Flaveur in Nice – the Tourteaux brothers, the spices and two stars

Gaël and Mickaël Tourteaux grew up in Guadeloupe and learnt the trade at the Negresco. At Flaveur in Nice, they blend vadouvan and garam masala with fish from the Mediterranean – and hold two stars in the Guide Michelin.

On 2 December 2008, two brothers opened a small restaurant on rue Gubernatis in Nice. Gaël and Mickaël Tourteaux had spent their childhood in Guadeloupe and seven years in the kitchen at the Negresco. They called the place Flaveur. Three years later, it had a star in the Guide Michelin, and in 2018 the second one came.

In the Guide Michelin France 2026, Flaveur still has two stars. The inspectors sum up the cuisine as refined and masterful, with character from start to finish. Flaveur is today the only restaurant in Nice with two stars.

The Tourteaux brothers – from Guadeloupe to the Negresco

The brothers learned the trade on the Riviera. According to Guide Michelin, both worked at Hôtel Negresco during the time when Alain Llorca led the kitchen. Gaël has also worked for Michel del Burgo, and both worked for the Japanese chef Keisuke Matsushima in Nice. Mickaël also has experience from Moulin de Mougins.

When restaurant critic Gilles Pudlowski visited Flaveur in March 2011, both brothers were in the kitchen, while Xavier Richard took care of the dining room and the wine. Pudlowski noted that the three of them were 90 years old together – a young restaurant that had already received its first star.

Spices as a signature

What sets Flaveur apart from other starred restaurants along the coast is the spices. Michelin highlights the brothers' willingness to combine local produce with imported spices and gives one example: rascasse from Nice with a fish broth seasoned with vadouvan, the French-Indian spice blend.

Garam masala, turmeric, Tellicherry black pepper from Kerala and kaffir lime recur on the menus. Among the dishes that have been described are tandoori monkfish with black rice cream and grilled clementines, lightly cooked salmon with kaffir lime and granny smith salsa, and for dessert, black nougat with halva. Already in 2011, Pudlowski ate a lamb shoulder confited in hay here.

Mountains and the market behind the kitchen

The ingredients largely come from the local area. The brothers pick wild herbs in the mountains above Nice, and aromatic herbs come from the local grower family Auda. Vegetables from the Nice hinterland and ingredients from Piedmont, on the other side of the border, also form part of the foundation. Michelin marks the restaurant as a farm-to-table address.

The room on rue Gubernatis

The dining room is bright and intimate, with art and warm natural tones. The sea is present in the details: fish carved in wood, pebbles and olive branches on the walls. Flaveur is not located by the water but in the city centre, in a quarter where Nice lives its everyday life.

Nice around Flaveur

Rue Gubernatis is located just north of the old town and Promenade du Paillon, within walking distance of both the sea and Cours Saleya. Those staying a few days in Nice have easy access to the rest of the coast: Antibes to the west – where Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc invented the Riviera summer – and Monaco to the east, covered block by block in VERA PI's Monaco guide. The entire coast is covered in VERA PI's guide to the French Riviera, and we gather more restaurants at metromode.co.

How to make the most of your visit to Flaveur

Flaveur is small, so book well in advance. Choose the longer menu if you want to see how the brothers build an entire dinner around the spices, and do ask about wines from Bellet, Nice's own small wine appellation. Check opening days directly with the restaurant.