He was 27 years old when he took over the kitchen on the beach at La Bouillabaisse. Today, Arnaud Donckele's La Vague d'Or at Cheval Blanc St-Tropez has held three stars since 2013.
In this story · 6 sections
In 2004, a 27-year-old sous-chef from Paris sent an application to Jean-Claude Délion, the owner of the hotel La Résidence de la Pinède in Saint-Tropez. Head chef Olivier Brulard had left, and Alain Ducasse recommended the young chef. His name was Arnaud Donckele and he got the job. The restaurant was called La Vague d'Or.
Twenty-two years later, La Vague d'Or has held three stars in the Guide Michelin since 2013 and retains them in the 2026 French guide. The hotel is now called Cheval Blanc St-Tropez, but the restaurant remains where it has always been: on the beach La Bouillabaisse, with the terrace facing out over the Bay of Saint-Tropez.
La Vague d'Or
- Address
- Cheval Blanc St-Tropez, plage de la Bouillabaisse, 83990 Saint-Tropez
- Distinction
- Three stars, Guide Michelin France 2026
- Stars
- Two 2010, three 2013
- Chef
- Arnaud Donckele (since 2004)
- Hotel
- Cheval Blanc St-Tropez, Palace (opened in 1936 as Résidence de la Pinède)
- Architect
- Jean-Michel Wilmotte (renovation 2018)
- Gault & Millau
- Five chef's hats, 19/20
01Arnaud Donckele – from Guérard to Ducasse
Arnaud Donckele was born on 29 March 1977 in Rouen and grew up in Mantes-la-Jolie. After the Ferrandi cookery school in Paris, he worked under Georges Landriot at Goumard Prunier, and in 1996 he arrived as an intern at Michel Guérard's three-star Les Prés d'Eugénie in south-western France. He stayed on and became saucier at the age of 21.
In 1998 he joined Alain Ducasse's Le Louis XV in Monaco and subsequently Plaza Athénée in Paris. In 2001 he became sous chef to Jean-Louis Nomicos at Lasserre. It is this background – Guérard's lightness, Ducasse's Mediterranean cuisine and Parisian classicism – that he brought with him to the beach in Saint-Tropez.
02From Résidence de la Pinède to Cheval Blanc
The hotel opened in 1936 as La Résidence de la Pinède. In 2016 it was bought, in 2018 it was renovated with the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, and in 2019 it reopened as Cheval Blanc St-Tropez, part of LVMH's Cheval Blanc hotel collection. Today the house holds Palace status, Atout France's highest hotel classification, and many rooms feature ceramics by the artist Roger Capron.
Wilmotte also simplified the restaurant's interior design and gave it a more modern look. But it's the terrace that is the room. Restaurant critic Gilles Pudlowski has called it one of the most beautiful terraces in the world – it sits right by the water, with the bay before it.
03Two stars 2010, three 2013
Under Donckele, La Vague d'Or received two stars in 2010 and the third in 2013. The same year, he was voted Chef of the Year by his colleagues in a poll organised by the magazine Le Chef. Gault & Millau today awards the restaurant five chef's hats and 19 out of 20 points.
Since then, he has also taken on Paris. At Cheval Blanc Paris in the Samaritaine building, he heads Plénitude, which was awarded three stars in 2022 and retains them in the 2026 guide. Donckele therefore now has two restaurants with three stars – one by the Mediterranean and one by the Seine.
04Provence on the plate
The cuisine at La Vague d'Or takes its cue from Provence and the sea beyond. When Gilles Pudlowski dined here in 2019, he described, among other dishes, a spiny lobster from Cap Lardier with purple artichokes grilled on vine shoots, red mullet in an aigo-sau broth, John Dory with ormers from the Étang de Thau, and a tomato tart in tatin style. The menu changes with the seasons, but the premise remains the same: fish and vegetables from the local area, treated with French precision.
The table service is of the same standard. The dining room is run by Thierry Di Tullio, who, according to Pudlowski, delivers service in the classic French style.
05Saint-Tropez outside the harbour
Cheval Blanc is located just west of the old harbour, a short distance from the bustle along the quay. Those staying for a few days can venture out to the peninsula's villages: Ramatuelle with its beaches and the hilltop village of Gassin both have their own guides at VERA PI, as does the whole of the French Riviera. More restaurants and hotels along the coast can be found at metromode.co.
06How to make the most of your visit to La Vague d'Or
La Vague d'Or is a seasonal restaurant that follows the hotel's season, and it has previously only served dinner. Book early during the height of summer and check current dates and times with the hotel. Ask for a table on the terrace and arrive while it is still light over the bay.
