the lunch chart
Lunch tables best reached by water.
Beyond the beach clubs lies the quieter genre: real restaurants on quays and harbourfronts where a boat delivers you better than any car could. These are the tables our charters return to — port lunches, island feasts and one pink palace — each matched to the day it belongs in.
arrive by sea, eat under pines
La Mère Germaine, Villefranche
On the Villefranche quay since 1938, when Germaine Halap fed the fishermen and then the US Sixth Fleet’s admirals — bouillabaisse is the order, the waterfront terrace the seat, and the boat run from Beaulieu all of five minutes. The classic short-day lunch: anchor in the bay, tender to the quay, two hours of old-Riviera correctness.
The African Queen, Beaulieu — and the home quay
Our own port’s institution deserves its place: wood-fired pizza and people-watching where the boats back in a metre from the tables. As the end-of-charter dinner — stepping off the passerelle and straight to an aperitif — it closes the day with zero logistics. The full Beaulieu table chart has its own page in this journal.
shall we put a date in?
We reply within the day
La Guérite’s quiet sibling: lunch on Saint-Honorat
While Sainte-Marguerite parties, the monks’ island next door keeps La Tonnelle — grilled fish and the abbey’s own wine under a pergola, with the strait’s turquoise a step away. It is the Lérins day for parties who want the island’s peace rather than its volume, and the only Michelin-listed lunch owned by a monastery that we know of.
The grand splash: La Réserve de Beaulieu
For the anniversary, the proposal accepted, the deal closed: the rose-pink palace on Beaulieu’s waterfront has fed the coast’s occasions since 1880, and its terrace at golden hour is the Riviera’s dress-circle seat. End a charter day at its quay-side and the transition from swimsuit to celebration takes fifteen minutes and one staircase.
The short answers
Villefranche and the islands work by anchorage-and-tender; Beaulieu’s tables are steps from our home berth. The crew handles every landing — the only wet thing at lunch should be the ice bucket.
Always — a provisioned lunch at anchor is half our charters, and some of the best. The restaurant pages of the day are optional; the rosé is not.
further down the chart
Your next summer story begins here.
One boat, one crew, up to 10 guests, and a coast that is entirely yours for the day. Tell us how you want to spend it and the rest is ours to arrange. The day is yours and it is our pleasure to be part of it.