La Palmeraie – One MICHELIN Star Beneath Valmer's Centenary Palms

La Palmeraie occupies the garden heart of Château de Valmer, a Relais & Châteaux estate set back from Gigaro beach on the quieter, inland side of the Saint-Tropez peninsula. The restaurant takes its name from the centenary palm grove that shades its terrace, where tables face the estate's own organic vines and, beyond, the Mediterranean. The estate's history began in 1949, when the Montloin-Rocchietta family turned the house into a guesthouse; it became a five-star hotel in 2004. At the end of 2025, chef Thomas Pezeril took over the kitchen from Alexandre Fabris, arriving after years spent running the stoves for Hélène Darroze, in Provence and in London. He presented his first menu at La Palmeraie on 8 May 2026. La Palmeraie holds One MICHELIN Star.

01The room and the setting

Dinner unfolds beneath a canopy of centenary palms, in a corner of Château de Valmer's park where organic vines, cypress and fruit trees line the walk down toward the sea. Tables are set either in the restaurant's Andalusian garden or on the terrace that opens onto the park. Service plays to the same quiet register: plates are dressed with ceramics made by Sylvie Gélis, a detail that keeps the room feeling closer to a well-tended private garden than a formal dining room.

02The chef

Thomas Pezeril took over the stoves from Alexandre Fabris at the end of 2025, arriving with a CV built largely in the kitchens of Hélène Darroze: several years as executive chef at Hélène Darroze at Villa La Coste, after earlier posts at La Bijouterie and Sapna in Lyon, time with Anne-Sophie Pic in Valence, and a spell in London at Hélène Darroze at the Connaught. He presented his first menu at La Palmeraie on 8 May 2026, built around produce from the coast nearby and the kitchen garden next door. Beyond the gastronomic table, he also signs the cards of the domain's two bars, the Provençal bistro La Bastide and the beachfront restaurant at sister hotel La Pinède Plage.

Insider tip

Dinner only, closed Monday and Tuesday; book ahead for a terrace table beneath the centenary palms.

03The cooking

His cooking is built around terroir, vegetables and local producers, with a philosophy centred on seasonality, sustainable fishing and zero waste. Vegetables carry real weight on the plate, in a style that reads as markedly contemporary rather than classically Provençal. For summer, Pezeril has created two six-course menus, alongside shorter four-course menus for guests after a lighter introduction to the kitchen.

04What to order

The Terroir menu moves between the sea, the garden and the wider Provençal landscape: tomato, fig and seaweed; Mediterranean gnudi with rocket and Menton lemon; red mullet with basil and small spelt; and caponata with saffron rouille have all featured on it. The Plant-Based menu takes a different route through the same territory, with fresh goat's cheese with watermelon and lovage, small spelt with goat's cheese and girolle mushrooms, and prunes with black garlic and aged balsamic.

05Wine and drinks

The table pours its own rosé, harvested by hand from the organic vines that ring the restaurant and bottled under the Château de Valmer label — the estate's own five hectares, brought straight to the glass. It is served alongside a wider list drawn from the Golfe de Saint-Tropez and the broader Var.

06When to go and booking

Like the rest of the estate, La Palmeraie closes for the winter season and reopens again in spring. Gigaro beach lies 400 metres away along the estate's palm-lined path, and Saint-Tropez is around 25 minutes by car.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.