Nice, France Food Highlights

Happy summer! Hope you are staying cool wherever you are. Maybe you have some summer travel lined up? After over two years of no international travel, I was finally able to travel outside of the United States! Will and I took a six day trip to Nice at the end of May. It was honestly the best time of year to go - hot enough to be able to swim in the ocean, but still on the early side so avoiding the crowds of tourists that start coming in June.

Our AirBnB was ideally located near Vieux Nice (Old Nice - the nicest neighborhood). Our AirBnB host, Simon, was super helpful in welcoming us and giving us recommendations on things to do and places to eat.

Here are our favorite things that we ate on our trip:

Best Breakfast/Pastry

Patisserie Serain - Cappa

I'm usually a big, hearty, healthy breakfast kind of person. But when in France, it feels right to do the classic espresso + pastry. Our AirBnB was right next to a square called Place Garibaldi. There were many little cafes lining the square, including Patisserie Serain.

This place had the most delicious pastries. The first day we got an apple turnover pastry and an almond croissant, both of which were super flaky and flavorful. We came back again for two slices of quiche (one ham & cheese and the other zucchini), and a chocolate croissant. Along with that, we had cafe creme which is a shot of espresso top with foamy milk. If I lived in Nice, I think I'd come here every day for to start my day!

Best Snack (TIE)

Pizza from Deli' Eze

We often found ourselves not eating full meals for lunch, but sort of periodically snacking throughout the day. We ended up eating many great snacks including this little pizza in the medieval town of Eze. We had been wandering about all day and hadn't had a proper lunch, so we were hungry for a little something before dinner.

This little restaurant and olive tasting place was perched amongst trees so it feels like you're in a treehouse! It was a cute, quiet spot and the pizza was absolutely delicious. The crust was very fluffy and it was topped with fresh tomatoes, arugala, mozzarella, and prosciutto. Maybe it was just because we were hungry, maybe it was the setting, but this little pizza was a standout.

In general Eze is a really cool place to visit! The village is perched amongst the hills and overlooks the deep blue Mediterranean. The medieval village still has its cobblestone streets and stone buildings. The winding streets with overgrown climbing vines and little alleyways makes you feel like you're in a fairytale. It is such a unique place to explore, so I would definitely recommend you visit if you have time!

Socca from Chez Theresa

Socca (or farinata) is a classic Nice food; it's a savory pancake made with typically flour on a hot pan. Chez Theresa is famous for its socca and has a cart at the Cours Saleya flower market in Nice. We got there a bit late in the day and managed to snag the last bit of socca they were making.

I was surprised by the socca in a good way! It tasted almost cheesy because it was so soft and creamy, contrasting nicely with the crispy outside. The flavor is hard to describe; its savory and not super flavorful, but in a good way like comfort food often is. Socca is definitely a must-try in Nice - I wish we could've gotten more!

I liked the socca so much that upon returning to the United States, I went to Whole Foods and got some Bob's Red Mill chickpea flour so we could try to make it ourselves! We used the New York Times recipe for socca. It's a super easy recipe and fairly quick. Our socca was a bit different from Chez Theresa's in that it had onions and perhaps some different spices, but it was also great! Chez Theresa's was better (I wish ours had some of that cheesy texture), but hey - they've been doing it for decades!

This is a super easy, simple, and yummy snack (or even a main dish if you serve it with some sides).

Best restaurant

La Favola

Local recommendations are always the best, and our AirBnB host Simon was full of them! He made it clear that Cours Saleya is full of tourist traps and should usually be avoided, but the one good restaurant on that street is La Favola. A lot of Nice food is actually Italian food, which makes sense given its proximity to Italy.

We began our meal with a Kir and a Kir Royale. A Kir is an aperitif, traditionally made with creme de cassis (a black currant liqueur), and topped with white wine (a Kir Royale is the same thing but with champagne instead of white wine). Our Kirs were peach flavored and wonderfully fruity - very easy to drink.

For the main, I ordered the farfalle au saumon and Will got the rigatoni al forno. Both of these were - in Simon's words - scrumptious. I am still dreaming of that salmon pasta. SO GOOD. We enjoyed our pasta with a bottle of wine and enjoyed sitting on Cours Saleya and listening to the chatter of others dining near us and strolling along the busy street. It was a classic, late, long French dinner.

Best restaurant location - Le Plongeoir

A shoutout must be made to Le Plongeoir for being one of the most beautiful restaurants location-wise, that I have ever eaten at. The restaurant juts out into the sea, and you dine with amazing views of the bright turquoise water. We came on a hot, sunny day and enjoyed the sea breeze that kept us cool while we ate.

The food at Le Plongeoir is only okay (and quite overpriced), but it's worth it to go just for the views and the experience. They also have a three course prix fixe lunch menu for 40 euros on weekdays which isn't bad!

Best dessert

Raspberry macaron at Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

Who says you can't have dessert for lunch? That is what we did after exploring the gardens at Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild. The villa has a nice garden tea room and restaurant where you can sit outside and enjoy a snack or some food. This raspberry rose macaron was delicate and lightly sweet and very refreshing. Because of the rose, it kind of tasted like soap but in a good way! The inside was creamy and the cookie was chewy. I loved it!

Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild was a recommendation from Simon. You can take the bus there from Nice. The villa gardens are so beautiful and diverse! There are many different small gardens with themes, including a Spanish Garden, a Japanese Garden, and a French Garden. There is a fountain show every twenty minutes, and you can even buy a picnic to have on the lawns. I would definitely recommend this as a nice, peaceful day excursion from Nice!

Best gelato

Fenocchio Gelato

Everyone seems to agree that Fenocchio Gelato is the best gelato in Nice. Fenocchio boasts dozens of flavors, from the traditional (stracciatella was my favorite the I tried) to the experimental (tomato basil - I was too scared to try this). The gelato is great, good enough to rival any Italian gelateria :)

Best Drink

Wine on the beach

In my opinion, the best way to enjoy some French wine in the south of France, is to bring a bottle to the beach and sip it as you enjoy the ocean views; it's economical and enjoyable! Even at night, Nice's beach was hopping with people doing just that. We brought a bottle to the beach our first night, had one on the beaches of Cannes, and ended our time in Nice the same way. It was fun to get a local bottle from a local winery. People in Nice were very friendly and happy to give us recommendations. Those beach nights were some of my favorite memories from Nice :)

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All in all, Nice was a huge success! It was so beautiful and relaxing. We found a good balance between activities/exploring and just hanging out. Both of us agreed that Nice would be a wonderful place to summer, especially because there are so many little excursions that you can get to by train or bus. I already miss the Côte d'Azur and cannot wait to go back. As Simon said, "Next time you must see the lavender fields in Marseille!"