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June 4, 2009

Dear friends:

Difficult times often open your eyes to what's really important in life. We - Chef Paul Parker, and me, his wife Cheryl Clark - have been struggling with the fact that we have been seeing less and less of the most important people in our lives, our children, as we work crazy hours trying to maintain the standards of Chez Sophie in this economic climate. So we have made a monumental decision.

This fall we are moving with Nico and Léo to a glorious vineyard in the south of France. We will be working as a family to market and present the property as a vacation destination (complete with a cooking seminars with Chef Paul) and helping to restore a medieval castle on the site. We'll serve guests meals from local produce cooked over olive wood and grapevines in an eight-foot wide fireplace under the vaulted stone ceiling of a 15th century farmhouse.