Its location on Cap d'Antibes between Nice and Cannes couldn't be more spectacular, set on a sprawling oceanfront peninsula surrounded by a pristine beach with views of the Lérins Islands and the Estérel Hills. Located In Juan Les Pins, an area that hasn't seen a significant hotel opening in decades, the town varies between a Cancun-minded party oasis for French teenagers and an out-of-touch homestead of privilege like the legendary Hotel du Cap Eden Rock. This destination beach club offers two separate restaurants, Restaurant de la Plage and Michelin-starred Les Pecheurs, as well as an upstairs nightclub open throughout high season. Daytime is all about the beach club and its neighboring patio restaurant, decorated in a nautical-theme of rattan club chairs and sand-colored parasols. Evenings offer a more formal affair in the upstairs gourmet eatery, as linen-wearing locals showoff their tanning achievements while flaunting their latest arm candy.
The Food
The downstairs, more casual eatery serves seasonal cuisine focusing on flavors of the Mediterranean Basin. The newer of the two restaurants, the menu is conducive to long afternoons in the sun followed by a refreshing presentation of evocative flavors featuring grilled meat, troll-caught fish and market-fresh salads. Upstairs is a formal affair of culinary artistry that includes white-glove service, celebrity following and dramatic presentation that inevitably leads to a labored three-hour meal. The menu rotates throughout the season, representing what’s available in the nearby growing regions and local seafood markets. Menu standouts include slow-cooked braised beef, Provencal seafood specialties and interpretive foie gras renditions that compete with the best restaurants in France.
Last Word
Cap d’Antibes beach club and gourmet eatery offer glitzy destination for those too-chic to deal with Juan Les Pins high-seaon and too hip to hang out at the Hotel du Cap.
