Restaurant aux Gourmets

Restaurant aux Gourmets - Nice

Written by Nancy Wilson

From Reporter Issue 105

Alfred Head, Sharon Maggs ... and the restaurant Aux Gourmets.

What can a painter, a florist and a restaurant have in common? In this particular case, it’s Islington. The proprietress of restaurant "Aux Gourmets" in Nice spent two years in Islington refining her English. A delicate and charming woman, Mme Islington (as we affectionately refer to her) offers attentive yet unobtrusive service while providing her clientele with an excellent meal prepared by partner and chef François Sergio. Aux Gourmets is an absolute find.

From the outside, the restaurant seems like many other local eateries with a central European Germanic appearance. The pastel interior is soft, minimal and very appealing in its simplicity. A perfect contrast to the detailed and savoury combinations available from the menu. Taste, cultivated and pure, is the essence of Aux Gourmets.

At our table of three we sipped on a house rosé while choosing from a varied menu of fish and meat. In addition to à la carte, there are four set menus (from 16.50 to 42€) as well as menu du vivier of fresh langouste or lobster plus dessert (55€) or menu mystique of six courses chosen by the chef (60€). Our starters comprised of warmed oysters in champagne, fresh marinated salmon with spices and Belgium endives and foie gras terrine served with fig chutney which was out of this world. This was followed by pan seared saumon en croûte, foie gras poelée with ginger and frog legs Provençal. Exquisite. While there never seemed to be a lull in conversation, sharing was definitely limited and more bread was called for to soak up those remaining few drops of sauce. Dessert is from the trolley and varies from the traditional crème brûlée to the inventive tea cake. The food critic at the table next to ours didn’t leave a morsel either and left with a smile as he bid us a good evening. He obviously relished his meal as much we did, appreciating the sundry of flavouring selected by chef Sergio.

If you remain unconvinced, let me add the following: my brother and I raved about our meal for weeks (I kid you not, we really do discuss food) to the point where we absolutely had to go back to Aux Gourmets. Now this can be a dangerous undertaking because 99% of the time disappointment usually results from trying to recreate any culinary moment of perfection. I have to say, and I speak for both of us, it was even better the second time round.

© Nancy Wilson

Aux Gourmets
12 rue Dante 06000 Nice
Tel: 04 93 96 83 53
English spoken. Closed Mondays