Monte Carlo's Michelin Star
Alain Ducasse's Bar Boeuf & Co is One of His Two Monaco Restaurants
In the latest Michelin Guide there are eight Michelin stars awarded to Monte Carlo restaurants, and Alain Ducasse claims four of them, at Le Louis XV and Bar Boeuf & Co
Alain Ducasse was the first chef in history to earn the highest ranking of all, three Michelin stars, in two separate restaurants almost 500 miles apart, in Paris and Monte Carlo. In the latest edition of the Michelin Guide to France, which includes Monaco and Andorra, Ducasse's original and flagship restaurant at the Hôtel de Paris, Le Louis XV, keeps its three Michelin stars. And Ducasse's other Monte Carlo restaurant, Bar Boeuf & Co, also holds on to the one Michelin star which it has been given consistently for several years now.
Bar Boeuf & Co used to be just plain old Bar & Boeuf, reflecting the simple approach to the menu which featured only dishes with bar (sea bass) or boeuf (beef). The recent change to Bar Boeuf & Co is to show that the menu has now expanded to take in other dishes, although their signature dishes remain.
Starters include slices of marinated sea bass with basil/lemon, avocado, almonds and cucumber, and beef carpaccio with parmesan cream/pepper, and mesclun (mixed salad greens).
Main courses include a fillet of sea bass with fresh herbs, artichokes and mustard sauce, and a beef rib-steak with macaroni 'au gratin', preserved shallots and taggiasche olives.
The restaurant decor is fun and modern, as is the atmosphere, which is perhaps why it's awarded 'only' one Michelin star. Judged by the food alone, it ought to be more, but Michelin inspectors tend to prefer the more formal settings. At Bar Boeuf & Co, diners look out across a pond filled with frogs, who make their presence loudly known as the evening wears on. Beyond the frogs is the Mediterranean Sea, and on the night we visited a spectacular firework display from a boat moored offshore was apparently to celebrate a Monte Carlo woman's birthday. All evening the place buzzed with animated talk, with French, English, Italian and American accents all evident.
But what to eat? I admire the audacity and sense of humour of a chef who can put a soft-boiled egg as a starter on his menu, and charge €19 for it (about £13/US$25). I had to have it. It came perfectly done, of course, with pine nuts and capers and on a bed of capanata – an Italian mix of mainly aubergines (eggplant), peppers and tomatoes. It was out of this world. So was my wife's chilled cream of peas, with buffalo mozzarella. Pea soup had no right to taste this good. It's one sign of the great chef that they can take a simple and familiar taste, like an egg, a pea or a mushroom, and remind you again of how wonderful it can be, filling your mouth with an explosion of a taste you thought you were familiar with.
For the main course my wife had fillet of sea bass, served with fresh herbs, artichokes and a deliciously subtle mustard sauce. My Rossini-style beef fillet came with truffle mushrooms and foie gras. The beef was almost as creamy and tender as the juicy foie gras. It was a big fillet, but so light there was no danger of having to miss out on a dessert, which would have been a scandal. The waiter said his favorite, and in his view their best dessert, was the simple mix of strawberries and raspberries. It was like discovering the fruit again for the first time, as you discovered them when you were a child – that first taste of a really good strawberry.
Sadly we didn't get round to sampling a dessert wine, though the list looked fascinating with unusual sweet wines from Canada and the Ukraine – not countries you expect to find on the wine list at a French Michelin restaurant. Oh well, you have to have a reason to go back.
A final word on the staff at Bar Boeuf & Co. This was the third meal we'd had at an Alain Ducasse restaurant, and as well as providing some of the best food in the world, his staff have always been 3-star too. Friendly and relaxed, not deferential, and having the answer to every question about every dish without checking. They make a meal at any Alain Ducasse restaurant special.
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Bar Boeuf & Co is in the Sporting Club of Monte Carlo, on avenue Princess Grace. Open May-Sep dinner only. Tel: (377) 98 06 71 71 or visit the Alain Ducasse website by clicking here.
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