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A'Trego, Cap d'Ail
2011-09-13 15:32
What:
A'Trego
Where:
Port de Cap d'Ail
Web:
www.restaurantatrego.com
Contact: +33 4 93 28 58 22
Email: accueil@restaurantatrego.com
Known for his cutting-edge designs for the interiors of the Café Costes in Paris and the Peninsula Hotel restaurant in Hong Kong, internationally-renowned designer Philippe Starck has provided the latest addition to the Monaco dining scene with his transformation of a space once occupied by the simple hut of a local fisherman called A'Trego into a three-floor modernist dining experience like no other.
In developing the premises, Starck was sure of one thing - that it should lose none of its crucial charm. In his mind was a particular image: 'humanity fastened to the coast and the rock, the refuge of a humble but charismatic sailor - who may have drunk with Hemingway or been sketched by Picasso at the time of the invention of the concept of the Côte d’Azur - surrounded by friends coming together in the evening around a fire and grilled fish, to the sound of guitars and banjos.'
The result is an astonishing mélange of old-world flotsam and jetsam - nautically mismatched crockery and cutlery, bare wooden floors, a stairwell adorned with crocodile heads - and the designer features which would not look out of place in a trendy Parisian restaurant. Perched, literally, on the edge of the sea at Cap d'Ail, just across the
border from Monaco, the restaurant and its 200 square metres of terrace
jut out into the bay like the deck of a fishing boat,
culminating in an open gazebo served by a separate bar and kitchen,
which offers a reduced lunchtime menu from midday to 2.30pm.
The fishing vessel analogy is apt for a restaurant where royal caviar, line-caught sea-bass and lobster teppanyaki are on the menu. Laurent Sturbois, who until recently was head chef at the Columbus, captures the intense flavours of classic Riviera cuisine and combines them with exotic Asian
infuences to create an inspiring menu. To follow, the gelée de menthe fraîche, soupe de framboises and deconstructed tarte citron complete a memorable dining experience, as does the
excellent wine list, which includes Perrier-Jouët champagne.
The fisherman A'Trego left long ago, but one can't help feeling that his spirit lives on in his remodelled home, and in the minds and memories of the more diverse clientele who come to join him and his crocodiles for supper.
Opening hours
Restaurant
12 noon to 3.30pm
8pm to 2.30am
closed Sunday evenings, Mondays (except in high season)
Terrace
bar and snacks
from 12 noon
closed Mondays and Tuesdays (except in high season)
Members' bar
open at night (members only)
closed Sundays and Mondays (except in high season)