41 - A Great Gatsbyesque Lunch

LA RESERVE, Beaulieu France

Sommelier Jean-Louis Valla in the Restaurant des Rois' formal dining room

      La Reserve is a small luxury hotel looking over the Mediterranean Sea in Beaulieu, a charming resort village between Monaco and Nice.  The pink palace, first opened in 1880 as a seaside restaurant, was like so much of this formerly-Italian part of the Riviera, constructed in the style of the Florentine Renaissance.  With its early success, several rooms were added in 1905 when it officially became a hotel for winter visitors.

It has attracted a moneyed and celebrity clientele since well before the 1920’s when the Scott Fitzgeralds and Somerset Maugham graced its portals.  They were later joined by locals Cocteau and Picasso.   After the Second World War, Charlie Chaplin gave it his seal of approval, followed by countless Hollywood notables, including Rita Hayworth and Frank Sinatra.  

La Reserve has always counted an important American contingent ever since eccentric newspaper magnate, Gordon Bennett, put it on the map with his patronage and press coverage in the early years of the new century.  Bennett, lifelong francophile and owner of the New York Herald, is still remembered today in his namesake bar with a prominently placed portrait and biography.

Our friend, sommelier Catherine, formerly at the Negresco Hotel in Nice, later at the Reserve, had repeatedly urged us to try their very swank Restaurant des Rois.  We already looked into it two years ago, but the prices were just too steep for any serious consideration.

Brenda posing for a pre-lunch portrait

In the ensuing two years, the international monetary crisis has paid everyone a visit –from myself to the grandest of  the grand hotels.   On our visit to nearby Nice last month, I took another look at the Reserve’s website, and bingo!  things seemed to be looking up for us budget minded grand hotel groupies. 

As I’ve previously explained, I tend to limit any forays into grand restaurants to their lunchtime prix fixe, which can often be top value for money.   The Restaurant des Rois, which has garnered a number of top culinary awards, is closed for lunch during the summer season when daytime meals move poolside and prices can go sky-high.  

However, arriving in the South of France this year at the tail end of April, I saw that the restaurant was still open at lunchtime for two more days.  And that was not all.  It was now proposing an unbeatable all-inclusive meal for well under half their evening prices.  We rushed to book, and counted ourselves lucky to snag a reservation for that final lunch of the off-season.

It had been an uncharacteristically dreary weather week in Nice, with lots of rain and very gray horizons.  Then just as we hopped on the regional bus for the spectacular 30-minute trip to Beaulieu, the skies opened up to --not another rain storm-- glorious sun, and the beautiful weather held for our entire day out.   It was a good omen.

This is --believe it or not-- the almost non-stop view through the bus window (cost of one-way trip: one euro!)

 When I had called earlier to enquire, I was already disappointed to learn that our friend, Catherine, had left the hotel a few months earlier.  Upon arrival, I had the additional disappointment of discovering that the starred chef had also recently gone to new horizons.

Then imagine our surprise upon entering the exquisite dining room to find ourselves the restaurant’s unique diners!   

 We were met by the imposing and exceedingly warm welcome of Jean-Louis Valla, the hotel’s veteran wine steward.  He told us to make ourselves at home, and as the dining room was to be our private domaine, to give some serious thought to which table might best suit our fancy.  With such a charming and personal welcome, any hint of disappointment was soon dispelled.  We soon realized we had found ourselves in a privileged situation.

The Gordon Bennett Bar.  Notice Jean-Louis' Hitchkockian profile in the distance

We never dreamed we’d be all to ourselves in such palatial splendor.  A bit disconcerting at first,  I quickly took a liking to the unique, Gatsbyesqueness of the moment.

A table by the sea

 With our pick, we naturally chose a window seat, overlooking a superb azure sea.  This being said, pretty much all the tables are equally well placed, with a similar vantage point.  Those that don’t directly face the sea look onto the hotel's elegant garden.

Jean-Louis explained that a young, new chef, Romain Corbières, had recently taken charge in the kitchen, and he assured us we would not be disappointed.  We were not. 

