Meet the Chefs Shaking Up Monaco’s Restaurant Scene

Nearly 25 years ago, Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse at Hôtel de Paris became the first hotel restaurant to earn coveted three-Michelin-star status. Monaco may be the second smallest country after Vatican City, but it’s home to the world’s highest concentration of Michelin stars, claiming 11 at seven restaurants. With the backing of big-name chefs like Ducasse and the late Joël Robuchon, the petite principality has earned a reputation as a glitzy go-to for gastronomic dining. 

But over the past few years, chefs who cut their teeth in the shadow of these superstars—or worked in tandem alongside them—have applied their savoir-faire to a new crop of concepts, toning down the formality of fine-dining so it’s less buttoned-up, more approachable. “I want to create the kind of cuisine that’s simple but not easy, so diners remember the dishes they ate,” says chef Christophe Cussac of Les Ambassadeurs by Christophe Cussac, the Jacques Garcia-designed revival of Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo’s original 1920s restaurant—which earned two Michelin stars within nine months of opening. “The service here is décontracté (laid-back), but it’s still elegant and there’s an ambiance in the room. When I greet tables at the end of a meal, I ask if they had a nice experience, not if the meal was good.”

Cussac is jokingly referred to as the two-star chef, since he’s consistently maintained (or garnered) two Michelin stars while working at four restaurants over nearly four decades. (“It’s hard to earn them, and even harder to get them back once they’re taken away,” he laughs.) Cussac was cooking with Robuchon when the inimitable purée de pomme (mashed potatoes) was first served, and spent nearly two decades in the chef’s kitchen at Hôtel Métropole before taking the helm at Les Ambassadeurs last summer.

This season, he partnered with two young chefs for the inception of pizza pop-up Zia at the hotel’s Karl Largerfeld–designed pool and restaurant, Odyssey. “It’s a challenge to work here and create a pizza concept, since it has to be the best pizza and on the same level as the two Michelin-starred restaurant,” says Marseille-born Manon Santini, head pastry chef of Bagatelle and former head chef under Alain Ducasse at Cucina Byblos in Saint-Tropez. 

The other half behind Zia, Rocco Seminara adds that launching their restaurant in Monaco is a homecoming for the chefs, who first worked together under Alain Ducasse and Franck Cerutti at Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo. “It’s important for us to have our restaurant here—we have a history with Monaco, the region’s products and the guests,” he says.

L’Abysse Monte-Carlo at Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo marks a new chapter for another duo debuting their concept in Monaco, sushi master Yasunari Okazaki and lauded Yannick Alléno, who first launched their two Michelin-starred sushi counter at Pavillon Ledoyen six years ago in Paris. “Monaco boasts an incredible terroir—between sea and mountains, it’s a breeding ground for fine Mediterranean produce that we take great pleasure in showcasing in our restaurants,” says Alléno, adding that L’Abysse’s menu in Monaco is entirely different from Paris’, since it revolves around the Riviera’s regional, seasonal ingredients and the catch of the day. “Local fishermen and markets supply us with products of extraordinary quality, unavailable anywhere else.”

When Elsa debuted at Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel a decade ago, the seaside eatery was the first all-organic restaurant to receive a Michelin star, with produce hailing from as close as the eatery’s own hilltop farm perched over Monaco in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. After changing hands and losing a star, the mastermind behind two-starred Blue Bay Marcel Ravin has stepped in this season with a mélange of Riviera- and Asian-inspired touches (think panko sardines with white miso mayonnaise and prawn mille-feuille with tobiko, flying fish roe that typically tops sushi). 

For Elsa’s latest iteration, Martinique-born Ravin curated a marine-heavy menu infused with Mediterranean-fresh ingredients like foraged greens from around the coast, pink onions from the neighboring French town of Menton, and langoustine steamed with seawater and served over a porcini mushroom risotto with lovage, a native herb that’s part of the parsley family. 

“There are so many more styles of restaurants than when I arrived in 2004—diners have a ton to choose from now,” says Cussac, adding that in addition to gastronomic offerings, there are more festive, Saint-Tropez-style spots with a party vibe (apart from long-time favorite Buddha-Bar), like GAIA, COYA and Amazónico. “Monte-Carlo has become a destination that’s recherché (sought-after)—and we’re right in the heart of it.”