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Forbes
8 hours ago
- General
- Forbes
A Taste Of Tradition: Inside Nice's Iconic Restaurant Acchiardo
Since 1927, Restaurant Acchiardo in the heart of Old Town Nice has been a beloved local haunt serving some of the region's most cherished Niçoise dishes. For four generations, the stone-walled eatery has been known for spotlighting the area's authentic flavors with plates like daube (beef stew braised in wine), panisses (crispy chickpea fritters), and trouchia (a savory frittata with Swiss chard). When she was a child, Virginie Acchiardo, whose great-grandmother opened Restaurant Acchiardo, cherished the aromatic feast that enveloped her senses every morning. Her family lived above the restaurant, and her father, part of the third generation to run it, was already hard at work. 'Every morning before going to school, we would go through the restaurant to have breakfast,' recalls Virginie Acchiardo, who is now the chef of her family's restaurant, which she co-owns and runs with her brothers Jean-François and Raphaël. 'Dad was already in the kitchen preparing dishes like beef stew with a red wine sauce.' She remembers the distinct savory aroma drifting up the stairwell. 'It still reminds me of my father,' she says. She also adored the calming sound of the metal whisk against the mixing bowl when her father beat egg whites to make the chocolate mousse. 'I would watch him in the kitchen,' she says. 'And when the chocolate melted I was always allowed to scrape the pan and taste the chocolate.' Cooking was not only in her DNA, it gave her a deep connection to those she loved. 'I always saw my father in the kitchen and it was a normal continuity,' says Acchiardo. 'Cooking brought me closer to my family. Since they were always at the restaurant, it allowed me to be with them.' While Acchiardo's training was not formal, it was deeply rooted in observation. 'My father said, 'A trade is not learned, it is stolen,'' she says. 'There are ways of doing things that are not written anywhere, especially not in textbooks. Each kitchen has its own organization.' She learned everything from her father, who in turn learned from his grandmother, Madalin. 'I am very proud that I can still make the same recipes from almost 100 years ago, and I am even more proud to be able to work with my two brothers,' she says. 'And our children, the fifth generation, are already starting to work with us, which is also a great source of pride.' Madalin Acchiardo was a widow when she opened Acchiardo in 1927. She and her husband, Giuseppe, who died in 1920, had very little money but saved for years to buy the buy the restaurant and building. Both born in Piedmont in a little Italian village named Norat, Madalin had arrived in Nice in 1896. Working as a maid for a rich family since she was a child she came to Nice alone without her parents. 'They had a lot of courage because life wasn't easy. The restaurant was never closed. They worked all the time,' says Virginie Acchiardo. 'The dishes they made were truly traditional family recipes that were simple and, above all, inexpensive.' In 2027, Restaurant Acchiardo will celebrate its centennial, and in the same locale where it opened all those years ago. 'This is much more than a restaurant. This is our home. We were born here in this building,' says Virginie Acchiardo. 