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Day: 21 March 2022

Date set for Pavyllon Monte-Carlo opening

by: Cassandra Tanti
21/03/2022

It’s been announced that the doors to the highly anticipated Pavyllon restaurant by Yannick Alléno at the Hermitage Hotel will open on 15th April, a mirror of its three Michelin-star sister in Paris.

The ‘Leader of modern cuisine’ was welcomed to Monaco in early 2021 when the Vistamar restaurant was rebranded as ‘Yannick Alléno at the Hôtel Hermitage’.

For 12 months, the French chef, who currently holds 14 Michelin stars, and his team have been serving guests Mediterranean-inspired cuisine with that famous “Alléno touch”.

But eyes were always fixed on the end game, when the restaurant would be completely revamped at the imagination of Chahan Minassian, who designed the Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris where Alléno holds six of his stars in three restaurants.

Minassian has recreated in Monaco that unique restaurant design around a large custom-made bar facing onto an open kitchen, where guests can feast their eyes and taste buds on the delicious plates being prepared. It is designed to be a place of transparency and serenity, where guests can get as close as possible to the kitchen from the comfort of the bar, and without the usual formality of fine dining restaurants.

The Pavyllon is also designed to maximise its elevated position and the famous Riviera weather, so the sea-facing terrace remains with its potted plants and views of the Mediterranean, the Palace and the Rock.

Inside, tables line the large patio windows of an elegantly designed space.

“We have the same approach, Yannick on the plate, me with space,’ said Chahan Minassian. “We complement each other naturally, and for this project we worked hand-in-hand.”

While the restaurant’s design has changed, Yannick Alléno’s signature modern cuisine has not. Guests can continue to expect an array of hot and cold dishes, some 100% plant based, all made essentially from local ingredients. Examples include vegetable ravioli with spring broth and olive oil for starters, and line-caught fish-and-chip-style whiting for main. Tasting menus are also an option.

Yannick Alléno’s famed sugarless desserts also feature, like the wonderfully light and innovative ice creams that are whipped at the table, or the meringue soufflé with vanilla “caviar”.

“I am delighted to open Pavyllon at the Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo,” said Alléno in a statement. “There is a real place for this cuisine with the taste of the Riviera in the Principality, in a stylish and informal atmosphere, and I would like the residents of Monaco to take ownership of this restaurant.”

Yannick Alléno belongs to the exclusive circle of the world’s greatest chefs. In 2013, he was brave enough to reinvent that great French classic, sauces, with his innovative “extraction” process. In July 2014, he took over Pavillon Ledoyen on the Champs-Elysées in Paris and opened Alléno Paris. After just seven months, he was awarded three Michelin stars. He is now the only chef to head two triple-starred restaurants in France, Alléno Paris and 1947 in the Cheval Blanc hotel at Courcheval.

“Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer is a world-unique destination. The arrival of new signatures like Pavyllon contributes to the remarkable revival of gastronomy in Monaco, and we are very proud of it,” said Jean-Luc Biamonti, Vice-President of Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer.

“Our palace is continuing its reinvention while capitalising on its exceptional heritage and its status as an emblematic venue close to Place du Casino,” added Louis Starck, Managing Director of the Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo. “Creator of exceptional moments for lovers of elegance, the connoisseurs’ hotel is happy to add an exciting culinary experience for both Monegasques and our international visitors.”

 

Photo of Yannick Alleno by Monaco Life

 

SEE ALSO:

What to expect from Monaco’s most anticipated new restaurant

Two chefs, 35 stars: Ducasse officially welcomes Alléno to Monaco

Interview: Leader of ‘Modern Cuisine’ Yannick Alléno

 

 

 

Seaweed: the world’s next big cash crop?

by: Stephanie Horsman
21/03/2022

As part of Monaco Ocean Week, the Oceanographic Museum is hosting a special event on Tuesday focusing on the benefits and applications of that most humble of sea dwellers, seaweed.

