Château Eza in Èze – a Swedish prince's eyrie with a MICHELIN star

High in the medieval village of Èze, in houses a Swedish prince once joined into a winter home, Justin Schmitt cooks for a dining room that seems to hang over the sea. Château Eza's restaurant has held a MICHELIN star since 2023.

Èze is a medieval village on a rock 400 metres above the Mediterranean, halfway between Nice and Monaco, and Château Eza is built into its edge. The buildings are more than 400 years old – several separate houses inside the old village walls, joined together over time – and the dining room looks straight down the coast to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. The restaurant, La Table Gastronomique, received its current MICHELIN star in March 2023, the only new star on the Côte d'Azur that year, and kept it in the 2026 guide.

01A Swedish prince's winter home

The house has a Swedish history. Prince Wilhelm of Sweden fell for Èze on his first visit in 1920 and bought the village houses one by one, joining them into a winter residence. He left in 1953, and the estate was split back into separate homes. Between 1976 and 1980 André Rochat, general delegate of the Red Cross, bought the apartments back; in 1982 he opened a tea room, then a bed and breakfast, and in 1987 Château Eza became a hotel.

Its kitchen has a long MICHELIN record. Dominique Le Stanc and Bruno Cirino cooked here between 1988 and 1995, Axel Wagner from 2007 to 2015, and the star returned with Justin Schmitt.

02The room above the sea

La Table Gastronomique seats 50. Floor-to-ceiling windows open the room to the air and the light, so that it feels half outdoors, and the MICHELIN inspectors describe a terrace that seems to float between heaven and earth – and advise booking early for the best tables. For something more private there are two small balconies with four seats each, a private dining room for 16 with its own terrace, and a wine cellar where the sommeliers serve tasting menus with wine pairings.

Insider tip

Smart attire; book early for a window table.

03Justin Schmitt's cooking

Schmitt trained alongside Alain Senderens, Guy Martin, Michel Guérard and Eric Frechon, then travelled to learn other cuisines. His first post as executive chef was at the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, followed by a spell at Laurent. The MICHELIN inspectors call his cooking precise and modern, with plenty of personality, and say the desserts are on a par – they are made by pastry chef Marc-Antoine Lebacq.

04What to order

The autumn menu opens with natural porcini and pine morels with liquorice, wild trout from the Cians valley rubbed with citrus and vadouvan in a fermented turnip water, and a new take on tarte Tatin made with celery and a meadowsweet butter. Imperial caviar from Sologne is sold by the gram. The fish courses are monkfish with nori, girolles in vin jaune and grey shrimp, and Mediterranean red mullet in a cocoa crust with Jerusalem artichokes and shellfish sauce; the meat courses are Dombes duck with juniper and roasted veal sweetbread with fermented kohlrabi, fir and nori.

The French cheeses come from the master cheesemaker Thomas Métin. Among the desserts are fig and grape, a chocolate cream in the spirit of an Irish coffee, and crisp Cazette hazelnuts with Reine-Claude plums and a hint of kombu; the restaurant asks guests to choose their dessert in advance. The tasting menu, Embruns de Méditerranée, adds grilled octopus with satay and langoustine cooked over binchotan, and is served to the whole table, at dinner only.

05Lunch, drinks and the village

From April to October lunch is served at L'Horizon, the hotel's Mediterranean restaurant, which Schmitt also runs; in winter, lunch moves to La Table Gastronomique. The lounge bar, with stone walls and a terrace on two levels, is open from 11.00 to 23.00 for cocktails and snacks. Èze village is closed to traffic, so the last stretch is on foot through the lanes – the same lanes that lead to La Chèvre d'Or, the village's two-star restaurant, and on up to the Jardin Exotique at the top.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.