'When customers come to our restaurant, it is as if they are coming into our home. We welcome them into our dining room and share a little bit of our family's life.' Nice and the Côte d'Azur is full of treasures like Restaurant Acchiardo. And getting there is easy via Air France, with direct flights to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport, which is just a few miles from the heart of the city. The city's identity is shaped by its French and Italian influences and stunning natural beauty. Nice blends seaside charm with cultural richness. And there is no shortage of great museums, parks, and fine cuisine. The stunning Musée Matisse in the Cimiez district offers a comprehensive overview of Henri Matisse's artistic journey. Located in the neighborhood where he lived and worked, the museum is one of the few public collections in the world that showcases his painted, sculpted, engraved, and drawn works. Or stroll through the lively Cours Saleya, known for its flower market and antiques on Mondays, and don't miss the climb to Parc du Château (or Castle Park), where sweeping views of the Bay of Angels reward the effort of the climb to get there. With its Belle Époque architecture and ideally located on the famous Promenade des Anglais, Hotel West End is a jewel box of a hotel. Behind its grand dame façade, the hotel features elegant rooms, many containing panoramic views overlooking the dramatic Baie des Anges. The hotel is the ideal mix of modern comfort with old-world charm. Plus, the iconic Le Siècle bar and brasserie inside the Hotel West End has old-school glamour and a perfect perch for sunset apéritifs along the promenade. Built in 1842, the hotel is one of the oldest on the waterfront. La Villa Nice Promenade, a boutique hotel steps from the Mediterranean, has a Belle Époque charm. Its leafy terrace and location just off the Promenade des Anglais make it an ideal base for soaking up Nice's sea breeze and laid-back elegance. The hotel's intimate vibe and classic architecture offer a unique mix of privacy and convenience right near the water. Also, the elaborate breakfast is a standout. Anantara Plaza Nice Hotel is another gem and offers a luxurious spa and panoramic rooftop views of the city. Just steps from vibrant Place Masséna, SEEN by Olivier Restaurant on the hotel's rooftop offers Mediterranean cuisine with an Asian twist. And the vistas of sea and cityscape are as delicious as the food. Don't miss their epic Sunday brunch featuring Veuve Clicquot, and an eye-popping buffet from sushi to cheeses to a chocolate fountain. It's perfect for a leisurely indulgence. Boca Nissa, a vibrant Mediterranean-inspired rooftop restaurant, offers panoramic views and great dishes like hummus, sea bass ceviche, burrata, and saffron-flavored rice with langoustines. It's a popular spot for both locals and visitors looking for a memorable dining experience with a contemporary yet relaxed vibe. While La Maison de Marie is a tucked-away treasure that offers Provençal charm and refined Niçoise classics. Set in a secret garden off the bustling Cours Saleya, dishes like zucchini flowers stuffed with salted ricotta and pea cream and traditional Niçoise stew and gnocchi offer a true sense of place. Beyond the city, book an e-bike adventure with Mobilboard Nice, which offers scenic tours to the nearby coastal village of Villefranche-sur-Mer. To cycle around the city and to Antibes and beyond, Bike Trip Nice rents excellent bicycles perfect for exploring the city and coastline. They make it easy to enjoy the Riviera on two wheels. For the alpha cyclists who take their rides seriously, Café du Cycliste is both a top-notch performance gear shop and a cozy café where riders refuel with excellent coffee and croissants. It's the perfect pit stop for cycling enthusiasts wanting to blend passion with relaxation near the port. For travelers venturing to nearby Cannes, YouRent Cannes offers stylish rentals and biking options that make hopping from beach to café a breeze. For Virginie Acchiardo, Nice and the layered history and enduring flavors of her family's restaurant continue to make the region special for her. And she sees the restaurant as a conduit to past and present and to the people who visit. 'This restaurant is my life,' she says. 'It's full of memories and love. When I cook these dishes, I feel close to my father, my family, and the generations that came before me. It's an emotional connection to who we are and where we came from.'
