ONICE in Nice – an Italo-Argentine couple in the antiques quarter

Florencia Montes and Lorenzo Ragni met in Mauro Colagreco's kitchen at Mirazur. Now they cook Provence with an Italian and Argentine accent at ONICE, a small restaurant near the port of Nice with one MICHELIN star.

ONICE sits on rue Antoine-Gautier, a quiet street in the quartier des Antiquaires, the antiques quarter that climbs away from Port Lympia. Florencia Montes and Lorenzo Ragni opened it on 3 May 2023, and the MICHELIN Guide gave it a star in its 2024 edition, less than a year later. The 2026 guide confirmed it.

Say the name aloud in French and it becomes "Oh, Nice". The restaurant is small: just over 100 square metres on two floors, with most tables on the ground floor and a little room downstairs. "We have 29 chairs, but with just 25 people, we're full," the chefs told Gambero Rosso in 2024.

01Two chefs, three countries

Florencia Montes is Argentine. Before Menton she cooked at Chila in Buenos Aires, Septime in Paris and Fäviken in Sweden. Lorenzo Ragni grew up in Magione in Umbria, where he helped out in his father's pizzeria, and worked with Enrico Crippa in Italy before spending four years in London at The Ledbury, Aquavit and Dabbous. They met at Mirazur, Mauro Colagreco's three-star restaurant in Menton, and left to open a place of their own.

They sign the cooking together. In their own words it is a cuisine anchored in the Provençal terroir that talks to Italy and Argentina, built on the product, on the depth of its sauces and on balance. The MICHELIN inspectors describe a festival of crisp, gutsy dishes that follow the seasons and the local catch, with the occasional striking flavour combination – and a restaurant that delivers every time.

02Tasting menus only

There is no à la carte. ONICE serves tasting menus in three lengths – five, seven or nine sequences – each with its own wine pairing. The menu changes with what arrives each day, and the restaurant publishes a sample month by month. September's ran from San Remo gamberoni with plums, plum water and basil, and veal sweetbreads in a ragout of summer vegetables with vin jaune sauce, to roasted-aubergine ravioli with rocket pesto, local fish with Ciapeleta peppers and fresh mint, and farm lamb from the Lozère with a vegetable sauce and goat's cheese.

Insider tip

Book online up to 60 days ahead; dinner Wednesday to Sunday.

One dish has become the signature: tagliolini made with 40 egg yolks, finished with beurre blanc and Oscietra caviar. Cheeses come from the affineur Xavier in Toulouse, and the desserts stay fresh – a Prosecco sorbet with a passata of peach and raspberry, or almond panna cotta with candied figs and green cardamom ice cream. Dishes the MICHELIN inspectors singled out include tagliatelle of cuttlefish with a lemon and citron dressing, and seabass with an emulsion of champagne and cockles.

The wine list began with 20 references and had grown to about 120 by spring 2024, most of them French and many from artisan and natural producers.

03Getting a table

Reservations open online 60 days ahead, and the calendar is refreshed every night at midnight. Tables take one to six guests; for larger parties or a special occasion, contact the restaurant directly. A card guarantees the booking, and cancelling or reducing numbers within 48 hours costs €100 per person. When a date is full, there is a waiting list.

The couple also run Tina, a family-style Italian trattoria by the port – generous, traditional cooking for the nights when nine sequences is not the plan.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.