In Nice, a new, intimate rooftop with spectacular views of the Mediterranean
"This solarium is magical!" A state of affairs perfectly summed up by Laure Giometti. The director of the La Pérouse hotel, 11 quai Rauba-Capeù in Nice, is delighted to unveil her latest gem: a rooftop. One of a kind. Stripped down. Set back from the seafront yet overlooking it.
Open two evenings a week, this recently opened rooftop terrace is a test run. Operational until the end of August, but with the promise of repeating the experience next summer.
This suspended esplanade, between sea and sky, backed by the Château hill, is the final stage of the rocket taking this hotel to the roof of the world.
A world that the 53-room and suite establishment, built in 1936—sold in 2021 to a French investment fund dedicated to the hotel industry—has always avoided. Far from the city and its hustle and bustle...
A maze of corridors and walkways leads to the restaurant Le Patio , open every day, lunch and dinner and even in the afternoon for a snack or a drink.
Located on the first floor of the hotel, but in reality, culminating in the configuration of the establishment, six levels above the big blue.
"The entire decor has changed," says the manager. A renovation with a sea theme, entrusted to Virginie Friedmann and Delphine Versace.
The duo led around ten artisans and artists to create this unique, Mediterranean decor, where nothing was left to chance.
Whether it is the interior bar lined with shells glued one by one in a moving visual choreography, the second exterior bar in sandstone sculpted with marine motifs, or the enameled lava table tops decorated with designs freely inspired by the work of Cocteau.
On these circular tables, surrounded by slender wrought iron seats, chef Damien Andrews, present at La Pérouse since 2023, presents his specialties presented in a new kitchen.
Deeply influenced by the 17 years he spent alongside chef Patrick Raingeard , with whom he twice won a Michelin star at the Port Palace in Monaco and at Cap Estel in Eze, this young Parisian with distant Scottish roots is developing his culinary approach. Very local.
Each season offers a new twist. The chef loves local vegetables: artichokes, peas, etc.
This summer, a gem blossomed in the creative mind of this young disciple of Escoffier: zucchini flower with ricotta and tonka bean, zucchini ice cream with verbena oil and parmesan crumble.
"I put a lot of thought into this dish. There are many techniques to achieve this flower stuffed with sheep's cheese accompanied by zucchini sorbet ice cream." A passionate man. A nutcase. Who brought the first Gault & Millau toque to this sunny patio.
And so, even higher above the lemon trees, on the 6th floor corresponding to an R+12 from ground level, there is this rooftop.
The latter has always existed, but it was unused due to a lack of direct access. An elevator solved the problem to "have this view that is deserved," insists Laure Giometti.
There, amidst the molten blues, we're in a purity. A few wicker chairs, a few high tables. Enough to delight a dozen guests per service. No more. It's limited. Deliberately so.
The rooftop terrace is only open on Fridays and Saturdays. In the evening. For an exceptional aperitif, a dinner at altitude (fish brazier on Fridays and meat on Saturdays, always orchestrated live by Damien Andrews), a candlelit after-party. It will be like this until the end of August. Before "rising crescendo next season" .
A few more weeks to experience the changing light shifting toward flamboyant oranges. But in silence. "Here, there are no DJs, no music, no noise. We come to the rooftop for its serenity and its view."
A place outside of time on which the finger of the Divine has rested...
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