La Palme D’Or is a 2 star Michelin in the lovely Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez. There is a separate door and elevator to access the restaurant or you can get there from the hotel lobby. Cannes is a short train ride from Nice, if you do not wish to stay there. We were there for lunch on a beautiful day and so were treated to a terrance seat overlooking the stunning beach, blue water and multiple yachts view. I’m not generally an outdoor seating lover but this would change anybody’s mind. Not a bug, a wonderful breeze and a great canopy for shade perfectly compliment the view. Service is most attentive and helpful as well as friendly. The menu is presented in the form of a cube with the various tasting menu options on each of the 6 sides and a pullout page of a la carte options.
At lunch there is also a 4 course menu with 3 savory theme choices, each presented in 3 ways and 3 sweet theme choices, each presented in 2 ways, that also includes a 1/2 bottle of wine and coffee for just 78 euros. We chose for one of us to have white and the other red wine and they were happy to split it between us. In fact, they topped off as needed during the meal, which is a really nice touch. It is a great deal and an excellent way to sample their cuisine. The focus of all the menus is local Mediterranean foods. Tables are appointed with lush linen napkins and cloths, very comfortable chairs and are well spaced.
We started with a couple glasses of rosé champagne from their champagne cart. It was a nice pour and seemed fitting for the setting. Before you even order snacks start arriving at the table. Some ultra thin crisps (some with cumin seeds), goat’s milk blue cheese in a biscuit and a fish ball covered in paprika. Everything was quite good but I particularly liked the first two.
Focaccia bread is rolled out next, soft and fresh one slab is covered with herbs and the other plain. They are served with olive oil but really don’t need to be dipped. Both were wonderful.
The Bouillabaisse Inspiration menu started with wild fish broth with sea urchin. The broth was like a rich cream broth except it was seasoned with lime and quite tart. It was an interesting mix of flavors.
The Creative menu started with grilled octopus and potatoes in their skin. It also included some potatoes stuffed into a bit of squid. It was very good.
The bread tray was next with 4 options. I chose the round brioche which was very nice and really buttery. The smaller set of rectangles piled on each other was an orange blossom bread that was not as good. Squid ink bread was the other rectangle and I didn’t try it.
The second Bouillabaisse course was red mullet with fennel and toast and a shellfish sauce. It was tender, tasty with the fish cooked perfectly.
The Creative second course was young pigeon and Swiss chard. It also included some turnip and was very nice.
The last part of the Bouillabaisse was a squid, tomato and egg with bottarga. A thin squid ink cracker topped it off. All the tastes blended well for good flavor combinations.
The Sardine Tart finished the creative menu. It was an amazing pastry crust topped with super fresh and strongly flavored sardines. It was topped with a fruity tapenade, possibly from olive oil, and didn’t really come off fishy at all. The sardines were set in an attractive brown sauce. It was good.
The orange and pumpkin sweet choice started with in velvety, grilled gourd seed, crispy brioche and the freshness of blood orange sorbet. It was very nice.
The Chocolate sweet started with The rock, with chocolate and strong coffee flavor. It was a chocolate ball, like an almond roca, with coffee cream. The cream was really creamy and luscious – a two yum here.
Some extra treats came before the second part of dessert. A chocolate triangle with cream was sweet, delicious and crispy. A light caramelized sugar covered a pineapple tart and an orange one. The flavors for both were quite intense.
The second part of the orange selection was caramelized custard cream, poached pumpkin in orange juice. It was like a brulee and very good.
The Chocolate second was Alliance with caramel, delicate and creamy, freshness of coffee. It was squared of chocolate cake with caramel squirts accompanied by great coffee ice cream. Another yummy option.
With coffee came caramels and nougat – both excellent.
