Amarines at Villa Miraé – Mauro Colagreco's pavilion on the Cap

The name is a promise. Amarines plays on amarres, the lines that moor a boat, and the idea behind it is to cast off – to slip the ropes of the day and settle in for an evening by the sea. It is the gastronomic restaurant of Villa Miraé, the five-star hotel on the Chemin de la Garoupe that was for decades the Impérial Garoupe and has now opened a new chapter as part of the Inwood Hotels collection and a member of Relais & Châteaux. The cooking carries the name of Mauro Colagreco, the Argentine-born chef whose Mirazur, in Menton, holds three Michelin stars and was named the best restaurant in the world in 2019. Here, a short walk from La Garoupe beach, he cooks the Mediterranean with the seasons, in a pavilion among the gardens and on a terrace shaded by plane trees. It is serene, beautifully set and quietly ambitious – the dinner that turns a day on the Garoupe into an occasion.

Here is the pavilion, the philosophy, the plates and how to spend an evening at Villa Miraé.

01A pavilion in the gardens

Amarines does not sit in the hotel; it sits beside it. The pavilion is a low house of ochre walls and arched doors, terracotta underfoot, umbrella pines overhead and potted topiary at the door – more like the garden house of a private villa than a hotel dining room. The MICHELIN Guide, which lists Amarines, describes a dining room decorated with the sea and the natural world in mind, and a terrace in the shade of plane trees. On a warm evening, that terrace is where you want to be.

02Cooking with the tides

Amarines is inspired by the Mediterranean, by the riches of the land and by the idea of casting off, and it celebrates the spontaneity of the seasons with simple, outstanding produce at the centre. Colagreco is a pioneer of what he calls circular gastronomy: cooking led by vegetables and local biodiversity, changing with the seasons and relying on short supply chains and on producers who share that approach. The hotel speaks of plates built around the tides and the harvests, in a conversation with the landscape – cooking that, in its own words, reconnects you with nature and with yourself.

Insider tip

Dinner Wednesday to Sunday, 19.00–22.00; seasonal.

03What to order

The menu moves with the seasons, so let the kitchen lead. The dishes the MICHELIN inspectors noted give the flavour of the place: a carpaccio of gamberoni with citrus and basil oil; wild Mediterranean fish with a sauce vierge of Taggiasca olives, preserved lemon, capers and fennel; and, to finish, a floating island in the manner of a calisson, the almond sweet of Aix-en-Provence, with lavender custard. It is Provençal cooking at its lightest and most precise.

04Before and after

Begin at the bar. On the Amarines terrace, an open-air lounge looks over the Mediterranean every day from 18.00 to 23.00, in a bright, azure-blue setting where the sea is the decor. The signature cocktails are built on lavender, citrus and the sunny flavours of the Riviera, with a careful selection of spirits and a list of tapas – the perfect hour while the light goes over the water.

For something more relaxed on another day, the hotel's second restaurant, Miraé by Mauro Colagreco, cooks the classics of the French and Italian rivieras, from socca to tarte tropézienne, on a sunny terrace from breakfast into the afternoon.

05When to go

Amarines serves dinner only, from Wednesday to Sunday, 19.00 to 22.00. Book the earliest table, arrive half an hour before it for a drink at the bar, and watch the light change over the sea. Villa Miraé is a seasonal hotel, so check the restaurant's dates with the hotel before planning a visit outside summer.

06Make a day of it

The Garoupe side of the Cap is made for a slow day. Spend the morning on the sand at La Garoupe, a few minutes' walk from the hotel. Walk the coastal path that starts at the end of the beach and runs along the rocks towards the tip of the Cap. Climb to the Garoupe plateau for the lighthouse, the old sailors' chapel and the widest view on the peninsula. Then come back down, change, and let the evening end at Amarines.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.