by Eleonora Pedron MONACO. The Elsa Restaurant is a 1930s legend revisited by India Mahdavi. Its name is due to Elsa Maxwell (1883-1963), American columnist, writer and organiser of high-society events. She began her career as a pianist, then joined a theater troupe in the early 1900’s before performing in music-hall shows. She then travelled very widely, especially in Europe and South Africa. After the First World War, she devoted herself to organize evenings and receptions, particularly in Monaco at the Monte Carlo Beach, where she invited artists and personalities then in the public eye. The events she took care became essential get-togethers for aristocrats and movie-stars, millionaires and starlets of the 1930’s. She alternated fancy-dress balls and “Murder Parties”, sometimes playing the piano, and keeping a careful eye on the guests to supply material for the columns she wrote for the press and the radio, especially Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan.
The Michelin-starred restaurant Elsa at the Monte-CarloBeach is offering two spring-inspired a modern experience, combining the spirit of the Riviera’s golden era with the intimacy of a luxury resort. Elsa Restaurant “Beach goes Bio”, is a unique and inedited experience for discovering authentic preparations which compose our gastronomic menu. Thanks to the talent and creativity of Chef Paolo Sari, Elsa is among the elite French and Monaco restaurants. Obtaining its first Michelin star is a gauge of quality, a reward heralding a future at one with nature, a philosophy which defines it as the leading certified 100% organic restaurant by Ecocert. The talented and dynamic Italian Executive Chef Paolo Sari has studied in Italy, at Cambridge University and in Los Angeles. His cuisine reveals his typically Latin hypersensitivity. By using locally farmed organic products, Chef Paolo Sari is promoting a ‘back-to-basics’ approach to delicious seasonal cuisine. You’ll love the high-quality modern cuisine with Mediterranean flavours. This venue serves a high quality contemporary cuisine inspired by the Riviera’s culinary history. Carefully thought-out and tested by our chef and his team, the menu puts the spotlight on local produce through a seasonal approach. In charge of all the restaurants at the Monte-Carlo Beach (Elsa, Le Deck, La Vigie, the Pizzeria and in the 300 cabanas and solariums at the Club), Paolo Sari has one firm rule: 100% organic cuisine, including the pepper and the white and rosé champagne. For this cultured Venetian, the saying “A healthy mind in a healthy body” guides his daily culinary practices, starting with the rigorous selection of meat and fish, fruits, vegetables and herbs supplied by farmers from neighbouring villages such as Saint-Jeannet and especially by his Monaco hillsides’ gardens.
In the dishes on his menu, this demanding chef has brought together gourmet food and healthy cuisine: the ultimate achievement.
Providing the happy guests of the Monte-Carlo Beach with nourishment that is “an ode to the Mediterranean” requires a strong work ethic as a Riviera chef and purveyor of happiness. There is no doubt that Paolo Sari, always hard at work at the Monte-Carlo Beach, has not finished winning customers over with his reasonable creativity: tradition and modernity brought together by extraordinary talent. The main particularity, beside all the passion we put behind is the origin of all the ingredients; 100% organic. Organic is not a follower of the moment but is a conscious and responsible attitude, a true life style. Through the bio we recognise and rediscover the essence of the taste, the essence of well-being. Something important that wakes us up and pleases all our senses, our palate, our body and our soul. For the really first time in Europe a restaurant, Elsa, has been recognized and certificated as 100% organic restaurant. Meticulous research and delicate cooking process write a new culinary page, healthy, sincere, organic, colourful, delicate and respectful of our land, our ocean, our nature, our self. Looking back at the Mediterranean and Provencal tradition and looking forward to the future. To guarantee the excellence of the ingredients Elsa decided to create a partnership with 15 different local producers. Starting from Provence, through La Côte d’Azur and les Alpes Maritimes, to finally arrive to the Liguria. The road of our olive oils, technically more olive juices, in fact every oil is the essence of a single olive: Arbequina, Calletier, Taggiasca, Moraiolo. A journey through the Mediterranean, taking off from Spain and arriving in Italy. Olive Oil is our lymph, the A letter for Elsa restaurant experience. Sari proposes an oil degustation combined with bread prepared and cooked in his kitchen twice a day, right before lunch and for dinner.
The process, with selected organic flours, allow to present a master piece, second to no one. White meats, poultry and lamb are also meticulously selected from the best organic farmer. Wild fishes and vegetables are the menu’s stars. The «Bio Sama», Sari’s trade mark, is essential. Seasonal fruits compose the desserts’ structure; chocolate and coffee are of course organic and issued from Fair Trade Market.
