Monaco: Bistrot Tartine

Aside from the thumpingly expensive tables of such star chefs as Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon, I’ve always had a hard time finding a good meal in Monaco, much less an affordable one. Apparently a lot of local residents have had the same problem, too, because the new, very reasonably priced Bistrot Tartine has been packed ever since it opened a couple of months ago. With a great setting overlooking the principality’s port and the eye-popping yachts that fill it, this is a pleasant choice for a casual meal in a warm, attractive dining room created from recycled wood. The two-course prix fixe lunch menu (a starter and a main course, or a main course and dessert) at €15.80 is easily the best buy on the waterfront, and it changes daily, with Wednesday’s menu—marinated salmon on a blini, grilled chicken breast with risotto and millefeuille for dessert—providing a good sample of the appealing Mediterranean cooking of chef Stéphane Chenneveau, who trained with Jacques Maximin and works almost exclusively with organically grown local produce. If you’re going à la carte, try the delicious penne à la sicilienne, or bavette steak cooked with shallots and served with potato purée. For dessert, the profiteroles come with a little ceramic pitcher of sublime dark chocolate sauce.

30 route de la Piscine, Monaco, +377.97.98.70.70. Lunch menu €15.90; à la carte €45. Prices are per person without wine.

Originally published in the February 2010 issue of France Today

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