Four years ago, Paul Ferzacca and his wife, Lourdes (he cooks, she’s “the boss”), took over La Tour. Inspired by restaurants they had visited in Provence, they painted the walls burgundy, blue and sunflower yellow, turned a brick patio with a river-rock fireplace into an enclosed bistro, printed menus and fired up the stoves. Today, the lovely little restaurant is one of the valley’s best-kept culinary secrets. While Ferzacca’s food is not “100 percent French” – it’s lighter and more contemporary than the traditional style – it is influenced by time spent working under French master chefs at The Ritz Carlton and Hotel Continental in Chicago. “Anywhere you go in the country, the food you find is influenced by French techniques,” he says. “The difference is the use of regional American products.” Ferzacca was most recently executive chef at the Game Creek Club on Vail Mountain.