It ranked certainly as one of our best meals, ever!  And that is saying a lot. 

Such attention ... just for the two of us!

The following photos give a good idea of the quality of this exceptional lunch.  Bravo Chef Corbières!

A few surprise tasters, including a mouth-watering foie gras "ball"

The absolute piece de resistance: our asparagus starter with an asparagus and herb puree, and could you ever imagine the identity of that round golden brown object?  Believe it or not, it is a perfectly poached egg somehow encased in a crispy paper-thin breadcrumb jacket.

A glass of Chablis for Brenda

 

 A local filleted white fish with its ratatouille sauce and potato concoction

Amin gave us impeccable attention.  It was his last day before joining the Navy.

A stunning lemon souffle with an indescribable lime  topping, for Brenda a raspberry delight

Just in case we might still have been a bit hungry, a few delicious do-dads to go with the coffee!

SIDEBAR:  Gordon Bennett

Newspaper portrait of the scandalous Bennett circa 1890

     James Gordon Bennett Jr. was a great eccentric with a journalistic flair for creating, as well as selling and promoting, the news.

Bennett inherited a news empire which included the New York Herald.  At a time when journalism was usually a pretty staid affair, he managed to inject color and zip into his newspapers, never discouraging a bit of sensationalism. In the process, he greatly increased circulation and his personal fortune.

Some say the ruthless Charles Dana Kane character in the Orson Welles film Citizen Kane was partially based on Bennett, though the main model was Bennett's archrival William Randolph Hearst.

In 1868, he dispatched his ace newsman Henry Morton Stanley to darkest Africa to track down missionary and explorer David Livingstone. After months of searching and realms of colorful dispatches, the inevitable meeting resulted in perhaps the all-time most famous journalistic punchline :

« Dr. Livingstone, I presume ? »  

Herald newspaper illustrator's rendition of the historic meeting (Google)

Bennett is also credited with scooping all his competitors with graphic news reports in 1876 of « Custer's Last Stand. »

The Guinness Book of Records lists him as holder of the world's « Greatest Engagement Faux Pas »for the manner in which his engagement to socialite Caroline May was broken off in 1877.

It was reported (though not in his own newspapers) that at an engagement party given for the couple by his fiancée's father, Bennett arrived late and drunk, and that he relieved himself in a fireplace in the ballroom at the May mansion, in full view of his future in- laws and their astonished guests.

The Mays had never been enthusiastic about the courtship, and they were not amused. The marriage was canceled, and Bennett moved definitively to Europe where he remained single for another 36 years.

Bennett divided the last years of his life between Paris and Beaulieu where he had discovered La Réserve.  Directing his news empire from a distance (and having created a respected English-language newspaper in Paris, the grandfather of the present International Herald Tribune), he published numerous articles about the Riviéra hotel, which brought a growing number of well-heeled guests to the Beaulieu hostelry in the decade preceding the First World War. His influence was such that even today he is revered as the mécene who first put the luxury establishment on the map.

In addition to promoting La Réserve, Bennett was a passionate sports fan.  He organized the first polo match in the U.S. in 1876, later founding the Westchester Polo Club, another first in America.  He created and funded the Gordon Bennett Cup for international yachting and a similar cup for automobile races.  In 1906 he established a prestigious ballooning race in France which continues today.  Already in 1909 he had set up a trophy for the fastest speed on a closed circuit for airplanes.

Flamboyant and often erratic to the end, Bennett married for the first time at 73. Suffering from severe financial reversals at the time, he wed the Baroness de Reuter, millionairess widow of the news agency founder.

Bennett died in 1918 in Beaulieu near his beloved La Réserve. 

Later day portrait in the South of France 

 

Your input is welcomed:  hotel-musings@hotmail.fr

Next Friday:  "Turning Back the Clock at the Hotel Langlois"

[Photos are mine, unless otherwise credited]
 

CROSS REFERENCING … a look at other postings

La Reserve and another lunch at Le Restaurant des Rois is also featured in sidebar to blog No. 53 "Looking for Carlotta"  (to access, click on title).