La Maison de Bacon on Cap d'Antibes – bouillabaisse since 1948

Some addresses on the Riviera are restaurants; a few are institutions. La Maison de Bacon has stood on the Bacon shore of Cap d'Antibes since 1948, facing back across the bay to the ramparts of the old town, with the Cap beside it and, on clear days, the Mercantour mountains on the horizon. It built its name on bouillabaisse and on fish taken straight from the sea, and generations of visitors have made the drive along the Boulevard de Bacon for exactly that. It still does what it always did – but the house has been renewed rather than preserved. New owners, lovers of good food, have refurbished the dining room and added rooms upstairs and on the roof, and since 2021 the kitchen has been led by Nicolas Davouze, winner of the Bocuse d'Or France in 2014. The result is an old Riviera classic with a new pulse.

Here is the room, the chef, the bouillabaisse and everything else the house has to offer.

01The room on the bay

The dining room has been reworked from top to bottom. A glass roof pours light onto the tables, a long aquarium runs the length of one wall, and velvet chairs and soft banquettes are set around white-laid tables. It is bright and calm at lunch, intimate in the evening. Beyond the windows lies the reason the house was built here in the first place: the bay, the old town of Antibes on the far side of the water, and the open Mediterranean.

02The chef

Nicolas Davouze trained with Paul Bocuse and Alain Ducasse before winning the Bocuse d'Or France in 2014, one of the most demanding titles in French cooking. He has run the kitchen at Bacon since 2021. His cooking is Mediterranean, precise and sincere, built around the sea and the produce of the region, respecting the house's traditions while moving them forward. In 2024 Gault&Millau gave the restaurant three toques, with a score of 15 out of 20.

Insider tip

Lunch 12.00–14.00, dinner 19.00–22.00; days vary with the season.

03The bouillabaisse

This is the dish the house is known for, and the reason many people come. At Bacon it is made according to the day's catch, so no two are quite the same, and it is served in the traditional way, with croutons and the house rouille. Order it, take your time over it, and you will understand why the Boulevard de Bacon has been a pilgrimage for nearly eighty years.

04What else to order

The rockfish soup comes in the Bacon tradition, with parmesan toast rubbed with garlic. Whole fish are grilled over a wood fire and priced by weight – the menu says frankly that everything depends on the temper of the sea – and they arrive at the table simply dressed, as fish this fresh should be. For a celebration, there is caviar.

05Beyond the dining room

The renewal has given Bacon a life beyond lunch. Upstairs, L'Appartement de Victor is a luxurious private space for dinners and events. The house also offers Villa Les Roches de Bacon for receptions. And the Roof Top, added in recent years, serves cocktails and its own menu, with music on summer evenings – it is closed for the winter and reopens in May 2027.

06When to go

Lunch is served from 12.00 to 14.00 and dinner from 19.00 to 22.00, and the opening days follow the season, so check before you go. Lunch, with the bay in full light, is the classic. Dinner, as the lights of the old town come on across the water, is the romantic choice.

This autumn the house has two special dates: on Friday 6 November 2026, a sharing dinner brings eight of the region's great chefs together in the dining room, from 19.30; and from 26 November, bouillabaisse evenings move upstairs into L'Appartement de Victor.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.