La Plage du Cap – charcoal, whole fish and long tables on the Garoupe

There is a kind of Riviera lunch that has nothing to prove: the sand under the table, the sea a few steps away, a whole fish off the grill set down in the middle and passed from hand to hand. La Plage du Cap is built entirely around that idea. It sits at 923 Chemin de la Garoupe, in one of the golden coves on the eastern side of Cap d'Antibes, and it is the fourth address from La Clé Group, the Paris hospitality company behind Hôtel Bachaumont and the Hôtel National des Arts et Métiers, which first brought its sunny version of the Riviera to Cannes with Belle Plage. Here the brief is restraint. The room is simple and filled with light, in the colours of the sun, so that the real performance is the sea, the horizon and the sand. The food is Mediterranean, generous and cooked over the embers. It is open from morning to midnight, every day – the place to go when you want the Cap without ceremony.

Here is the cove, the grill, the Sunday brunch and the hotel that is on its way.

01A cove on the Garoupe

The Garoupe is the softer side of the Cap: a bay of sand and pines facing east, sheltered and calm on most summer days. La Plage du Cap takes its place in a small golden cove along it, almost at the water's edge, with soft music in the background and the sea as the only decoration. You come for lunch and stay into the afternoon; you come back in the evening when the heat drops and the light turns.

02The grill at the centre

Everything turns on the barbecue. The kitchen celebrates a simple, generous Mediterranean, and the embers do the work: whole grilled fish, seafood, and meat seared slowly over the coals. At lunch the rhythm follows the waves, with fresh salads, grilled sardines and whole fish that have only just been landed. In the evening, when the heat falls away, the charcoal takes over for the meat and the shellfish.

Insider tip

Open every day 10.00–midnight.

The plates are meant to travel. The house designs its cooking for large tables, with dishes going into the middle to be tasted and shared, so that a meal stretches into one of those suspended Riviera afternoons with friends or family. It is a place for groups and long conversations rather than a tasting menu – and all the better for it.

03Sundays

On Sunday La Plage du Cap turns into a gentle party. The brunch is set to live music, with meat from the grill, bright salads and cold cocktails shared facing the water, in the free and easy spirit of a Riviera Sunday. Book it for a group, arrive late in the morning and plan nothing for the afternoon.

04Morning to midnight

La Plage du Cap opens every day from 10.00 until midnight, which makes it unusually flexible for a beach restaurant. It works for a late breakfast after a morning swim at La Garoupe, for the long lunch it was designed for, and for dinner by the water as the bay goes dark. The menu and reservations are on the restaurant's own pages.

05A hotel for 2027

The restaurant is the first chapter. A hotel is due to open in 2027: a confidential residence of just 15 suites, conceived as a house set down facing the sea, with discreet service and privacy as the rule. It is being designed by Ramy Fischler, the French designer who founded RF Studio in Paris and whose work explores the relationship between architecture, design and the story of a place. Expect open spaces, calm lines and natural materials, a pool turned towards the sea at its heart, and a private bungalow for every suite – shade, privacy and comfort through the day, with the restaurant in the sand beside it.

06Make a day of it

La Plage du Cap is at the centre of the best day on the Garoupe. Swim at La Garoupe beach in the morning and walk the coastal path that follows the rocks from the end of the beach towards Villa Eilenroc. Climb to the Garoupe plateau for the lighthouse, the chapel and the view. Then come back down to the cove for lunch – or save the evening for it, when the coals are glowing. For a more formal dinner, Villa Miraé and Mauro Colagreco's Amarines are a short walk along the same road, and the Hôtel Baie Dorée serves lunch at the water's edge next door.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.