5 Reasons to Dine in Monaco

Whether in search of decadent or health-conscious cuisine, this Mediterranean outpost delivers oh so tasty options.

BY JEN MURPHY

Monaco's famous waterside retreats.

There's never been a more exciting time to dine in the storied riviera principality. There are plenty of Michelin-starred restaurants to splurge on, but you’ll also find stylish vegan spots, gourmet food halls, and much more.

ELSA

In 2015, Chef Paolo Sari’s Elsa became the first all-organic restaurant in the world to be awarded a Michelin star. Set within the effortlessly chic Monte Carlo Beach Hotel, it’s earned a loyal following amongst health-conscious sun seekers with its sustainable-minded tasting menus. All of the ingredients in dishes like roasted lamb with Provence herbs and verbena-scented scampi with ginger carrot puree are sourced from within 60 miles, and much of the produce comes from Sari’s nearby gardens.

EQVITA

Tennis star Novak Djokovic credits his unstoppable energy on the court to a mostly vegan diet. In 2016, the Monaco resident and his wife, Jelena, opened a casual restaurant featuring a menu of their favorite plant-based dishes. The champ tapped Lee Clay, the chef who helped fuel him through the Australian Open, to help develop tasty yet healthful recipes like avocado Caprese salad and quinoa-stuffed sweet potato with sautéed oyster mushrooms and sweet pepper harissa.

La Condamine Market

Le Louis XV - Alain Ducasse à l'Hôtel de Paris

Eqvita restaurant is a favorite of tennis star Novak Djokovic

Les Perles de Monte Carlo is known for its oysters

Elsa, located at Monte Carlo Beach Hotel.

LE HALLE GOURMANDE

When La Condamine Market first opened in 1880, it was just as much a social hub as it was the principality’s main grocery stop. Today, not much has changed, except spiffier digs (the market was renovated in 2012) and more food options from the region’s best butchers, bakers, fishmongers, and farmers. The daily market has always been a popular lunchtime haunt, but it’s now earning a reputation as a great dinner stop, thanks to the 2014 debut of Le Halle Gourmande. Located in the building adjacent to the market square, expect Monegasque specialties like pissaladière, a pizza-like tart topped with caramelized onions and olives.

LE LOUIS XV ALAIN DUCASSE

The accolades are many, and well deserved, but legendary chef Alain Ducasse isn’t one to rest on his laurels. He continues to raise the bar at Le Louis XV, his three Michelin star restaurant in à l'Hôtel de Paris, which is fresh off a renovation that left the dining room looking like a mini Versailles. Ducasse describes his cuisine here as “food that tastes like the sun” and together, with chef Dominique Lory, he’s crafted a dazzling menu of haute dishes such as truffled guinea fowl with pine needles and blue lobster with myrtle berries and ginger. An exceptional wine cellar of 600,000-plus bottles, many of them rare vintages, complements the experience.

LES PERLES DE MONTE-CARLO

On a sunny, summer day, skip the white tablecloth and fancy china and head to Les Perles on the port of Fontvieille. The oyster nursery, run by two trained biologists, supplies all of the principality’s top chefs with its briny bivalves. Laze away an afternoon sitting on wooden benches, under the shade of umbrellas while slurping freshly shucked oysters and sipping local, organic wine.

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