The French Riviera is teeming with Michelin-starred restaurants and spectacular hotels, all a stone’s throw from each other. Guy Fiorita visited the spiritual home of Mediterranean cuisine in the new Alfa Romeo Brera
I love the south of France in the off-season. You may not be able to lie on the beach and mingle with this season’s jet set but the pace is more relaxed, the hotels easier to book, the waiters less stressed and the weather is usually still glorious.
For me one of the great virtues of the French Riviera is its size. It seems you are never more than a half hour away from wherever it is you are going. Better yet, there is either a five-star hotel or a three-star restaurant around nearly every corner (or corniche). I have been taking short gourmet breaks for years and no matter how well I plan them there is always at least one 200-plus kilometre drive to face. Not so on the French Riviera. I didn’t do that many kms in the entire trip which left me more time to enjoy the accommodation, scenery, shopping and, of course, the cuisine of this very special part of the world.
On the downside, I wasn’t able to give quite enough of a workout to the sporty Alfa Romeo Brera I was driving: it was such fun on the short hops (on quiet, off-season roads) that it left me longing for more.
For once I was able to take my wife along and I wanted to show her the coast in all its splendour, so my choice of accommodation was based not only on the food but also on the views. By the end of the trip we had seen the Mediterranean from every possible angle: at sea level from the Cap Estel, from 400m up at Chateau Eza and the super-yacht filled harbour view from Port Palace in Monaco.
Our tour began at one of the Riviera’s most exclusive hideaways, the Cap Estel. Often hailed as the finest vantage point on the Mediterranean, the hotel is perched on a craggy, palm-lined promontory surrounded on three sides by the sea.
As we arrived late in the evening and famished from the trip, we decided to quickly check in, clean up and sit down to dinner.
Two things are immediately obvious: the Cap Estel is a very private paradise, only two or three tables are reserved for non residents, and it feels less like an hotel and more like a grand private home. The set-up of the restaurant attests to this with the large, open space, made up of one-part sitting area and one-part dining area.
The gastronomic philosophy at Cap Estel can best be described as unpretentious, the idea being never to have more than two or three flavours on the plate at any one time. Dishes are therefore simply conceived and presented. My main course consisted of a grilled fillet of locally caught John Dory with locally grown green asparagus, which was superb in its simplicity. Side dishes like grilled mixed vegetables and potatoes from the Cap Estel garden are brought in separate covered dishes and you serve yourself. It all adds to the relaxed, private home feeling and makes dining at Cap Estel a wonderful experience.
The following morning we awoke in our waterside room, directly above the private beach, to the sound of the sea raging just outside our window. A storm must have been brewing far from shore for outside, standing by the pool, there was not even a whisper of wind to break the calm. Or a ripple on the pool for that matter which general manager Bernard Apthorp claims is the first infinity pool every built.
Leaving the gated privacy of the Cap Estel, a 10- minute drive brought us to Monaco’s Port Palace hotel. Breaking into the already crowded luxury accommodation market in Monte Carlo is no easy task, and knowing this the minds behind the project, which opened just a few years ago, took full advantage of the building’s main attribute; its waterfront location. To this they have wisely added the cool interiors of Leila Menchari, the head decorator of Hermés in Paris. Every room has massive floor-to-ceiling windows offering an unhindered and unbeatable view of the famous yacht harbour below. As an added attraction, a rooftop restaurant and bar offer the same impressive views along with the possibility of dining al fresco in the summer.
Since the weather was stunning and I wanted to work up an appetite, we decided to walk to our lunch date. Monaco midweek in late October is a peaceful affair. With only two Bentleys, a Ferrari and a Rolls parked in front of the casino, we leisurely made our way through the quiet streets and bright autumn sunshine to the Hotel Metropole and our date with Joël Robuchon’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant. Robuchon is the man who gained three Michelin stars in Paris with Jamin and then at Joël Robuchon only to give it all up and keep his promise to leave haute cuisine behind. He thought it had become too stuffy and not enough fun. On entering the hotel the mood was relaxed and the conversation lively. The bar-lounge area was filled with small clusters of businessmen, couples and families all enjoying a drink and a bite to eat on the chairs and sofas scattered about the hall.
Beyond lay the main event, the formal dining room. Formal only in name, for this too has the relaxed feeling only Robuchon can bring to a two star venue. Though the room itself, situated as it is in the art-nouveau Metropole, is a rather grand, conservative space, the décor, use of natural light and open kitchen concept puts one quickly at ease. As executive chef Cristophe Cussac pointed out, “this is the only two-starred Michelin restaurant in the world to use stainless steel tableware.” Who but Joël Robuchon could pull that off?
