Vista – Vincent Maillard's horizon table above Gigaro

On a pine-covered hill above Gigaro beach, around twenty-five minutes from Saint-Tropez, Vista is the dining room at the centre of Lily of the Valley, the five-star hotel that Philippe Starck designed on the condition that every building merge into its natural surroundings, and which opened in June 2019 inside the pine forest of Cap Lardier. Glass and clean lines keep the room facing the sea from the first coffee to the last drink of the night. Chef Vincent Maillard, who grew up immersed in kitchen life and trained under chefs including Guy Savoy and Alain Ducasse, has led the stoves since the hotel's first service, cooking a sun-coloured Mediterranean menu rooted in Provençal produce and the grand classics of French gastronomy. Vista is selected in the MICHELIN Guide, one sign that this quieter stretch of the Saint-Tropez peninsula has become a serious table in its own right.

01The room and the setting

Starck's design for Lily of the Valley brought stone, wood, concrete and marble together across a two-level structure, built to disappear into the hillside rather than dominate it. Its lines are said to draw on both Californian villas and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Vista sits at the heart of that composition: a glass-wrapped room where natural light runs across the tables from the first breakfast service to the last guest lingering over coffee, the horizon never out of view.

In winter, service drifts toward the lounges and the fireplace; the same room that feels open and breezy in August turns close and warm once the pines outside lose their colour. An elegant-casual dress code is requested throughout, in keeping with the relaxed register Starck built into every corner of the hotel.

02The chef

Vincent Maillard discovered his taste for cooking while living above his father-in-law's restaurant, and in 1992, after his studies, joined the Hostellerie Levernois in Burgundy as commis to chef Jean Crotet. Formative years followed at the Louis XV in Monaco, where he trained under Alain Ducasse and Franck Cerutti, and at La Bastide de Moustiers, before he returned to Levernois as chef and then took charge of the restaurants at the Hôtel Byblos in Saint-Tropez. He has been head chef at Lily of the Valley since the hotel opened in 2019. In 2022 Gault&Millau awarded him its Techniques d'Excellence PACA trophy.

Insider tip

Elegant-casual dress code; booking recommended, especially for the monthly themed dinners.

03What to order

The table starts with things built for sharing: chickpea-flour panisse fries and a broccoli guacamole. The Lily salad is something of a house signature, built on Anjou quinoa, raw and cooked vegetables and a lemon-herb dressing, a dish Maillard devised as a tribute to the region and its growers. Main courses follow the season, built around dishes that stay light and healthy without giving up luxury, using ingredients such as scallops, langoustines and caviar. To finish, two desserts are made for sharing rather than ordering alone: the house's iconic eclair, and a Dame Blanche.

Beyond the fixed carte, the kitchen writes a new themed dinner most months, tracking the calendar from the richness of autumn produce through to dinners built around Alba white truffle and the freshness of spring vegetables. On 6 November the kitchens welcome Benjamin Mathieu, the 2026 world bouillabaisse champion and chef-owner of L'Esplaï in Les Goudes, Marseille, for a dinner built around bouillabaisse and paired with wines from Domaine Canarelli.

04Wine and drinks

The Bar du Vista carries the same mood into the evening, shaded by a reeded canisse roof through summer and pulled toward the fire once the season turns. The list runs from house cocktails and reworked classics to a tighter selection of spirits, fresh juices and fragrant infusions, with wine chosen table-side by the house sommeliers.

05The neighbourhood

Vista sits inside the green lung of the Var coast, at the foot of the wild, five-kilometre Gigaro beach, within the Cap Lardier estate. The hotel holds the Esprit Parc National label for its work protecting the surrounding Port-Cros National Park. Saint-Tropez's harbour is a twenty-five to thirty-minute drive away, close enough for an evening out, far enough that Vista's own crowd rarely feels the need to make the trip.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.