HOOTS BBQ SMOKEHOUSE
7648 Canal St Ste B Houston, TX 77012
Le Chantecler
The Hotel Negresco’s flagship, two-star Michelin restaurant comes enrobed in what may be 18th-century France’s entire production of fine wood panelling. Chandeliers hang above real period furniture – and yet there’s nothing ponderous about Nice’s best restaurant (except, of course, the price). Recent renovation has lightened everything up so that Jean-Denis Rieubland’s cooking has the brightly cultivated setting it deserves. Here, eating is theatre and it’s pointless to resist. Get behind fillet of beef with grilled foie gras, peppers and turnips glazed with olive juice – and you’ll barely notice the tenners slipping elegantly out of your life.
Address: Hotel Negresco, 37 Promenade des Anglais
Contact: 00 33 493 16 64 00; hotel-negresco-nice.com
Prices: mains from €68; “signature menu” €230
Opening times: dinner Tues-Sat, 7.00pm-10pm
Reservations: essential
Payment type: cards accepted
La Terrasse
This is truly haute cuisine – you’re 10 floors up on a terrace on top of Le Méridien hotel, with arresting views to the sea and mountains. Also, it has to be said, with a slight sentiment of superiority over the folk you can barely see way down below on the Promenade des Anglais. There are a pool and a bar up here as well, plus all the teak, metal and strung-out sail-cloth one expects of contemporary dining premises.
Such a setting doesn’t need overwrought complexity on the plate, and doesn’t get it. Instead, there’s an elegant simplicity to dishes such as grilled sea bream, chicken breast braised in thyme, or a particularly good sea cassoulet. Those with lighter appetites, or in need of an anytime snack, might tackle a club sandwich, salad or pasta dishes (from €15). Mains aren’t cheap – from €19 – but the food is served with crisp-shirted panache. And the panorama is worth a bob or two.
Address: Le Méridien Nice, 1 Promenade des Anglais
Contact: 00 33 497 03 44 44; laterrasse-nice.com
Prices: Mains from €19; two-course lunch €29
Opening times: March-November 17, daily, 12 noon-10pm; November 18 -February, daily, 10am-5pm
Reservations: advised
Payment type: cards accepted