Where the great tables are, which to choose for the occasion, and the honesty I owe my clients: they aren’t all equal at the same moment.
The French Riviera concentrates a density of great tables few regions in the world can claim. That isn’t a turn of phrase: between Saint-Tropez and Monaco you could dine every evening for a fortnight in a different house without ever dropping a level.
But they don’t all answer the same desire, and that’s where my job genuinely begins. Here’s how I tell them apart.
Monaco: the highest density
Two square kilometres, and the highest concentration of truly great tables per square kilometre in Europe. That isn’t marketing, it’s arithmetic.
Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse remains the absolute benchmark, the one you go to for the big night and for the room as much as the plate. Les Ambassadeurs by Christophe Cussac at the Métropole, L’Abysse and Pavyllon by Yannick Alléno at the Hermitage, Blue Bay and Elsa by Marcel Ravin complete a set with no equivalent on so small a footprint. And Yoshi, also at the Métropole, remains my safe bet when you want a very high level without the solemnity.
Saint-Tropez: fewer, and sunnier
La Vague d’Or is the village’s great table, in a Mediterranean, refined register that corresponds exactly to what you come here for. La Voile, Colette, Le Patio and Jaïs make up the rest of a gastronomic landscape tighter than Monaco’s but distinctly brighter, and, in my view, more pleasant for a summer dinner.
Matsuhisa, finally, occupies a place apart: it isn’t the house you go to for French haute cuisine, it’s the one you go to when you want the evening to be both excellent and alive.
Cannes: Le Suquet, the Croisette and the palaces
Cannes plays a quieter tune than its neighbours, and that’s precisely its appeal. La Petite Maison is my most frequent booking in the city, not the most starred, but the one that never disappoints. The great houses of the Croisette, on the Carlton side with Ruya and Riviera, offer a setting few cities can match.
And for a lunch that justifies the trip on its own, Le Grill at Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, technically at Cap d’Antibes: it’s the finest lunch on the Riviera, and I say that having seen the others.
What I tell clients before booking
- A great table needs three hours. Don’t place it before a flight, a boat or a show. It’s the most frequent mistake, and it ruins the meal as much as the evening.
- The first seating lets you watch the room fill; the second lets you go out afterwards. Choose according to what you want from the night.
- The dress code is real in Monaco and enforced at the door. Elsewhere it’s more relaxed, but a jacket will never work against you.
- In summer, the great houses book several weeks ahead; some close for part of the season. We check closing periods before promising anything.
- Allergies and dietary requirements are declared when booking, not on arrival. In a house of this level, told in advance, it often produces an entirely rethought menu, and a very fine surprise.