Cristophe Cussac, who has known and worked for Robuchon for more than 30 years, has brilliantly combined a few of Robuchon’s signature dishes with a few of his own to form a menu that blends classic dishes with contemporary flavours. It is also very Mediterranean, like my excellent sea bream, which was sourced locally in Menton and served with a touch of chorizo and Provençal mushrooms.
One of the best ways to experience these two great chef’s work is by ordering a number dishes from the ‘small portions menu’, a trademark of Robuchon. “Many of our guests order three or four or even five of these and build their own meal,” said Cussac, “other times the entire table orders off the small portion menu and they all share them. It makes dining fun and interesting and that is what we want.” It certainly was for us.
Back at the Port Palace that evening, after a little retail therapy (very little according to my wife), we made our way up to the sixth-floor Mandarine restaurant for a bit of light fusion; my red tuna served with coriander, soy sprouts and ginger proved to be the perfect complement to the day’s gourmet feast. And once again we were accompanied by those wondrous views over the harbour to the ‘rock’ on which the fairytale pink palace is located, meaning we lingered a long time over our glasses of Hennessy XO.
The next day, the final one, was literally the high point of the trip. Chateau Eza clings to the walls of a cliff in the village of Eze, 400m feet above the sea. The views from our suite, the restaurant and the terrace bar were unbeatable. No wonder it has been voted Best Hotel and Restaurant with a View by numerous publications.
Chateau Eza is more than just a room with a view. The restaurant at this charming 10-room hotel received its first Michelin star this year. Now after a change of chef, Chateau Eza is hoping to be able to retain this rating for the coming year and have placed the heavy responsibility on the new chef, Alex Wagner.
Though he was born in Germany and trained under Georges Blanc, Wagner has developed an interesting Mediterranean-influenced menu that offers a few surprises. Closer inspection reveals the slightest amount of Asian influence in his cuisine. “My wife is Japanese so once in a while a touch of wasabi or miso does slip in,” he told me. I decided to stick to the area with a rack of Sisteron lamb that was so tender it nearly fell from the bone. The secret, according to chef Wagner “is to marinate the meat in grape seed oil for four days. Since it doesn’t congeal this oil is better able to penetrate the lamb enhancing its flavour while leaving an already excellent cut of meat all the more tender.”
After a restful night in our cosy suite, complete with a working fireplace and private terrace, we spent the final morning enjoying a long, leisurely breakfast and strolling the semi-deserted cobbled streets of the village. Back at Chateau Eza we still had time for one last quiet drink from high above the Côte d’Azur before saying our goodbyes and heading off to the airport. We left just a little over an hour before our flight and we made it with time to spare. Yes, nothing beats the Riviera in the off-season.
OUR ROUTE
DAY ONE
Nice Airport to Cap Estel
Distance: 10 miles
Hotel facts: 8 rooms and 12 suites
Rates: Starting at £500
CAP ESTEL
1312 Avenue Raymond Poincaré
06360 Éze-Bord-de-mer
+33 (0) 937 62929
capestel@steinhotels.com
www.steinhotels.com/capestel
DAY TWO
Cap Estel to Port Palace
Distance: 5 miles
Hotel facts: 41 rooms and 9 suites
Rates: Starting at £265
PORT PALACE
7 Avenue John F Kennedy
98000 Monte Carlo, Monaco
+377 979 79000
portpalace@steinhotels.com
www.steinhotels/portpalace
DAY THREE
Port Palace to Chateau Eza
Distance: 7 miles
Hotel facts: 6 rooms and 4 suites
Rates: Starting at £170
CHÂTEAU EZA
Rue de la Pise
F-06360 Eze Village
+377 979 79000
chateau@steinhotels.com
www.steinhotels/chateau
AN ITALIAN STALLION ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA
For our tour of the Côte d’Azur, Lux had use of an elegant yet sporty Alfa Brera 3.2 V6 Q4.
The first step for any good gourmet tour is to choose the right car for the voyage. In the UK we were chauffeured around in a Rolls, in Germany we sped along the Rhine in a Maybach, while in Italy a Maserati whisked us through the Lakes in style.
For the winding, mountainous roads of the French Riviera I wanted something that could handle both the tight curves and the even tighter scrutiny of Monaco’s denizens. The Alfa Romeo Brera proved to be the ticket. Sitting in style in front of the Casino flanked by Bentleys and Ferraris the Brera didn’t look out of place. Its 3.2-litre V6 engine with 260 bhp also provided plenty of power on the climbs, while the Q4 fourwheel drive system which evenly distributes driving force on all four wheels made it a thrill to drive around even the tightest curves.
