Hotel Negresco****, Nice, Cote d'Azur, France.
Restaurant "Le Chantecler" & "La Rotonde"

Hotel Negresco has two restaurants. One, a top-of-the-line restaurant “Le Chantecler” of Chef Jean-Denis Rieubland (one Michelin star) is very fine indeed. The other restaurant is really a bistro, “La Rotonde”. “La Rotonde“ is a French version of a high-end coffee shop, though far more amusing and interesting, which is open from 7 AM to 11:30 PM and serves French “comfort food” with an old-fashioned “Continental" style. More on this below.

“Le Chantecler”, is our main reason for dining at the Negresco. Its fame firmly established by its former chef and culinary star Jacques Maximin, it has remained a top restaurant under a succession of fine chefs ever since. We a special late night tasting in the Chef's office, the hub of the kitchens. It turned out to be one of the most marvelous culinary experiences of the trip! Director Manager Alexander-Pierre Faidherbe was not only gracious but absolutely delightful as we sat at a small table with a pink table cloth, gleaming silver ware and even a small candle and shared tasting dishes of Chef Jean-Denis Rieubland’s new menu. We were both tasting this menu for the first time since it was just introduced, so he had one dish and I had another switching about halfway through, just like an old married couple. Thus we worked our way merrily through the menu with wines perfectly matched to the dishes until close to midnight. While not every dish was a total success to my palate, this was more a personal taste in food than an assessment of the quality of the dish itself.

Click on the photos to see large versions
Restaurant Le Chantecler
Starter of Jumbo Shrimp from Lake Geneva with the first Cepes of the season (spring). Starter of Duck Foie Gras with Raspberries, rhubarb with a trace of cardamon in a white balsamic syrup.		Starter of Jumbo Shrimp with fried balls of minced calves brains. Fish dish - Sea Bass in emulsion of asparagus, spears of whole asparagus, a millefeuille of mousse of petits pois, John Dory and thin sliced zucchini.
The Régence style dining room
Click photos where the mouse turns to a hand to see larger version. Peter D'Aprix © 2008

The dishes were refined, clever, sometimes humorous, but always new and interesting, often a twist to an existing theme. The style is innovative, often daring but never over the top. At a time when so many chefs mixed too many conflicting flavors on a plate, chef Rieubland maintains a harmony of flavors. On occasion one mouthful results in an evolution of tastes one leading to the next; not an explosion but a transition. Some top chefs seem to need to justify their lofty prices and fancy environments by using exotic and expensive ingredients almost without regard to taste. I well remember a millefeuille of finely chopped vegetables layered with paper thin pastry that would have been fine by itself. But it had to be topped with a thick layer of caviar and topped with twists of gold leaf! Happily this is not the case with chef Jean-Denis Rieubland. His cuisine is all about an exploration of tastes and if he uses some exotic ingredients it is for their taste not their status value.

His marvelously modern creations are served in an equally marvelous traditional environment. The refined Régence style dining room is decorated with elegant wood paneling dating back to 1751 that surrounds the room which features an Aubusson carpet and a stunning portrait of Louis XV's daughter the Duchess of Orleans. It is a perfect setting indeed a counterpoint to the dishes of chef Rieubland.

We opened our tasting with two starters. One was an excellent marriage of crayfish from Lake Geneva and, since they had just arrived that day, first of the season cepes. The other starter, which (if you like calves brains which were prepared minced, spiced, rolled in balls and deep-fried) you would love served with Dublin Bay prawns served with Espelette pepper and baby leaves of Rocket. I loved the crayfish, but I'm not a lover of brains, at least to ingest.

We moved on. While we sipped the last of the lovely Chardonnay that started the meal, another starter was served; slabs of duck foie gras with raspberries, rhubarb strips with a trace of cardamom served with a white balsamic syrup. An interesting modern art arrangement on the plate that was very pleasant to the palate and interesting to consider, it was delicious.

The menu also offered frogs legs tossed with parsley, potato and black rice crunch, or a Chilled Crab Royal with argan jelly, or a Carpaccio of scallops with Kumbawa, soufflé in a sea urchin shell with shellfish marinière with almonds.