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
74 Duke, London W1: ‘Charming, chic and sterile ' – restaurant review
My theory on the current explosion of French-inspired dining ventures, in London and beyond, is that many restaurateurs these days feel that it's much better to have a direction – in this case, pointing at Paris – than no direction at all. Take 74 Duke, a brand new, mock-Parisian brasserie just off Oxford Street that serves filet de bœuf, tarte au citron and potent Bastille cocktails and appears to have Mayfair's mega-affluent tourist firmly in mind. It's an elegant, pseudo-Gallic, Emily in Paris-style brasserie with outdoor seating – a place to see and be seen, rather than some confusing, pan-European, small plates trendy-wendy joint. And, zut!, its rather limited menu sets out its stall pretty tout de suite, too: salade César, escalopes de veau, crevettes royale à la sauce thermidor. So, yes, 74 Duke is très French, but it is also a pricey, sterilised, movie-set version of France for diners with deep pockets and only the smallest yearning for true French cooking. Decor-wise, it is heavenly inside and out, like a sleek private jet or objet d'art showroom that opens by appointment only. It is a dreamy blur of honey-coloured leather banquettes, elegant awnings, ivory paintwork, dainty doilies on silver platters, monogrammed cutlery, pretty mahogany tables and the kindest, most diligent, white-jacketed staff. None of that is remotely Parisian, though;: not a jot. It is a charming, chic and sterile five-star Dubai beach resort-type Parisian restaurant, where all traces of the sticky-carpeted, scabby-banistered Parisian all-day diner with fractious waiters have been completely erased. Even the air-conditioned air here smells expensive – not that many customers were sitting inside on this Saturday lunchtime. Nay, table after table of Rolex-wearing, Birkin bag-clutching guests demanded the al fresco option, out there on the wild, lawless, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome streets of London W1. While meek and cowed urchins such as myself tend to scurry quickly around Mayfair and Piccadilly, real wealth pulls up a chair, orders a 74 Duke martini and a wagyu cheeseburger, and sits back and enjoys l'air frais – or at least as frais as the air can be while bus and taxi exhausts blast their fumes over your asperges blanches à la truffe d'été. We ate nicely enough, but not memorably so. The brief lunchtime menu offers a choice of four hors d'œuvres: goat's cheese salad, breaded squid, tuna tartare and the aforementioned white asparagus. The goat's cheese salad featured a small pile of good-quality leaves in a decent vinaigrette with some inoffensive cheese on a crostini. Chopped raw tuna and avocado in a citrus dressing was similarly pretty, but without any real spin or innovation. Chefs often claim that their food's extra ingredient is 'love' and that their passion is to woo the diner, but there was little love in evidence here. Which is probably for the best, because love's a grubby business, anyway. From the grill section, we had a bavette with beurre maître d'hôtel, a rich, buttery sauce with parsley and lemon juice that was delicious, if a little lukewarm by the time it arrived. Another main of poulet Gaston Gérard was also a tiny bit on the cold side, but the tarragon and dijon sauce that came with it was outstanding. Other than that, the only really notable dish on the entire menu can be found in the accompagnements section, hidden between the salade verte and the haricots verts: namely the gratin du ravioli du Dauphiné. Does anyone really need a side portion of bubbling baked cheese ravioli to go with their paillard de saumon or crevettes royales? Probably not, but definitely order it anyway. The dessert menu is a short list of mostly pre-made items, some of which are deeply un-Parisian patisseries, including one of those multi-layered chocolate cakes that have been big on Instagram for about a year, a huge 1980s Sara Lee gateau on steroids that seems to work under the premise that no amount of chocolate ganache can be too much. Did I finish it? Yes. In fact, I set about it like a lion demolishing an antelope. Does it have any place on a French menu? Non. C'est ridicule, and I would be more sniffy about this had I not enjoyed every sticky, chocolatey mouthful. 74 Duke is a charming place to spend someone else's money should they wish to treat you to lunch within close range of Selfridge's. You can dip a toe into French-ish cuisine and you will understand the menu even if you've not spoken French since you last picked up a Tricolore textbook at comp school. C'est bon, but only bon. 74 Duke 74 Duke Street, London W1, 020-3772 7722. Open Tues-Sat, lunch noon-3pm, dinner 5.30-11pm. From about £60 a head à la carte, plus drinks and service The next episode of Grace's Comfort Eating podcast is out on Tuesday 29 July – listen to it here.
