Les Templiers is an unusual place; the name refers to a religious order of knights, The Templars, who passed through these lands in the Middle Ages and apparently left a hidden treasure behind. The French artist Sauvage did the same for owner Jo Jo Pous's parents, Rene and Pauline, whom he had befriended, when he painted a painting for them, hung it on the empty wall in the bar and said, "this one painting will multiply into many." And multiply it did, as Matisse, Miro, Picasso, Dali, Dufy, Tapies and dozens of other artists passed by to visit Les Templiers, leaving behind over 2000 paintings as symbols of friendship which now hang from every available surface.

When Olivier Jehannin first arrived from Monaco, he was accustomed to preparing a rich cuisine. Jo Jo Pous immediately sat him down to discuss his preferences: The owner wanted "simplicity," in a word, and Olivier took to the suggestion with relish. A decade later his philosophy is best described in the famous words of the German American architect Mies van der Rohe, "less is more."

The next dish was the most literal representation of auxiliary ingredients supporting the natural flavor of the fish. Robust red tomatoes were diced into wedges and hand tossed with whole cloves of unhusked garlic and virgin olive oil. He dusted this with a pinch of thyme and a dash of salt then gently lay a whole skinned hake down over it, as though setting it into a crib, and slid it into the oven. When finished cooking, the filets were once again removed and gently stacked a top a delicious mound of the baked tomato and garlic.

For centuries Collioure was Catalan when Catalunya, now a part of Spain, was a thriving Mediterranean power, and then for several more centuries it ping-ponged between the French and Spanish crowns. All left their signature here, but the constant change of rulers ultimately forged an independent population, aloof to national allegiance and preferring to identify with the blue sky, vine covered hills and crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean that surround it.