In a not so distant past, the end of year holiday time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve became little more more than a prelude for the truly most important season in American culture - diet season. The holidays divide us religiously, ethnically, philosophically, and financially, but diet season is the only authentic common ground for all Americans. Truly bipartisan.

And as a passionate devotee of diet season, I've already begun to "celebrate." As most of you know, diet season festivities begin with two key holidays. First comes the "Festival of Eating Everything in Sight" because "come January I'm going on a diet." And the second holiday is "The Day of Picking This Year's Hot Diet."

Let's face it. The last thing you want is to say "I'm doing such-and-such a diet" and then have some dressed in black fashionista respond with "Oh my god, that's so last year."

Personally, I'm more for the underground diet, the diet that wasn't promoted through full page ads in the big newspapers. I'm the word-of-mouth diet kind of guy, the diet recommended by real people experience rather than Madison Avenue and TV land.

Having said that, I must admit that my crash diet of choice is Atkins, but my most successful long term program is, and has been for many years, the Mediterranean Diet. The Mediterranean Diet is Atkins-plus: still focused on whole foods, healthy fats, and the more nutrient-dense vegetables and fruits, but with a lot more style.

Of course, most diets ultimately fail or fall out of favor for the same reason Christimas gets derailed - the Grinch. The Diet Season Grinch however is boredom, boredom it is, monotony I say, it comes late at night and causes such fright. (My apologies to Dr. Seuss.)

And then along comes what I believe will be the sleeper diet of 2007, the underground buzz diet: The Saint-Tropez Diet.

I must confess that Saint-Tropez, the French Riviera, and Provence are among my favorite places on earth, so when I opened this book, I smelled lavender and tasted sea salt - something you understand if you've been to that region of the world.

And if you haven't been to Saint-Tropez or Provence (the southernmost region of France along a good part of the Mediterranean coast), too bad for you! After all, if it's good enough for Coco Chanel, Matisse, and Grace Kelly, it should be good enough for you.

Saint-Tropez has been a pleasure destination since Roman times and food has always been a key part of the reason. And since the 1920s its been a secret mecca for the beautiful people from Coco Chanel to Audrey Hepburn to Pamela Anderson, who celebrated her first of several marriages to Kid Rock in this seaside paradise.

And while the Hamptons may have beautiful beaches and South Beach has its share of models, Saint-Tropez has a 2,000-year plus tradition of the most artful, pleasurable, and healthful diet to be found on earth.