New York Times
23-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
This Free-Form Pie Is Full of Treasures
'Chica!' came a shout from inside a 300-year-old farmhouse just off a bucolic dirt road. We hopped out of the car, now parked in the grass by the Canal de Garonne, which weaves its way through Gascony, in southwest France. A tall, robust woman appeared, rosy-cheeked and pleasant in her gait, her calm and her soft linen clothes. Recipe: Apple and Plum Croustade (Croustade aux Pommes et Prunes) The bright blue door that had released her also let out the powerful scent of today's lunch — chicken, apples, butter crust — from the kitchen. Her dog, Chica, a shaggy black hound with similarly affable qualities but lacking in her gentle aloofness, barked her way toward us. But within moments, the hound was licking our hands and flopping around the rose-filled garden outside the Relais de Camont, the postcard-picture place that Kate Hill, Chica's steward, has called home since 1989. Hill, an author, historian, venerable cook and teacher, ushered us into a kitchen full of herbs, baskets of fruit and the source of that intoxicating scent. A free-form pie, its edges perfectly crimped by hand, sat in all its rustic charm on a sideboard. I could smell the apples cooling under the crust, sugar shimmering on top. Hill rushed over to tell us about the prunes — pruneaux d'Agen — that she included with the apples that morning. These prunes were from this region only, where Ente plums are dried, then treated in a variety of ways, some soaked in a very light syrup, some mi-cuit, or partly dried, some made into digestif. Her eyes lit up as she told us about when she first tried them decades ago and how she uses them in her recipes. The croustade, as the free-form pie was known, was nothing fancy, she explained, but the inclusion of these plums, or any plums, offered a small treasure. We took to the table, set with beautiful but unfussy linens, silver spoons, water jugs and wine glasses — a terrine of poached chicken and vegetables (poule au pot) centered and the croustade awaiting. There was an unmistakable warmth and realness, a convivial but slightly formal air to it all. If you've ever been to a Sunday luncheon in France, you would know it wasn't so serious. This was a moment for tucking in, taking time, serving others before serving yourself, keeping an eye on the flow of the day and the food and, most important, providing conversation. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
South China Morning Post
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
French chef Daniel Boulud on why his new Hong Kong restaurant won't chase Michelin stars
Daniel Boulud is a chef celebrated for his exceptional culinary skills, innovative French cuisine and influential restaurants. Born in France, he trained under legendary chefs including Georges Blanc and Michel Guérard before moving to New York, where he earned acclaim for blending classic French techniques with modern flavours. Boulud is also a bestselling author and TV personality, and his flagship restaurant in New York, Daniel, currently holds one Michelin star. Over the years, food enthusiasts have flocked to his restaurants in places such as Miami, Toronto, Dubai, Singapore and Beijing (where Maison Boulud closed in 2013). Soon, Hong Kong will be the latest city to host an outpost of the chef's restaurant empire. Boulud prepares food for his recent pop-up at Hong Kong's Mandarin Grill + Bar. Photo: Mandarin Grill + Bar It was recently announced that Boulud would take over the space formerly occupied by Sevva on the 25th floor of Landmark Prince's in the city's Central neighbourhood.
Telegraph
15-07-2025
- Telegraph
The 21 best restaurants in Bruges
Bruges has a number of seriously good chefs and its highly competitive restaurant scene, much frequented by locals, keeps prices keen (if relatively expensive by UK standards; expect to pay €50 to €60/£45 to £55 per head, or more, for a good-quality, three-course meal with wine). The cooking is essentially French or Franco-Belgian in style, but often with ingenious twists and a bit of fusion. You should eat well in Bruges – if your budget is tight, look out for lunchtime set-menus at the best restaurants. And avoid the tourist-trap restaurants in and around the Markt and on 't Zand. All our recommendations below have been hand-selected and tested by our resident destination expert to help you discover the best restaurants in Bruges. Find out more below, or for further Bruges inspiration, see our guides to the island's best hotels nightlife and things to do. Find restaurants by type: Best all-rounders Bonte B Chef Bernard Bonte creates haute-cuisine dishes with disarmingly simple titles: asparagus and Zeebrugge brown shrimps, truffle linguine with beech mushrooms, molten chocolate cake with yogurt sorbet and caramel – names that say little of their inspired combinations of flavours and artful presentation. The restaurant, in a grand old townhouse, is stylish and spacious, with elegantly simple Swedish design and wooden floors – the perfect foil for the subtle complexity of the dishes served. Area: Steenstraat Quarter Website: Prices: £££ Reservations: Recommended
