The call of nature

A tour of restaurants whose natural settings add charm to refined dining.

Green is the colour. The atmosphere ? Countrified, but countrified chic. A tour of restaurants whose natural settings add charm to refined dining.

A city-person 100 %, an inveterate fan of the tarmac, allergic to the smallest blade of grass – this is not for you ! Here you take in great gulps of fresh air and, when you sit down, it’s to benefit as much from unique surroundings as from a semi or totally gastronomic meal. Some chefs, such as Jacques Chibois, have understood that in the face of equal talent, clients give priority to the decor. After working for many years on the Croisette, Chibois finally retreated to the countryside, just below Grasse. Here, amidst his century-old olive-trees, he concocts recipes that have made his reputation amongst fans of Mother Nature ; and pessimists who predicted oblivion for him had to bite their tongues. His “Bastide Saint-Antoine” is always full.

(1) La Bastide Saint-Antoine, or the spirit of countrified chic as interpreted by Jacques Chibois. (2) Just outside the old village of Mougins, Le Mas Candille nestles in a park of Mediterranean trees, shrubs and plants. A cuisine of refined flavours and fragrances is here proposed by Serge Gouloumès.

(1) La Bastide Saint-Antoine, or the spirit of countrified chic as interpreted by Jacques Chibois. (2) Just outside the old village of Mougins, Le Mas Candille nestles in a park of Mediterranean trees, shrubs and plants. A cuisine of refined flavours and fragrances is here proposed by Serge Gouloumès.

At the Manoir de l’Etang, the setting of unspoilt natural greenery adds to the appeal of gastronomic cuisine.

At the Manoir de l’Etang, the setting of unspoilt natural greenery adds to the appeal of gastronomic cuisine.

An “Oasis” of natural greenery a stone’s throw from the sea. Lush vegetation and tables judiciously set out in the courtyard garden, where Mother Nature seems to have dispensed with help of Man.

An “Oasis” of natural greenery a stone’s throw from the sea. Lush vegetation and tables judiciously set out in the courtyard garden, where Mother Nature seems to have dispensed with help of Man.

Provençal gastronomy and picture-postcard views for two delightful inns, L’Auberge du Colombier at Roquefort and L’Auberge du Vieux Château at Cabris. Both are characterized by old stones and Mediterranean

vegetation, while the first proposes “foie gras” with violet artichokes, the second shoulder of lamb with mashed potatoes and braized vegetables in a tasty juice. Mougins, a typical country village brimming with charm, boasts three addresses where good taste leaves long-lasting memories : Le Mas Candille (with the excellent Serge Gouloumès in charge of the ovens), Il Lago , the restaurant at the Manoir de l’Etang (where Luigi Fiore proposes Italian dishes with a novel spin) and, somewhat unexpectedly, the Golf Country Club de Cannes Mougins. In typical “brasserie” style, the region’s most well-known 18-hole golf-course proposes buffets as impressive for their size as for their savours, from noon to 4 p.m. It is not, in fact the only golf-club to welcome Epicureans to its dining-room – and especially to its terraces -, whether they’re fans of the little white ball or not. The Château de la Bégude (Golf d’Opio Valbonne) and the Cannes-Mandelieu golf-club also share this “certain way of life” with an undeniable touch of class and authenticity ; the first, a 17th-century Provençal country house, the second, a club inaugurated in 1891.

Then there are those splendid tables which succeed in taking us, for the duration of a meal, far from the towns in which they hang out their signs.

La Pérouse is a good example, an hotel built in 1930 which chose the Mediterranean as its backcloth and a garden of citrus trees. Same goes for Stéphane Raimbault’s restaurant, L’Oasis, with a terrace-garden whose luxuriant vegetation seems to owe nothing to the work of lowly Man… On the world’s most famous Rock, that of Monaco, the illusion is just as perfect ; the Maya Bay plays the ace of chic exoticism, and one is enchanted yet again. From there to deducing that decor based on Nature enhances gastronomic cuisine only requires one step… taken lightly and with delectation !

Auberge du Colombier, Roquefort (04 92 60 33 00). A la carte : approx. 55 €. Auberge du Vieux Château, place du Panorama, Cabris (04 93 60 50 12). Menu carte : approx. 37 €. Château de la Bégude, route de Roquefort les Pins, Golf d’Opio-Valbonne, Opio (04 93 12 37 00). Menus : 32 and 42 €. Golf Cannes Mandelieu, avenue des Amazones, Mandelieu (04 92 97 49 49). Approx. 25 €. Golf Country Club de Cannes Mougins, 175 avenue du Golf, Mougins (04 93 37 56 59). Menus from 22 €. La Bastide Saint-Antoine, 48 avenue Henri-Dunant, Grasse (04 93 70 94 94). Menu « Découverte Candille » : 70 €. A la carte : approx. 120 €. La Pérouse, 11 quai Rauba Capeu, Nice (04 93 62 34 63). A la carte : approx. 44 €. Le Mas Candille, boulevard Clément-Rebuffel, Mougins (04 92 28 43 43). Menu « Grand Huit » : 105 €. « Il Lago », Le Manoir de l’Etang, quartier Bois de Font Merle, route d’Antibes, Mougins (04 92 28 36 00). A la carte : approx. 75 €. L’Oasis, rue Jean-Honoré-Carle, Mandelieu (04 93 49 95 52). Menus : 80, 120 and 145 €. Maya Bay, Le Rocabella, 24 avenue Princesse Grace, Monaco (00 377 97 70 74 67). Closed Sunday and Monday. A la carte : approx. 60 €.