Gastroville

The first meal I had, approximately a month after they opened was like judging the potential in a new born race horse taking its first stumbling steps. On the one hand it was clear that Mauro possessed a remarkable talent and my discussion with him revealed admirable spirit and Alain was superbly running the dining room with a matching enthusiasm. Both gave the impression of being real entrepreneurs. On the other hand, the meal, in the literally empty restaurant, was somewhat fumbling and it was clear that all pieces were not in place, far from it. Mauro had not yet found his suppliers and not yet settled in in this corner of France and not many customers had found him.

Surely, and not particularly slowly, Mauro has found his ingredients and settled in, became more and more confident with what local and regional flavours matched his style of cooking. The local clientele started to find him and took him to his heart and the gastronomic critics in newspapers followed with positive reviews. It has been gratifying to follow the development and how Mauro has discovered the regions produce. The development has been fast and the speed is a result from his relentless and passionate search for better produce, their true flavours, how to marry them, cook them and present them in a distinct and original manner. Often the clarity and the focus of the flavours in his preparations can be striking on a level they only are when coming from the hands of a great chef. Passard’s influence is often detectable in Mauro’s preparations but they have a clear personal twist to them.

The first array of nibbles that always start a meal give a glance at the freshness and quality of what is going to come. At many restaurants, the appetizers can become boring after a couple of visits since they only rarely change and they are often not particularly interesting to eat more than once. Not so at Mirazur. They are always interesting and Mauro frequently changes the offerings. It can be some pieces from a strikingly fresh squid caught the same morning in Mediterranean just seared a la plancha, petoncles (bay scallops), so fresh that they have just entered their post-mortem state, served in their shells with matching vinaigrette or the ultra fresh sea urchins with a mandarin mousse light as air that was one of the items we had on the most recent meal.

Mauro has in less than a year after starting in Menton well deservedly been dubbed one of the greats of tomorrow by Gault Millau. He gained his first Michelin star a couple of days ago. It is all without any surprise to me. Contributing to his success is no doubt Mauro’s passion for finding and discovering the best ingredients. Especially the sea food, much of which is often sourced from the local fishermen in Menton and Ventimiglia, can be of stunning quality. The top quality scallops and other Atlantic sea food that I have sampled suggest he is difficult to deal with for the fish mongers on the coast. A stunning example of his sourcing capabilities was the fantastic sea bass preparation shown below. The sea bass was of superb quality and the cooking as can be seen on the image was perfect. The sea bass was firm, moist and had that particular light iodine-like taste that fish from the Mediterrenean has. Mauro’s fish dishes often show this level of brilliance. The sea bass was served with sorrels and a light foamy smoky sauce. It was stunning dish on a level that is found in only few restaurants.

The same dish has also been served with a great Saint-Pierre from the Atlantic and it was equally satisfying.

On every occasion the scallops served by Mauro have been nothing short of exceptional. Particularly on the most recent meal was it clear when eating them that they had been alive and kicking moments before they where seared. Again the pairings were simple yet sophisticated with a green herb jus not overly powerful in flavour but with the right bitterness and acidity to balance and lift the sweetness of the impeccable firm, tender yet crisp scallop.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the dish that I have been least impressed with is his vegetable dish served with a Parmigiano jus. Maybe I am being a bit picky but I don’t see the Parmigiano jus being quite perfected yet in terms of flavour profiles and more importantly, although the vegetables are of good to very good quality, there are better vegetables to be found on the Riviera. It is a dish that is beautifully presented and requires quite some labour efforts since every vegetable is cooked separately. I am sure that during this year, Mauro will find the right sources for vegetables too. It is potentially a magnificent dish.

Mauro’s cuisine shows remarkable variation in flavour profiles and flavour calibration. This is quite rare not only for young chefs. I can sometimes be bored with the cuisine of a particular chef after a couple of meals but Mauro has not been able to get me tired yet after 10 or so meals. The impressive calibration of flavours is shown for instance by his duck liver with caramelised onions and a broth of algae and dried fish. The duck’s liver, very fresh and delivered frequently directly from a top supplier, is of course of impeccable quality. Mauro uses small livers with low fat content that give a firm but silky result and they never ever give a dry impression. The caramelised onions are cooked so they retain just the light and fragrant flavour of onions and it is superbly paired by the caramelised exterior. The light broth with nice sea food flavours gives the duck’s liver an extra dimension. It is a really well executed dish that is a joy to eat.

It is not only with noble ingredients that Mauro can excel and offer original combinations that are delicious and show high clarity in flavours. His octopus and potato salad with pressed cauliflower puree and a vinaigrette-like sauce of mustard and chorizo showed how well he can concoct fantastic dishes with more pedestrian and inexpensive ingredients.

Sometimes, although not very often Mauro has a tendency to make a bit overly complicated preparations in that there is one or two elements too much that make little or no sense. On a recent meal we were served his pigeon with coffee dusted polenta. It is a very good dish. The squab pigeon is of very good quality that will be liked by those who like pigeons to be a bit on the light side, although Mauro will soon change to another supplier who produces some of the best squab pigeons I have ever seen. The polenta has the right texture and just the right amount of coffee on it and the jus has the right acidity. But Mauros addition of coco foam was not justified and does nothing to lift the dish, on the contrary. It is perhaps not that much to criticise since this is a chef with such admirable desire to improve and develop his cooking and finding his own style and food philosophy.

Apart from the occasional overcomplicated composition it is hard to find any weak spots in Mauro’s cuisine. Often, especially with young chefs, such weak spots are easy to see but Mauro is a quite accomplished chef. He also serves superb desserts, which often is a weak spot in newly started restaurants. His pain perdu, almost as good as the one served at Mugaritz, is ultra delicious.

I have also been served very good compositions based on the local citrus fruits. For instance the recent mandarin sorbet with carrot granité and a light milk mousse was an admirable dessert, light and flavourful.

Gastroville rating: 17/20. This rating reflects the performance of the most recent meal. I cannot more highly recommend a restaurant than this place. I can not think of many restaurants where food of such high quality is served at this price point and where it is such a joy to eat even for the most decadent and blasé foodies. The professional and attentive service under Alain has always been excellent. It is clearly already one of the top tables on the Riviera as far as cuisine is concerned and in my opinion out-cooking the vast majority of the Michelin two-star restaurants on the Riviera. The only real criticism one can raise is the very limited offerings of wine. I am sure that this will gradually improve over the next year.

Mauro is still young but with his enthusiasm and considering how well he already masters cooking, it is clear that this is a future star chef so this is one place that everyone should follow. It is quite an accomplishment of Mauro and Alain to establish themselves so quickly with very limited means. Chapeau!
Reviewed by Mikael J.