Les Remparts – lunch inside the ramparts, above the Mediterranean

Les Remparts sits on the fortified eastern edge of Château de la Chèvre d'Or, built into the medieval ramparts of Èze that give the restaurant its name. It is the bistronomic table of this Relais & Châteaux property — the lighter, sunnier counterpart to the two-MICHELIN-starred La Chèvre d'Or restaurant a few steps away within the same walls. Under arcades threaded with jasmine, ivy and bougainvillea, the terrace commands one of the more photographed outlooks on the coast, the Mediterranean running out toward the lit curve of the bay of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. It is selected in the MICHELIN Guide, its register traded for ease rather than formality without losing precision: Mediterranean produce, bright plating, a kitchen that answers to Tom Meyer, the Meilleur Ouvrier de France who also leads the château's starred dining room upstairs. Up to 60 covers fit on the terrace, each one within reach of the view.

01The room and the setting

The terrace is built along the old defensive wall of the village, arcades overhead woven with jasmine, ivy and bougainvillea so that even a midday lunch feels shaded and green before the eye reaches the water. The kitchen keeps one menu for both services rather than switching register between lunch and dinner, so the only thing that changes is the light: sharp and Provençal by day, softened to candlelight and the glow of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat across the bay after dark.

Les Remparts is the relaxed outdoor restaurant of the château, distinct from the Michelin-starred dining room one floor above, and the numbers back up the intimacy of the setting: the restaurant seats a maximum of 60 covers, all 60 of them on the terrace.

02The chef

Chef Tom Meyer, Meilleur Ouvrier de France 2023, has served as executive chef since 2024. Previously chef of Granite, Tom Meyer has replaced Arnaud Faye at the helm of the château's kitchens, a remit that covers both the starred dining room and the more relaxed register of Les Remparts, where he is on hand to welcome guests in person.

Insider tip

Èze village is car-free; book ahead for terrace tables, especially in July and August.

Pastry is the domain of Florent Margaillan, whose work earned him Gault&Millau's Pastry Chef Trophy for 2022, while Tom Meyer himself holds that guide's Tomorrow's Master Trophy for 2023 — two trophies that sit either side of the pass between savoury and sweet.

03The cooking

The kitchen gardens behind the château run to some 300 citrus plants, cultivated to supply both the savoury kitchen and Margaillan's pastry section, and the Les Remparts carte is pitched deliberately as a postcard of the Mediterranean rather than a tasting menu of invention: colourful plates, direct flavours, produce that changes with the season but a repertoire that stays recognisably coastal.

Among the dishes that have carried Margaillan's signature is a lemon tart with garden herbs and mint sorbet, a dessert that sums up the kitchen's instinct for turning something familiar into something precise.

04What to order

Expect a delicate starter of citrus-cured fish, taken with a glass of rosé and the Riviera laid out beyond the table. To finish, Florent Margaillan's dessert carte runs to Parisian-style pastries with summer flavours — seasonal tart, vanilla mille-feuille, mango, coconut or pistachio mousse, orange blossom — alongside homemade ice creams and sorbets that are a fixture of the warmer months, and a dessert trolley that makes the final course as much theatre as food.

05Wine and drinks

The château's wine programme is overseen by Mathieu Selier, Wine Director, whose list runs across both of the house's restaurants, pairing regional Provençal bottles with the kind of chilled rosé that suits a terrace lunch as much as a sunset dinner.

06When to go and booking

Les Remparts is widely regarded as one of the must-visit dining destinations with a view in Èze, its panoramic terrace looking over the Mediterranean and the French Riviera, which makes lunch — when the light is clearest and the bay is at its bluest — the moment locals and regulars tend to choose, though the view is just as sought after at sunset. The village itself is car-free and reached on foot through cobbled lanes, so guests not staying at the château should allow extra time to walk up from the main gate; the château's own car park and valet parking serve those arriving by road.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.