Now, you have just to decide and enjoy Elsa’s Spring 2018 menus that are the following:
- The Farmer’s Market Menu at €48 per person, drinks not included, is served at lunch time from Monday to Friday, excluding holidays. Varying according to daily market, it consists of a starter, a main course and a dessert. Coffee and sweets.
- The Tasting Menu at €125 per person, drinks not included, is proposed for lunch on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays as well as for every evening dinner. A dive into the universe through Paolo Sari 6 dishes. Menu to be chosen for all the guests at the table.
- The Inspiration Menu: a sensory journey of 8 courses around the Mediterranean. Menu to be chosen for all the guests at the table at €150 per person, for dinner only. With these menus, a food and wine match can be suggested by our Chef Sommelier. A selection of wines by the glass to sublimate the creativity of Paolo Sari.( Taxes and service charge are included – Dress code: Casual for lunch – Business attire for dinner.)
Some Spring 2018 Dishes rices
APPETIZERS
- The “bio sama”, a cuisine masterpiece, 32€
- All the vegetables and herbs from the garden, coulis of chlorophyll ratatouille, tradition of Provence 30€
- Raw red shrimps from Sanremo 59€
- Crunchy baby fennel, scent of red pomelos, nacarii caviar sardines “en saor”, preserved red onions 33€
- Smoked chicken breast millefeuille 45€
- Tuna sauce and dark honey ice cream, white beans veloute 35€
- Roasted baby squid in extra virgin olive oil, pasta & rice spaghetti bottarga, dried mullet eggs paste and sea urchin eggs 45€
PASTA
- Vegetarian Risotto 30€
- Tortelli filled with stewed rabbit, black olives crumble 45€
- Vegetarian Ravioli 30€
MEAT AND FISH
- Sauté of langoustines on savarin fried rice with saffron 73€
- Wild sea bass perfumed with bay laurel 73€
- Local red mullets roasted as per the riviera tradition, asparagus and baby vegetables, 60€
- Garden baby vegetables, baby mediterranean monkfish 58€
- Spring freshness garden, Charente 100 days black chicken in three cooking styles 59€
- Roasted loin of lamb with provence herbs, colored vegetables pureas scented with extra virgin olive oil 72€
DESSERT
- Strawberries sherbet or Fresh peach salad with sauternes or Yellow nectarine puree and sherbet 24€
- Coffee “affogato”25€
- Red berries fantasy or Brillat savarin and pear cheesecake 27€
- Cocoa crumble and sabayon ice cream or Chocolate collection 2017 or Elsa soufflé with sicilian almonds 29€
And the coffee! Elsa offers a stunning choice at 7€: Café Expresso with Malongo, roasting coffee since 1934 or La tierra, bio et equitable, exceptional organically farmed coffee max havelaar certified free trade; or Deca aqua bio, organically farmed decaffeinated coffee with genuine flavour due to a solvent-free decaffeination process; or Moka d’Ethiopie, fragrant, aromatic and savage aroma from the “Café garden” of the country of the cradle of arabica, and Laos, superb arabica variety, full of delicate chocolate and grilled notes.
Moreover, the Lemongrass, Lavender, Camomile, Verbena, Origano Ecoherbes at 10€! DIGESTIVE Lemongrass, camomile and sage; RELAXING Verbena, lavender and melissa; BALSAMIC White mint, origano and thyme; VITALITY Ginko, mint and savory.
Plus, you can end your meal tasting our sweets wines by the glass! Muscat du cap corse or Domaine Gentile 2013 or Maury 12€; Domaine Pouderoux 2012 or Rivesaltes tuilé 14€; Domaine Cazès 2005 or Sauternes 22€; Château Guiraud 1er cru classé 2011 or Recioto di Soave “San Zeno” 23€; G. Fasoli 2008 Vouvray moelleux or Domaine Huet- Clos du Bourg 2007 24€.
Last but not least, discover our Relaxation Package at 200€, valid until 15 October 2018: Free access to the Monte-Carlo Beach Club; a poolside sun-lounger +2 Towels; a bio brunch at the Elsa restaurant, generous, refined and convivial, and a facial treatment of 1 hour at the SPA – (subject to availability) Information and Reservations: +377 98 06 50 07
Elsa Restaurant – Monte-Carlo Beach – Avenue Princesse Grace – MC 98000 Principauté de Monaco – T. (377) 98 06 50 05 – Open daily from 17 March to 16 October 2017 inclusive – Breakfast: 7.30 to 10.30, 7 days a week – Lunch: 12.30 to 14.30 – Dinner: 19.30 to 22.00, 7 days a week – Snacks: 15.00 to 19.00, 7 days a week – Free parking – Valet service
