Le Saint Martin at Chateau Saint-Martin, Vence, Côte d’Azur

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to stay for a few days at the utterly beautiful Chateau Saint-Martin in the pretty little town of Vence on the Côte d’Azur. For a luxury short break, the Chateau really has everything: it’s a scant 30 minute drive from Nice Airport (just over an hour’s hop from Gatwick), the accommodation is luxurious, the scenery breathtaking and the spa indulgent. Locally, you can wander around beautiful little French towns and walk in the footsteps of Matisse and Picasso. The Chateau has two restaurants, one of which, Le Saint Martin, has two Michelin stars thanks to the incredible talent of Yannick Franques, former student of Alain Ducasse and Meilleur Ouvrier de France (2004).

We ate in a beautiful private dining room with General Manager Frédéric Picard who happily waved away enquiries about food photography with a smile and ‘but of course - this is why we have a private dining room’. M Picard turned out to be charming company and happily answered all questions about the French menu. If you’re not a fan of (badly lit) restaurant photography, I do understand why - it can be intrusive when people continually snap away at their dinner. However, this food was something extra special and I do feel it deserves to be shared.

We started with an appetiser which was served in a hollowed out, silvered eggshell: scrambled egg with delicate pieces of lobster and a crisp brioche ‘soldier’, and went on to enjoy six spectacular courses matched with some incredible wines. It’s a meal I’ll never forget:

Le mystère de l’oeuf

Le Saint-Pierre

Le foie gras de Chalosse

Les Fromages

Le chocolate noir grand cru Kalingo

Next up, more about the Chateau, the beautiful nearby towns of Vence and Saint Paul de Vence and a tour of Le Fondation Maeght.