The season
Winter citrus
2026-09-26 · Adrian Stefan, Table d'Adrian
Winter
citrus
Winter here is citrus. Lemons with a skin you can smell across the kitchen, oranges that are not only juice, and the bitter fruit that belongs in a sauce rather than a glass. Menton is the name people say. The market in Nice has them too.
I use the zest where the dish needs perfume and the juice where it needs acidity. A piece of fish, a roast chicken, a bitter leaf salad. The peel is scrubbed, because these fruits are eaten as well as squeezed.
The rest of the winter plate is roots, chicories and the fish that is still landing. Citrus is the brightness that keeps those dinners from tasting only of the oven.