le Monde ran a long article about Joël Thiébault, who grows and supplies vegetables to some of the finest restaurants in Paris. He raises around 2,000 kinds of vegetables, including many antique varieties that he single-handedly brought back into cultivation. Think heirloom tomatoes, artichokes, carrots, beets ... it's clear this master gardener is on a mission.
Now, in the spirit of Joel Thiébault, we bring you Theresa Murphy, an American chef and artist who has made Paris her home since 1996. Theresa's our good friend, so we're biased, but the meals that have emerged from her tiny home kitchen are among the most memorable we've had in Paris. She has a thing for risotto, a knack for vegetable tarts, a way with vegetables that she wants to share with you. She's put together a culinary adventure just for guests of Villa Dancourt that we're proud to offer to you. Starting at 8:30 you'll begin gathering ingredients at an organic open-air market, then return to the neighborhood to hit Theresa's favorite food shops on Rue Lepic and its environs. Then you'll return to the apartment for a master class, a delicious meal, conversation in English or French or both. (Theresa's also the most patient and generous French teacher we've ever had.) Check out Theresa's site at http://www.lacucinaditerresa.com. The link to the Villa Dancourt special is here. Take a cooking class and make your stay in the best food shopping neighborhood in Paris even more memorable.