Doggie Friendly!
Fish Dish - St. Pierre (John Dory) in emulsion of pistou, with a berm of tiny carved balls of vegetables, peas and baby shellfish. Dessert - Granny Smith apple as a mousse in a caramel shell with a sorbet of coconut and a little herb jelly.	Pre-dessert - a type of Mozzarella served with olive oil and reduced balsamic drops Dessert - Chocolate mini-cake with chocolate sauce center with a scoop of herb and a scoop of orange sorbet.
Executive Chef Jean-Denis Rieubland	Chef Patissier hard at work preparing desserts.
Peter D'Aprix © 2008

Next came the fish. The Sea Bass (“Filet de Bar” in French), a dish not on the menu, arrived that was beautifully done. We were right in the middle of asparagus season so the asparagus emulsion in which the sea bass sat added just the right counterpoint to the fish. On one side, there were two spears of succulent young asparagus loosely encased in an oversize “pipe” of lacy ultra thin crispy filo while on the other there was a millefeuille consisting of a mousse of petit pois, then thin slices of St. Pierre (John Dory) topped with equally thin length-size slices of zucchini and strawberries: a very successful dish. The other fish dish is was an equally well-prepared St. Pierre sitting in an emulsion of pistou. Flanked on one side was a berm of tiny pea sized balls of vegetables, some green peas and baby shell fish. It was an exquisite dish filled with delicate flavors, light and superb.

We skipped the meat and poultry section; not only was it getting late, but I tend to judge a chef by his expertise with fish and seafood more than with meat dishes.

Next we were served a type of buffalo mozzarella with a very light sauce of light olive oil. It made a nice transition.

Vegetarians will be happy to know that there are always at least two main dishes to suit them. This menu offered a black purple eggplant served as a tartar with olive oil, sun dried tomatoes as a “caviar” and glazed with balsamic vinegar. The other dish was fried vegetable gnocchi served with mixed local vegetables and flakes of reggiano parmesan and grated summer truffle.

For those that need their red meat, the choices covered a range from veal sweetbreads, saddle of lamb from the Alps of Haute Provence, to roast suckling pig, double roasted veal cutlet, fried fillet of beef, oxtail and foie gras millefeuille cooked and raw zucchini.

For those with a sweet tooth, yet are watching their waistlines, the dessert menu is ideal. We sampled the chocolate biscuit served with an herb and a coconut sorbet. The other was an interesting concoction from granny smith apples with the herb sorbet and a Granny Smith nugget of cake. It had just a hint of lemon balm that gave it a different twist. These desserts are not the giant edifices so often served in the US, but small bites intense with flavor that round out a meal perfectly without adding inches to the girth.

Restaurant "La Rotonde"
Minestrone with pesto
A tasty salad of avocado and citrus slices with shrimp in a Thousand Island dressing over greens.	The Rotonde theme is that of a giant carousel complete with hand carved ponies, strings of lights and other fun carousel themes.
Peter D'Aprix © 2008

“La Rotonde” is a bistro restaurant that in the United States, would be an upscale coffee shop. However, at the Negresco, it is a French "comfort food" bistro open from breakfast until almost midnight. The food is modestly bland, never bad, but certainly won’t set the world on fire. But it is just the thing if you have been eating rich, arrived jet lagged, or just want a modest meal at any time of day. In keeping with the quirky and amusing nature of the hotel Negresco, The decor is complete with hand carved carrousel horses.

We enjoyed a light lunch of a good minestrone with a pesto seasoning, a very tasty if a little dated salad of avocado and citrus slices with shrimp in a Thousand Island dressing over greens and we both had a well prepared Grilled Sea Bass with sauteed mixed vegetables that was quite acceptable. Perfect, actually, for those who have either eaten too rich too long, just want a light and simple meal or have arrived tired and jet lagged and want to eat simple.

The service is professional, reasonably fast, and not overly friendly which is not to say it's unfriendly. At the time of our visit, Spring of 2008, the breakfast buffet was adequate but only just. Chef Jean-Denis Rieubland has plans to upgrade the entire breakfast buffet and the main menu bringing it up to today's high level demanded by the international travelor. Meals are served both inside amongst the carousel horses or outside on a pleasant green carpet terrace with a view of the sea.

Map of Nice