Roquebrune-Cap-Martin: Chef Mauro Colagreco will take the helm of two restaurants within The Maybourne Riviera. The soon-to-be-launched hotel joins London’s iconic Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley as part of the Maybourne Hotel Group. The restaurants will be housed in the strikingly modernist hotel, built on a rocky peninsula high above the town of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.
His flagship will be Ceto, focusing on the sea and will open on Saturday 9th October. Located on the hotel’s top floor with dramatic panoramic views out over the Mediterranean, it is a true parallel between the sky and sea and will reflect Mauro’s ambition and passion. However, Ceto will be more than just a restaurant, but also a ‘marine culinary workshop’ to deepen knowledge of the region’s aquatic species and research sustainable ecological solutions.
Dishes will play with texture, flavour and cooking processes, with the grill the centrepiece of the restaurant’s open kitchen. The menu will represent the whole of the Mediterranean according to the seasons, using not only fish and shellfish but will include ingredients such as seaweed, sea herbs, samphire, sea fennel, sea cucumber and snails. Sample dishes include Red Tuna – matured belly with Kombu seaweed, XO sauce; Red Scorpionfish – grilled cèpes, roasted Cévennes onion sauce and Monkfish – kale on the embers, bread crust sauce. A selection of vegetarian and pasture-fed meat dishes will also be offered, such as tiger veal reared by the sea in Corsica.
The restaurant will also house a maturation chamber for research and development. This will allow the team to deepen its methods of preserving fish and prolong its maturation by allowing all the flavour and texture to develop in the meat. Each species will be studied individually, and the entire fish used whenever possible (skin, fins, bones and eyes).
Mauro aims to bring this approach and his expertise to help change perspectives on fishing. He desires to shake up traditional codes: the distance and depth of fishing, seasonality, the use of the maturation chamber, anti-waste and collaboration with renowned scientists.
The décor of Ceto restaurant has been created by architect-designer Marcelo Joulia, with tableware specially sourced and pieces created exclusively by local artists and artisan producers.
In addition, Mauro will also oversee the venue on the ground floor of the hotel. The Riviera Restaurant. This restaurant opened on 22 September, offering regional gastronomy in its simplest form. Available for lunch, dinner, snacks or coffees and teas throughout the day, menus naturally retrace the region’s local gastronomic history: from Genoa to Saint Tropez, between mountain and sea. His creations will highlight regional specialities with the greatest respect for the product, season and producer. From Niçoise salad, Spaghetti alla Genovese, grilled fish, sun-soaked vegetables in olive oil, and the famous sweet-tart, Tropézienne, dishes are colourful and cooked simply to reflect the area’s rich variety.
Already established on the Cote D’Azur at his three Michelin starred Mirazur in Menton, Mauro is a cook unrestrained by borders and one who sets his own culinary rules. This ambitious project is a further opportunity for the globally acclaimed chef to showcase his culinary vision and continue to place the region at the forefront of the international gastronomic scene. At The Maybourne Riviera, he will mix this with one of his favourite playgrounds, the sea and hopefully, through careful participation, will help safeguard the diversity of its marine heritage.
“I am extremely proud to be a player in this unique project in The Maybourne Riviera and with a hotel group recognised around the world for its quality and excellence. It is a wonderful setting for guests to enjoy all that is so exceptional about this area of the Mediterranean.”
The Maybourne Riviera is built on a rocky peninsula high above the picturesque French town of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, with views of Italy to the east and Monte Carlo to the west. Set to become the new hospitality jewel of the Riviera, with ancient gardens and state of the art swimming pools and spa, the hotel will feature sixty nine rooms and suites, all with unrivalled sea views from their private terraces. The Maybourne Riviera will be an outstanding gastronomic destination with a host of restaurants under globally renowned chefs Mauro Colagreco and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Bringing the legendary service and spirit of hospitality that have made Maybourne’s London hotels so successful and much loved, The Maybourne Riviera is destined to become one of the great hotels of the world.
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