One of my favourite restaurants in South of France, La Merenda is a tiny, 20 seat restaurant in the old town of Nice. Before taking it over 25 years ago, its chef-owner Dominique Le Stanc used to run Michelin starred kitchens in Nice and Monaco. He now cooks traditional Provençal…

Some highlights from Mirazur (3 Michelin *), currently number one on world’s 50 best list. Argentinian chef Mauro Colagreco cooks from the best produce the Med and the local terroir has to offer. In a way minimalist, his cooking is highly seasonal and is all about respecting the ingredients. Some…

The legend of “Tetou” or Ernest Cirio began when during the First World War he enlisted in the Navy and got wounded. There he became a private cook of the admiral and had an opportunity to open a restaurant in New York, but homesickness was stronger than the prospect of…

Gerald Passédat comes from old restaurateurs family in Marseille. His 3 Michelin starred restaurant Le Petit Nice Passédat has been frequented by seafood fanatics for decades and has become a symbol of high end Marseillaise cuisine. Of course, there you will find the famous bouillabaisse, fish stew once eaten by…

Summer is not really the season to make cheeses with black truffles, but one shop in Saint Tropez does it right no matter if it’s hot or cold outside. The tiny fromagerie behind the fish market produces one of the best brie cheeses with black truffles I’ve ever had and…

A lazy summer lunch on the French riviera isn’t quite complete without a glass (or, usually, more) of cold rosé wine. Var region is especially famous for rosé wines and my latest coup de coeur comes from Château Barbeyrolles, organic vineyard located near Gassin village. The estate is owned my madame…

36-year-old Arnaud Donckele is one of the youngest chefs to receive three Michelin stars. (at 35) After making a few stops at France’s best restaurants like Michel Guérard’s, Louis XV and Lasserre, the Normandy native has finally settled down at Résidence de La Pinède in Saint Tropez. The classic and…

Despite the fact that picking the best restaurant in the world is as absurd as voting for the world’s best anything, no one could deny that the 50 best restaurants list is a genius PR initiative. Thanks to the marketing power of these annual, highly publicised awards living culinary legends…

I guess this is what distinguishes a great restaurant from an ordinary one. The audacity and, most of all, the ability of serving something so simple as these slightly cooked wild strawberries with mascarpone ice cream, and, at the same time, making it so memorable. I can still smell those…

Elaborate show and luxurious presentation is often a huge part of 3 Michelin stars restaurant experience and the price you pay for it. I recently read somewhere that people find expensive food better tasting. The simply poached asparagus with crushed egg condiment at Alain Ducasse Monaco was without doubt an excellent…