10 Monaco star restaurants: Le Vistamar
We continue our series of articles about Michelin restaurants in Monaco where you learn not only about the signature dishes of the restaurants but also exclusive interviews with the best star chefs and sommeliers. Discover 10 unique stories about culinary marvels of Monaco!
Located at Hotel Hermitage Monte-Carlo, Le Vistamar offers visitors a unique gourmet dining concept. With its elegantly-styled modern décor and dulcet tones designed by the Parisian Pierre Yves Rochon, the restaurant’s beautiful terrace offers a magnificent view of the Port of Monaco and the famous rock. This Michelin starred restaurant presents the perfect harmony of sophistication and simplicity.
Head Chef Benoît Witz seduces his guests with the outstanding quality of his carefully prepared seafood, rich in Mediterranean flavours, served at the remarkable Hotel Hermitage Monte-Carlo.
The selected dishes orchestrated by chef Witz are pure and simple. The menu is inspired by the theme – „One fish, one vegetable, once cooked“. To interpret this philosophy in its simplicity is an art in itself and this is the concept behind the excellence which has earned Le Vistamar a Michelin star.
As an expert in refined yet authentic Mediterranean cuisine, Chef Witz passionately offers a seasonal menu with southern French nuances. The essence of the cuisine that Chef Witz prepares is all to do with preserving the original characters of the seafood he selects through refined recipes that create the sensation of simplicity.
La Vistamar offers a remarkable degustation menu, where every dish is individually created, beautifully prepared and cooked to perfection. The seasonal menu is complemented with an exceptional wine selection which changes frequently, hand-selected by experienced sommeliers from the central cellar beneath the Hôtel de Paris and Hotel Hermitage which boasts over 600,000 bottles of premium and rare wines.
“The Hotel Hermitage in Monaco takes my breath away, and is possibly one of the most wonderful locations in Monaco for relaxation in absolute luxury.
Le Vistamar offers the same ambience; low-key but with a menu that will take you to a level of pleasure that is not often experienced in complicated modern restaurants.
What is mesmerising is the way that Chef Witz prepares such an exciting dish with such simple ingredients. Unadulterated, not overly-confusing on the palate, fresh and light and most of all harmonious. And for a gourmand, this is exactly what the trend is moving to.
As we have seen wine lovers turn away from heavily oaked Chardonnays, impartial diners are looking for simplicity, to understand what they are consuming and to taste each part of the dish naturally and as it has been prepared. And then to taste all the parts as one, as a marriage of flavours. In this case, it is the combination of the ingredients that is key, the balance and the softness on the palate.
Le Vistamar takes your breath away from the moment you enter into the Hotel Hermitage Monte-Carlo to the moment you taste the delicate morsels of heaven-on-a-plate prepared by this amazing chef.” – Bradley Mitton
Le Vistamar’s Specialty
Blue lobster in his Bowl
Recipe (serves two)
Ingredients
| 2 lobsters of French coast origin 1 Menton lemon 1 bunch of basil 3 lemon balm leaves 1 stick of lemongrass 1 coral lobster 3 fennel sticks 240gr potatoes (Grenailles) 10 porcini mushrooms (Bouchon) |
olive oil 10gr butter 1 sprig of thyme cooking salt table salt fleur de sel pepper mill pepper fennel seeds |
Cook lobsters three minutes for the body and two additional minutes for the pincers, in a stock of water, cooking salt, pepper, fennel seeds and a half lemon.
Make a lobster jus with the heads, reduce.
Cook the potatoes in a skillet with some butter, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Reproduce the same process for the porcini mushrooms, add lemon peels at the end of cooking.
Pierce the lobster with a fennel stick, then roast in oven for 2 minutes with olive oil, then add basil, lemon balm and lemongrass for the aroma.
Add some salt and milled black pepper. Place some lemon peel, basil and chopped lemon grass sliced thinly at the bottom of the jar then the body of the lobster and serve with the lobster jus and garniture aside.
The Perfect Wine Pairing
“I would suggest a sauvignon blanc and particularly the Sliding Hill Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough.
In its youth the wine is moderate straw in colour with green tints. Aromas are reserved and quite exotic with hints of lime, peach, honeysuckle, passionfruit and gooseberry. Ripe flavours of sweet gala apples, lime and rich tropical fruits predominate in a lush textured style with a long dry grainy finish.
The freshness of this wine fits perfectly with the zesty characters of this dish and the balance of tropical fruit on the palate offers a good match for the fleshy lobster meat.
The wine will drink superbly when young. To be consumed wherever there is sun, surf or seafood.” – Bradley Mitton
Published with the consent of the authors of “Signature Dishes of the Principality of Monaco with Wine Pairing Guide“ by Bradley Mitton (Author), Zsolt Szemerszky.
