New Year's Eve on the Côte d'Azur

[Jonathan Day]

Some newspapers report the weather, other the baseball scores. On New Year's Eve (or Saint-Sylvestre as it is known in France), Nice-Matin covers the food. Today's edition has several pages covering restaurant menus, recent purchasing habits concerning foie gras and smoked salmon, and comments from local chefs.

I thought some members might enjoy a review of some menus offered by local restaurants this evening. This is a small sample of the dinners covered, and I have omitted details about music, dancers, etc.

In Antibes, because of ongoing building works, "there is less choice when it comes to great restaurants". Les Vieux Murs, in the old village, offers a salad of Breton lobster, "panier croquant" (a pastry basket) with asparagus tips and sauce Maltaise, sea bass and scallops with oyster butter, a granité of mandarins, then venison with a velouté of truffles on roast potatoes, vegetables, goat cheese in puff pastry with basil oil and a winter salad, 'petit chalet' of chocolate, pistachio and vanilla. All this for EUR 125 per person, exclusive of drink.

The menu at the newly opened La Jarre, on the ramparts, also costs EUR 125. Salad of Breton lobster again, this time served with a ratatouille of fresh scallops with truffles, green asparagus tips with balsamic vinegar, filet of John Dory, breaded and fried, with black olives, fine de claire oysters served gratinéed with champagne and an oyster cream with coriander. Then a granité of grapefruit and basil, heart of filet of Simmenthal beef "en chevreuil" (I think this means the beef is cooked as if it were venison) and grilled duck foie gras, bone marrow souffléd with polenta and cèpes, carrot fans with cumin, a plate of cheeses from Cannes's famed Céneri, canneloni with bitter chocolate, mousse of crème brulée with Bourbon vanilla, "sauce Juanja".

Moving up the scale, in Nice, Alain Llorca at the Chantecler offers "a symphony for gourmands" starting with a cold jelly of seafood with fennel sorbet, then grilled scallops, chestnut agnolotti, Breton lobster, venison and a chocolate dessert. EUR 350 per person.

In Mandelieu-La Napoule, L'Oasis offers a Russian dinner in honour of Peter the Great, founder of the village, including, amongst other dishes, borscht, "goloubzy" of troute and crayfish with "red caviar" (quotes in the article), coulibiac of pike, black tea sorbet, pain d'épice "Petrouchka". EUR 400, but this includes champagne and as much vodka as you want.

In Cannes, the Villa des Lys at the Majestic offers a 10 course dinner for EUR 470. Restaurants in Menton, on the Italian border, "the city of lemons", have opted for an Italian theme, including a "Venetian" soirée at Jacques Chibois's Mirazur.

Finally, for big spenders, there is Monaco. Here the festive dinners ranged from EUR 195 (which sometimes included wine and champagne, sometimes not) right up to Ducasse's Louis XV, where 'the menu is a closely guarded secret, but it is certain that the meal will reach the summit of the art.' Yours for EUR 650 per person, drinks not included. Interestingly the Monégasque restaurants were the only ones to indicate dress code: "tenue de soirée" (Ducasse), "tenue sombre" (Monte-Carlo Grand Hotel), etc.

Chefs in the smaller towns commented that business had not been as good this year as last. But meanwhile, the champagne was flowing and the foie gras and Breton lobsters (lots of these this year) were on the table.

For the avoidance of doubt, our St-Sylvestre dinner was quiet and at home, with the children: oysters, vioulets, "Christmas duck" (half-boned, brined and slow-cooked), roast cauliflower à la Jim Dixon/eGullet, roast potatoes and turnips, cheeses, chocolates. Bollinger 1988 and Domaine Tempier Bandol red, 1999. And an Armagnac from my wife's birth year.

A very happy New Year to all.

[Wilfrid]

Happy New Year to you too. The menu at Les Vieux Murs sounds agreeable - I think I detect some kind of asparagus pie in there.

I have come across, and indeed cooked, gigot en chevreuil, where treating the meat as venison, as you rightly surmise, involves leaving it in a strong, spiced red wine marinade for a few days (edit: yes, then you roast it). Haven't seen it done with beef.

Wish I was in France right now.

Edited December 31, 2002 by Wilfrid (log)

[Bux]

Happy New Year to you too.  The menu at Les Vieux Murs sounds agreeable - I think I detect some kind of asparagus pie in there.

I have come across, and indeed cooked, gigot en chevreuil, where treating the meat as venison, as you rightly surmise, involves leaving it in a strong, spiced red wine marinade for a few days (edit: yes, then you roast it).  Haven't seen it done with beef.

Wish I was in France right now. 

I've had pork marinated and masqueraded as boar.

That's unfair of me. It has actually been honestly represented as pork with a strong flavor from the marinade.

[Zingano]

My husband and I are looking for a top-notch restaurant for a New Year's Eve splurge. We particularly like to eat innovative cooking, often with an Asian feel. (In London, some of our favourite restaurants were iThai, Sugar Club (in W11 incarnation) and Vong (may it rest in peace).

We're new to this area, now living in Vence, and have failed so far to find anything so imaginative here. Don't get me wrong, we love trad French cuisine too (the more offal the better) and the local Provençal food, but we'd like to indulge our yearning for something more eclectic on a really special night out.

