Gourmet Nice: the Riviera’s hottest foodie destination

“In the past 10 years, I’ve watched the food scene in Nice transform into something extremely cosmopolitan and very high end,” says Alex Balkin, executive director of Savills French Riviera and Alps. Balkin has lived in Nice for 30 years, and has witnessed its evolution first-hand. Many of the changes he puts down to its mayor, Christian Estrosi. “The city has been designated a Unesco World Heritage landmark,” says Balkin. “Several of the Olympic events took place here this year, and we had the Tour de France. It is no longer just a place to fly into and drive through.” It’s a place to stay and eat.

When a city is as well cared for as Nice, it creates a positive feedback loop: growing numbers of visitors, plus more residents with disposable income make it an attractive proposal for ambitious chefs in search of new venues. Today, the city is teeming with fine-dining restaurants. One of the earliest of the new wave came from South African Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, who, when he worked on luxury yachts in and out of Monaco, yearned to open his own venue.

“One day, as I was exploring Le Vieux Port, a bohemian part of Nice, I stumbled upon a closed-up motorcycle repair shop. It had a sign outside that read ‘Restaurant possible’,” he says. “It felt like the fates were trying to tell me that this was the place I was looking for – and they were right.” Since his restaurant, JAN, opened in Rue Lascaris, the street has evolved into one of the city’s most charming spots for one-of-a-kind eateries and shops.

Today, JAN holds a Michelin star, along with more than 30 other Niçoise restaurants that include Le Chantecler in Le Negresco, where you can eat in opulent 18th-century splendour, and Flaveur, which has two (one each for the brothers who run it). Other highlights include Le Plongeoir, built around a once-derelict concrete diving board, and the candlelit terrace at the newly opened Hôtel du Couvent. Balkin also recommends La Petite Maison – “fine dining and a great atmosphere in Le Vieux Nice” – and Le Galet for a beachfront treat. Visitors to Nice should also sample the extraordinary pastry work of Philippe Tayac – particularly the chocosuisse and millefeuille – at his pâtisserie on Rue du Maréchal Joffre.

Chef Dominique Le Stanc has worked in several of the city’s Michelin-starred restaurants, but when he took over a family-run place called Le Merenda, his aim was to create something lower key, serving Niçoise dishes made with ingredients bought each day in the local market. His favourite venues include Les Agitateurs, Marmar and Onaka – “I’m an amateur when it comes to Japanese cuisines and I love the omakase menu there,” he says. He also loves Caprioglio, “our oldest and most typical wine shop”.

For a traditional taste of Nice, sample the chickpea-flour pancake known as socca. According to cookery writer and chef David Lebovitz, the best in the city is found at Chez Pipo (where you can also get proper pissaladière, pistou soup and pan bagnat – essentially salade Niçoise in a sandwich) and Chez Thérésa in the Cours Saleya market. Go at opening time to avoid the queues, as both get very busy.

If you want to ruffle a local’s feathers, start a conversation about salade Niçoise and see what happens. If you’ve eaten this dish outside France, it probably contained cooked green beans and boiled potatoes, lemon, masses of lettuce and maybe even sweetcorn. It may also have committed the sin of combining anchovies and tuna in one dish. Local recipes – quite rightly – really matter to Niçoise chefs, to the extent that, since 1995, the Cercle de la Capelina d’Or society has awarded restaurants in and around Nice its coveted Cuisine Nissarde label. To receive this seal of approval, they must follow authentic formulas for said salad (summer tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, anchovies or tuna, spring onions, olives, basil, artichokes, podded broad beans and green peppers, ideally served in a wooden bowl rubbed with garlic, and seasoned only with salt and olive oil) as well as for dishes such as pissaladière and apple beignets, the Niçoise street-food classics.

You’ll never go hungry in a city as food-focused as Nice. But its high-end profile is now something special. “Nice is the new place to eat on the French Riviera,” says Balkin. “The city has really grown into itself.”