Any recent Nice/Cote d'Azur recs

There are some posts from 2009 on La Merenda, and a 2005 post on Paris and Nice.

We're going to Nice (France) in December (yes, not the best weather for the beach, but I'm speaking at the same conference that has taken me to Vienna and Barcelona in past years).

Suggestions for the region would be greatly appreciated.

I was in Nice this past summer with my wife but we were also towing along our 2 year old. We did manage to hit one place that was decent - Restaurant Boccaccio. They specialize in seafood and we ordered the paella for two and it really hit the spot for fresh seafood.

Other places that I earmarked were La Petite Maison, Kei's Passion, and Le Chantecler but they just weren't feasible during our trip.

David Lebovitz recently posted about Mirazur http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/09/mirazur-mauro-colagreco-menton-france-restaurant/ as the best restaurant on the Cote d'Azur. He also mentions Fenocchio ice cream http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/09/fenocchio-ice-cream/.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

-Russ

Have been a long time site visitor but couldn't resist posting a reply as we have just returned from a trip to the Cote d'Azur, Milan, the Dolomites, and Lake Como. The following are places we ate at during our 3 days on the Riviera. While several of the places are expensive we chose to make lunch our main meal of the day which made the prices more reasonable.

Antibes - Restaurant de Bacon (http://www.restaurantdebacon.com/uk/default.asp). This is a Michelin starred restaurant serving only seafood with Bouillabaisse as a specialty. Although pricey, the prix fixe lunch option is 49 euros for 3 courses. The Bouillabaisse was very good and the Napoleon for dessert was hands down the best I have ever had. It is located on Cap d'Antibes and has a great view of the Antibes coast. The other restaurant in Antibes we considered was La Forge (http://www.laforge-antibes.com/default.asp?p=0&L=1) which is owned by a transplanted American couple and is located within Antibes proper which had very good reviews.

In Eze Village we ate lunch at Château Eza Restaurant which is located at the top of Eze again with spectacular views. Another Michelin starred restaurant which while also pricey again had a reasonable 4 course prix fixe lunch option which was really excellent and significantly less than the other Michelin starred restaurant option in Eze (Chèvre d'Or).

In Nice we had a great meal at an extremely reasonable price (3 courses plus wine for about 30 euros /person) at Restaurant Boni (15, rue Tonduti de l'Escarene, 06000 Nice, France
0493629336). Small place a couple of blocks from the main bus station with Italian cuisine. Relatively small menu but everything was locally obtained and prepared fresh. Excellent pastas. Service was great and the owner/chef spent a lot of time explaining dishes and making sure everthing was good. We did not have reservations which are recommended but we arrived early (opens at 7:30 pm for dinner) and had no problems getting a table. Another place we would have liked to have tried was L' Univers (http://www.christian-plumail.com/) but it did not work into our schedule. Be forwarned that most places are closed on Sundays.

For breakfast in Nice we usually just went to the marketplace in Old Nice a couple of blocks from our hotel and got pastries, fresh fruit and sat on the Promenade along the beach and enjoyed the early morning ambiance. Hope this helps.

I'll post more later, with a few pics, but I have to say, I like Nicoise cuisine. We didn't go anywhere particular haute (no bill went over 100E but it came close). Food is expensive there: you can find 3-course menus for 13-50E all over the place, but order off the menu and most of the entrees (starters for the non-francophile) were usually 10E and up -- yes, that's a $14 bowl of soup.

Salade Nicoise: I don't see what the big deal is. Olives, good tuna, it's a salad. If it had a distinctive dressing maybe, but most places just drop bottles of oil and vinegar on the table.

Daube Nicoise: Now this I can get into: Long-cooked beef, probably salt pork and anchovies according to the recipes I've seen. Intensely beefy goodness. Why didn't my mother's pot roast ever taste like this? (no salt pork or anchovies). Served with a variety of pastas (ravioli, gnocchi and tagliatelle on many menus, had one version with mushy gnocchi, one with excellent little ravs).

Rouget: A wonderful tasty little fish. Sweet and fresh, I had it in several places in different preps.

Soupe de poisson avec crouton et rouille: In other words, bouiliabaisse without all the seafood in it. I had one thinner broth-like version with a very orange rouille, and a second thicker bisque-like version with a foam of rouille.

What's the secret to Nicoise cooking? Salt. They season strongly. Not for the sodium-restricted. But just right in every dish I had.