Taulissa – Glenn Viel's rooftop table above the Bay of Angels

Taulissa occupies the sixth and top floor of Maison Albar - Le Victoria, the 5-star hotel that opened between the Promenade des Anglais and Place Masséna in the heart of Nice's Carré d'Or. Its name is Provençal for "on the rooftops", a promise the restaurant keeps with a panoramic terrace strung under taut white sails like the deck of a boat, looking out over the Mediterranean, the ochre roofs of the old town and the Mercantour hinterland. The kitchen carries the signature of Glenn Viel, who has run the three-Michelin-starred L'Oustau de Baumanière in Les Baux-de-Provence since 2015, working here as consulting chef alongside on-site executive chef Fred Grava. Taulissa is selected in the MICHELIN Guide. It is a table built for long lunches that drift toward sunset, for platters meant to be passed around a crowded table, and for cocktails that taste like a vegetable garden distilled into a glass.

01The room and the setting

Its 200-seat restaurant is ideal for large indoor and outdoor gatherings, with a terrace that, like the pontoon of a boat under taut white sails, offers a magnificent view of the Mediterranean Sea. Accessible from the hotel's cosy lobby, the restaurant opens onto a panoramic rooftop on the sixth floor with views of the Bay of Angels.

From restaurant to adjoining bar, the space reads as one continuous deck rather than separate rooms, with the horizon doing most of the decorating from sunrise to sunset.

02The chef

Glenn Viel, born in Versailles in 1980, has led the kitchen of L'Oustau de Baumanière, the Michelin-starred restaurant at the foot of Les Baux that has existed since 1945, since owner Jean-André Charial entrusted it to him in 2015. He was awarded a third Michelin star in 2020, becoming, at the time, the youngest French chef to hold three stars.

Insider tip

Lunch served weekdays only; Sunday brunch and weekend DJ evenings by booking. Valet parking €15.

At Taulissa he works as consulting chef, with day-to-day cooking led by executive chef Fred Grava. The pair relaunched the restaurant's menu in May, under the joint direction of consulting chef Glenn Viel and executive chef Fred Grava. Together they promote local products by visiting regional producers, enriching the menu with their finds and adapting the offer to seasonality.

03The cooking

On the plate it is serious work: the chef, backed by executive chef Fred Grava, builds a sun-drenched cuisine around seasonal produce. Among the dishes regulars return for: artichoke barigoule lifted with coppa, seared tuna with charred aubergine and yuzu, and grilled octopus finished Gentleman-style.

The current card runs on bright, vegetal openers and assertive marine sauces: a tomato tart built from cherry tomatoes served raw, cooked and confit on a puff-pastry base with parmesan; grilled octopus lifted by a charred jalapeño jus bound with fish-bone stock and cream, alongside compressed carrot; and fregola dressed with cuttlefish persillade and smoked eel. Desserts lean fruit-forward, such as white peach with candied fruit and a herb sorbet.

04What to order

Beyond the headline plates, the kitchen's best-sellers include a "terre et mer" cod with burnt-pepper mousseline, slow-cooked lamb and a whole roast chicken served in its cocotte for the table, alongside a classic egg mayonnaise and artichoke barigoule.

On Sundays, the restaurant and its terrace become the setting for a generous, convivial brunch: around a buffet, traditional recipes reinterpreted by Glenn Viel and Fred Grava follow one another - pâté en croûte, perfect egg, beef parmentier and tarte tatin - in a warm atmosphere with live music, facing the Mediterranean and the hills of Nice.

05Wine and drinks

The bar matches the kitchen's appetite for reinvention, running from spiced octopus to pea-and-carrot cocktails, all facing the sea. The signature Amandine Abricot pairs aged rum and amaretto with apricot and Provençal herbs, finished tableside with an almond-and-apricot siphon; Petit Pois Carottes turns vodka, peas and a carrot float into a long summer drink the colour of a Niçois sunset.

The bar carries its own tapas and snacking cards for guests who want to graze through the sunset rather than sit down to a full menu.

06When to go and booking

Weekday lunch runs from half past twelve to half past two, dinner from seven to ten, with a lunch menu available Monday through Friday (excluding public holidays). The Sunday brunch is priced at €85 per person, and on Friday and Saturday evenings the restaurant turns into the Rendez-vous Lounge, with Friday given to funk sets and Saturday to a live singer alongside the resident DJ.

07The neighbourhood

Le Victoria stands at 6 Avenue de Suède, between the Promenade des Anglais and Place Masséna, above a gallery of high-end boutiques at street level in the Carré d'Or. The nearest tram stop is Jean Médecin on line 2, and the hotel offers valet parking at €15.

Place Masséna is a few minutes on foot, the Promenade des Anglais barely a step from the lobby, and the market stalls and bistros of Cours Saleya in the old town a short walk beyond - making Taulissa as plausible for a pre-beach lunch as for a last cocktail before the night train home.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.