Does anyone have any suggestions for where we might go? Ideally the place would have a special celebration on for New Year, or be near clubs where we could dance the New Year in.

If we are searching for the impossible, does anyone have any recommendations for the more traditional places - in particular one doing something special for New Year's Eve.

Thanks in advance,

...Jane

[degusto]

From what you indicate you like, I have two suggestions for you.

The first one is Fuji in Monaco. It is a Japanese restaurant that is quite expensive but the food is first class. The chef and owner actually goes to the market every day to buy his produce. They have very good sushi. During the summer it is located on le Sporting Monte-Carlo but in the winter it is located in the Metropole shopping centre, where it has been newly refurbished.

The other restaurant is Parcours in Falicon outside Nice. It is a newly opened restaurant (April 2003) that Robert Brown is likely to have a different opinion whether it merits recommendation or not.

Parcours offers a very modern interior and an incredible view of Nice and the ocean. Food is ok and quite modern in style. It is a strange resturant as they have probably invested slightly below 2 million euros in the place but yet they seem to run it on a shoestring budget (Few choices menu, small wine list and somewhat inexperienced staff). The chef was the chef who got two stars at Chevre d'Or in Eze. It is not two star food but it was one star last time I was there. I do not think it merits a star but I suspect it may nevertheless get one in the next guide. I got an e-mail from them the other day saying that they still had seats for New Year. The price for the menu was 180 euros including wine. That is ok for the Riviera considering the setting.

The menu is:

- Délicate bouchée de caviar à l’artichaut

- Noix de coquilles Saint Jacques crues et cuites, pomme douce, céleri,

Betterave rouge à l’huile d’olive épicée

- Queue de langoustine rôtie, Fenouil confit à l’orange, Jus du crustacé émulsionné

- Filet et épaule de chevreuil cuit séparément aux aromates, Fruits et légumes du moment

- Le fromage de brebis persillé arrosé de vin cuit, Quelques feuilles de chicorée

- Palet de mandarine marron ambré au coing

Nothing was said about the wine.

As for night clubs, the night club on the Riviera is Jimmy'z in Monaco. It costs nothing to get in, if you get in, but the price for a Coke is the same as a glass of Champagne. If you have to ask what that costs, don't go there.

[Louisa Chu]

Jane, welcome to eGullet - and Jellybean I was totally thinking about Monaco too - Jimmy'z - I love and hate that place! How about Ducasse's Bar & Boeuf - then go to Jimmy'z after?

[degusto]

I like Bar & Boeuf but it is closed in the winter. But the idea is good. Maybe not so good when I think about it since it is outdoors. We have had a very nice day today but it would be too cold to dine outdoors in the evenings. By the way, I hate Jimmy'z too.

[Louisa Chu]

Jellybean, thanks - you know they just don't keep me as up to date like I'd like them to.

[Zingano]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm particularly glad to hear of a good sushi place - the one we tried in St. Laurent was pretty dreadful.

If anyone else is interested, I mailed La Bastide Saint Antoine, and here is the menu for the 31st.

Menu

Les Frivolités d’une Bouchée

~.~

La Glace de Caviar Oscietre Royal d’Iran

au Coulis de Concombre Parfum de Volka,

Symphonie de Jaune et de Blanc d’Œuf,

servie avec ses Croustillants de Pommes de Terre

~.~

Les Noix de Saint Jacques en Mousseux de Noisettes,

aux deux Céleris, Purée d’Aubergines à la Truffe

~.~

La Sole à la Chapelure de Coques

aux Baies de Genièvre fraîches, citronnée

sur ses Petits Oronges au Curry, Jus de Sauge

~.~

La Cambéronne rôtie à la Ratatouille de Tubercules

aux Jus de Basilic, Fenouil, Olive et Safran

~.~

Le Millefeuille de Truffes au Ris de Veau,

Lait de Truffes aux Choux verts

 ~.~

Le fin Carré d’Agneau de Lait simplement doré, servi en Chiffonnade d’Artichauts, Fevettes,

Pommes de terre écrasées aux Truffes et à l’Huile d’Olive ,

 ~.~

 Le Mont d’Or dans sa Corolle de Croustille de Parmesan

 ~.~

La Douceur tiède de Champignons au Sabayon de Marrons, Caramel truffé

 ~.~

 L’Élégance de Mandarine aux Fraises des Bois,

au Blanc Manger Croquant de Coco

325€ ttc

[degusto]

Many people like Chibois. I do not at all. The food lacks style, finesse and definition and often the raw material served is of close appalling qualitym at least for a resturant of that reputation. But the setting is very nice. I try it every year a few times to see if it has improved. Some think it has but I have not noticed it.

The best food, by miles, on the Riviera is served at Le LouisXV, but I doubt they would have a table for the night in question.

[menton1]

Do they have any outside celebrations in Nice on the beach or the Promenade for New Year's Eve? Seems like a great venue!!

[Louisa Chu]

The best food, by miles, on the Riviera is served at Le LouisXV, but I doubt they would have a table for the night in question.

Jellybean, may I say, as the lowest person on the worldwide Ducasse totem pole, I'm very proud that you think Louis XV is the best table on the Riviera. And for anyone who's really interested, they might have cancellations. At ADPA we are technically booked for New Year's Eve but there are a few tables being held for regulars that have yet to be confirmed-confirmed. Slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.