Jerome Rigaud, the JR in the name is a chef who has been all over the world. Beirut, Moscow, Kyiv, and now Menton. He hails from Perpignan (parlez vous Occitan?) and also did some time with Joel Robuchon, is a part of the Disciple of Escoffier society promoting gastronomy. But after having his daughter he wanted a little place to make him happy and access to great local produce. So he ended up on the borderlands of France/Italy. He also does events catering but he says his happy place is at the restaurant.
I came strolling in solo as my friends both had to bail for work reasons (one from the area and one from Italy). Having spent some time in Nice and the Basque country i was looking for something that celebrated the local product but a bit more refined. Also being their Labor day week it was hard to find other places open (I was almost a no hitter in Nice prior!).
Got the ris de veau fried fish and chips syle and the prime rib cut that came with home made frites and a mustad cream sauce, and bitter greens salad. After spending the day in Eze and lugging around a giant suitcase place traversing through the south coast, the appetite came roaring back. The rie de veau were just the right amount making way for a massive center rib cut steak. perfectly cooked medium rare with perfectly salted frites and salad to balance the meatiness.
I dont think the staff thought I could polish it but I did and won the Bon Vivant title for the evening. Turns out one of the servers is from Panama, the other server speaks French and Italian and chef Jerome's English is quite good. so we spoke everything except for French :D
Great little place not far from the beach and just well cooked simple good. It required a double macchiato / cafe creme (depending on your lingo) to make the night and get back to the hotel before crossing the border into Itay the next day. what started out with me being possibly an outcast tourist turned out to be a friendly amicable vibe after being there a while. Sometimes it's good to stumble into these little gems. read more