Le Restaurant des Rois in Beaulieu – La Réserve's table since 1880

La Réserve de Beaulieu started out as a fish restaurant in 1880 and became a palace of the Belle Époque. Today its gastronomic restaurant, led by Julien Roucheteau, holds one MICHELIN star and looks straight out over the Mediterranean.

In 1880 Pierre Lottier, a restaurateur from Nice, opened a fish restaurant on the shore at Beaulieu-sur-Mer. He called it La Réserve, after the large basin he had dug to keep the local fishermen's catch alive. In 1905 rooms were added, and the restaurant became one of the great hotels of the Riviera. The gastronomic restaurant has kept the name a food critic once gave it – the restaurant of kings – and today holds one MICHELIN star, confirmed in the 2026 guide.

The MICHELIN inspectors call La Réserve one of the most lavish luxury hotels on the French Riviera, and describe dinner on the sea-view terrace as a magical experience.

01Kings, music halls and the New York Herald

The building was later extended in a Florentine Renaissance style, and the guest list grew to match. According to the hotel, it received music hall stars such as Mistinguett and the great names of the American press – among them James Gordon Bennett, publisher of the New York Herald and patron of motor racing, who praised La Réserve in his newspaper, had the first private telephone installed and helped fund the road to the estate. The hotel's bar is named after him. The MICHELIN Guide adds monarchs and Hollywood stars from Rita Hayworth to Frank Sinatra. Since 1997, La Réserve has been run by the Delion family.

02Julien Roucheteau

Roucheteau spent more than 20 years in Paris kitchens, from the George V with Philippe Legendre to the Lancaster with Michel Troisgros, where he won two MICHELIN stars in 2015. He was named Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 2019. At Beaulieu, he says, his aim is to bring out emotion: he works with home-made vinegars, citrus, grilling and the produce of the region's fishermen, breeders and farmers.

Insider tip

Closed in winter; reopens for dinner on 25 March 2027.

The MICHELIN inspectors write that he respects the house's heritage while adding his own graphic presentation, and that each dish has its own theme. That is literally true of the menu, where every dish is introduced by a single word: Southern, Freshness, Voluptuous, Umami, Iodised.

03The room and the terrace

Large bay windows fill the dining room with light and open onto the Mediterranean, and in season dinner moves out to a broad terrace with a view of the sea. The service is led by the restaurant director, Guillaume, and his team.

04What to order

The current menu opens with a poivrade artichoke cooked barigoule-style with a black garlic velouté and Provence broth, crab with a crisp gavotte biscuit, tarragon hummus and ginger, Niçoise ravioli with pumpkin and a caviar sauce, and medallions of red spiny lobster with a tomato essence. Among the main courses are a blue-torched red mullet in a consommé of its bones infused with olive stones, John Dory with sea lettuce and elderflower vinaigrette, blue lobster tail steamed in lemongrass, Alice's poultry from the Aveyron smoked with nut shells and seasoned with saffron from the Vésubie valley, and saddle of rabbit with San Remo gamberoni.

Cheese comes from a Niçois cheesemonger. The house dessert is La Réserve's soufflé with Beaulieu tangerine and Grand Marnier; others include a Bourjassotte black fig with fig-leaf sorbet and layers of cocoa with tarragon. There are three set menus: Mediterranean Stroll in four courses, French Escape in six, and Follow Me, the chef's free-form selection of his signature dishes.

05Around La Réserve

The hotel has two more restaurants, La Table de Julien and Le Vent Debout, as well as the Gordon Bennett Bar and a pool bar. Beaulieu's harbour is right next door, the Villa Kérylos – the Greek villa by the sea – is a short walk along the shore, and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat begins just across the bay.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.