On a recent visit to the seaside resort of Cagnes-sur-Mer on the Côte d’Azur, we came upon Bistronomique Beach. You usually find me on the culture pages of this magazine, but after I enthused about the experience, Alec kindly invited me to guest in his À la Carte column – a responsibility I do not take lightly.
Our trip marked our silver wedding anniversary. We were married in a 13th-century abbey in a village just four miles inland, and hesitated to revisit the area for fear of overwriting a charmed memory. We needn’t have worried because this visit turned out to be just as magical.
The restaurant is attached to the Royalmar Hotel, which has a spectacular front-row position on the Mediterranean; a few steps across the promenade and your toes are in the crystalline water. You can see all the way to Nice airport on the left and Cap d’Antibes to the right. Cagnes-sur-Mer offers the buzz of the Riviera without the crowds, especially in early autumn when tourists have thinned but the sun still shines bright.
CHEF GEENS BISTRONOMIQUE BEACH CAGNES SUR MER cc Sylvia Edwards Davis
Our anniversary dinner started with a fine flute of extra-brut Irroy champagne (an independent producer under Maison Taittinger) and a courtesy amuse-bouche on its own porcelain pedestal. One bite of seared sesame tuna with a drop of miso mayonnaise, and we exchanged a quick flick of the eyebrows. We were in expert hands. At this point executive chef Frédéric Geens came by to congratulate us on the occasion. It soon transpired that this jovial chef from Brussels had trained in the Michelin-star kitchens of chef Thierry Marx and Alain Passard’s L’Arpège. We had stumbled on a splendid chance to have a Michelin-adjacent meal in a less formal table and what a view!
I had the egg parfait with girolles and porcini mushrooms, and Dave opted for the silky butternut squash velouté. Worth the trip just for those starters. Then came my grilled octopus, roasted potatoes, chanterelle mushrooms and chorizo, and Dave’s truffle-filled chicken roulade. A goat’s cheese and white chocolate bavarois with a raspberry coulis for dessert proved that imagination can bring together unexpected partners in a little cloud of heaven – a suitable metaphor for the occasion.
The front of the house, in the able hands of Stephano and Anaïs, has a panoramic terrace overlooking the sea and a trellised area for al fresco drinks. The restaurant changed hands in the summer of 2025 and underwent a full overhaul. When we thanked Chef Geens for the masterful experience, we heard between the lines that he may aim for a Michelin star (not for the accolade itself, but for the discipline and collective pursuit of excellence it would inspire).
Before we took off on a long walk along the promenade, a thimble of pink Italian digestif infused with hibiscus was the perfect send-off. The residual rosy twilight transitioned to the uplit palm trees reflecting on the water – it was one of those moments when time stands still, and you feel so grateful for the gift of highly-trained professionals who love what they do and do it so well.
22 Promenade de la Plage, Cagnes-sur-Mer.
Tel (33) 04 93 73 39 52.
Lunch menu €39, average à la carte €70.
From France Today Magazine
Lead photo credit : BISTRONOMIQUE BEACH CAGNES SUR MER DESSERT cc Sylvia Edwards Davis
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