Riviera Pebbles Blog: Play Michelin star wars - Nice style

Posted on 26th Mar 2018 in Eats & Drinks

The Cote d'Azur's Michelin starred restaurants dish up lunch from €25

The South of France is a cauldron of fine dining. Across Provence and the French Riviera, some 90 restaurants boast 110 Michelin stars.

To put this into perspective, the tiny town of Cannes holds as many Michelin stars as Birmingham, Britain’s second city. Nice possesses six Michelin stars, while the great city of Manchester holds a big fat zero.

Will the Cote d’Azur continue to pull in foodie visitors? According to the 2018 edition of Guide Michelin France, which recently launched in Paris, that’s a resounding yes.

Nice was a big winner. The Tourteaux brothers (their surname actually means ‘cake’) at Restaurant Flaveur were awarded a second Michelin star. The €62 lunch menu careens from Asia to Africa, where the brothers were raised, by way of keffir limes and galabé sugar.

The Principality of Monaco, which hosts a mammoth eight stars, also cashed in. In the hill village of La Turbie north of town, migrant Italian chef Bruno Cirino won his second Michelin star at Hostellerie Jérome. The €78 evening menu is refined rustic. Sample delights such as wild pigeon, slow-cooked with a reduction of black olives and Bandol wine.

Too pricey? While the deals above are cheaper than a Premier League football ticket (and impart a far better taste) if they break your budget then read on.

Above Cannes in the charming village of Valbonne sits Lou Cigalon. Here chef Christophe Martin bangs out Michelin-starred two-course lunches for €25 from Tuesday to Saturday. Dishes are market-fresh and classically Mediterranean, like squid stuffed into simple ravioli, and suckling pig sautéed to its fatty melting point.

In Cannes itself Restaurant Park 45 proves the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant on the entire coastline. Young chef Christophe Poard dishes up two lunchtime courses for €29 from Tuesday to Friday. Think local red mullet in vanilla butter, followed by caramel and milk tart made with Normandy butter.

The diet starts next week.