La Table de Kamiya – French tradition under a century-old pine

On the seafront at Cros-de-Cagnes, facing the sand of its Art Beach, La Table de Kamiya is built around a pine: the trunk of an almost century-old maritime pine that runs up through the dining room and shades the terrace beyond. Chef Takayuki Kamiya and his wife Claire, the pastry chef, opened here in January 2020, having moved from their previous restaurant, Hangout, in the old town of Nice. The kitchen is selected in the MICHELIN Guide for its modern cuisine and rated two toques by Gault&Millau, a bistronomic style with a Japanese inflection that both guides find unusually consistent, season after season. Thirty-five covers fit the dining room, with sixteen more places on the terrace under the same pine, and the house carries France's Maître Restaurateur label, the official mark for scratch cooking built on fresh, seasonal produce.

01The chef and the pastry chef

Takayuki Kamiya was born in Japan; it was in Monaco that he met Claire, who became both his wife and his pastry chef. The couple ran Hangout, a small restaurant in old Nice, before moving their kitchen to the seafront of Cros-de-Cagnes in January 2020. Gault&Millau describes the result as "metronomic", precise season after season, even while noting that the pair rarely strays from the formula that keeps their regulars returning.

02The room and the setting

The dining room is spare and contemporary, built quite literally around that maritime pine, its trunk rooted in the floor and its crown running the length of the ceiling. The kitchen itself sits upstairs, open to view, while glass runs along the sea side and tables continue out onto a terrace shaded by the same tree — sixteen of the house's thirty-five covers set outside on the Promenade de la Plage, opposite Cros-de-Cagnes' beach.

Insider tip

Closed Sunday and Monday; lunch formula Wed–Fri only; booking advised for terrace tables.

03The cooking

The card turns over every few weeks with the market; they concoct subtle, well-balanced traditional French dishes, taking on a modern air with a sea view behind every table. The menu running from mid-September to the end of October pairs a flame-grilled mackerel with cumin-yoghurt espuma and red cabbage, or a beef tataki with Asian-style sautéed vegetables and sesame-marinated tofu, against mains such as pappardelle stuffed with porcini under a butternut velouté and sage foam, a yuzu-miso roasted salmon with stewed white beans, or a roasted veal rack in Marsala sauce with a girolles fricassee. Gault&Millau's own survey of the repertoire runs wider still, from a green asparagus panna cotta with lemongrass and combawa to Iberian pork in panko with spring vegetables.

04What to order

The pâté de campagne is close to a constant on the card, built around foie gras, dried apricot, walnuts and Greek-style vegetables. For dessert, Claire's rum baba, soaked and finished with Madagascar vanilla cream, is the one Gault&Millau rates without rival; the current card also runs a vanilla rice pudding with apple-ginger compote and black tea ice cream, and a chocolate financier with poached pear and pear-basil sorbet.

05Wine and drinks

Takayuki keeps a small, personal selection of Japanese whisky behind the bar and is happy to talk guests through it — bottles rarely seen on the Côte d'Azur's more conventional wine lists.

06The neighbourhood

Cros-de-Cagnes is the old fishing quarter of Cagnes-sur-Mer, built around a sheltered harbour and an ochre-toned fishermen's chapel; its port was the largest fishing port in the Alpes-Maritimes through the 1920s and 1930s. The seafront Promenade de la Plage in front of the restaurant was rebuilt for a total of €30 million and inaugurated in 2007, and today it is lined with cafés and restaurants facing the Baie des Anges.

07When to go and booking

The restaurant is closed on Sunday and all day Monday; Tuesday is dinner service only, and from Wednesday to Saturday it opens for both lunch and dinner. At lunch, a two-course or two-plus-dessert formula runs at 39€, served only from Wednesday to Friday; in the evening, the tasting progressions climb from three to six steps, priced at 47€, 57€ and 77€. Groups are accommodated up to twenty, and tables under the pine, inside or on the terrace, are worth booking ahead for in season.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.