The name is deceptive. Seaweed would lead one to believe that it is not only a common, but in some way bothersome plant, when in fact this grass of the sea has many uses.

The Oceanographic Museum is highlighting this plant on Tuesday 24th March in an event featuring a series of presentations by experts discussing the potential of algae as a “next big thing” in the plant-based industry.

Aptly entitled Seaweed Day, the event will showcase one of the most promising of ocean industries, one that has long had a track record in the East but is only recently catching on elsewhere. Seaweed Day will explain how there is a growing interest in algae by enterprising people in Europe and Australia who are developing innovative products such as bio-packaging, culinary treats, cosmetics and animal feed.

The showroom will present a selection of seaweed-based products that the public can see and touch, showing the huge diversity of the plant, and talks will fill in the gaps on where the industry is, and is heading.

Seaweed farming will also be highlighted, following a report put out by Oceans 2050, which shows “the potential to become a scalable, regenerative multipurpose solution across many components, including provision of sustainable and healthy blue foods for humans, feed for aquaculture and farm animals, sources of high-value molecules for pharma and cosmetics, providing habitat to increase biodiversity, locally mitigate ocean acidification and deoxygenation, replace synthetic plastics with seaweed-based polymers, and mitigate climate change by contributing to carbon sequestration, production of biofuels and food supplements to reduce methane emissions in ruminants.”

Seaweed farms are currently using about 2,000km2 of sea, but the report says it can easily be expanded to four million km2 whilst still delivering benefits.

“We are proud of our global network of seaweed farms, involving about 27,000 farmers; the first ever of this nature, which has allowed us to assess carbon sequestration benefits but also has provided evidence of the huge positive social impact seaweed farming brings about to coastal communities, empowering the role of women, who are the majority of seaweed farmers, in the communities,” says Alexandra Cousteau, Oceans 2050 co-founder.

The event runs on 24th March from 2pm to 8pm and will include question and answer sessions and networking opportunities. For the complete list of speakers and times, visit the website at https://www.oceano.org/live-seaweed-day/

 

 

Photo by Benjamin Jones on Unsplash 

 

 

 

Covid testing returns to Monaco schools

by: Stephanie Horsman
21/03/2022

Two weeks after lifting mandatory masks in the classroom, the government has reinstated voluntary mass testing in schools in an effort to gauge the evolution of the virus without the cover-up rule in place.

On Monday 21st March, a new large-scale screening campaign was launched in the Principality’s schools, similar to the one organised after the February school break whereby students, staff and teachers are invited to take a rapid lateral flow Covid test to alert the school of any new cases.

Schools are, by definition, a place of concentrated contact between people. With Covid numbers now rising again, identifying new cases in this microcosm would be an indicator to the government how things are faring two weeks after scrapping mask-wearing at schools.

The self-tests are voluntary and exactly the same as the ones previously used in school campaigns. Notable for being quick, non-invasive, and easy to use, they are also the recommended choice of paediatricians. Results are given in 15 minutes.

Several thousand of these tests are available and the government is encouraging people to take advantage of them. The last two campaigns saw nearly 5,000 participants take part.

The tests will be important in limiting the chains of contamination in a quick and reliable way. 112 new cases of coronavirus were registered in Monaco between 18th and 20th March. 

 

 

Red sky at night, Charles Leclerc’s delight

by: Luke Entwistle
21/03/2022

A rejuvenated prancing horse was led home to victory by a dominant Charles Leclerc in the opening race of the F1 season in Bahrain on Sunday, alluding to a much-anticipated championship hunt.

Starting from pole, Ferrari’s Monegasque driver fended off a charge from reigning champion Max Verstappen down into turn one, as drivers kept it largely clean on the first lap. Esteban Ocon spun Mick Schumacher around, but both drivers came out relatively unscathed, although the former did receive a five-second time penalty. No driver made significant gains, although Valterri Bottas’ good work was undone as he dropped eight places back to 14th.

As early as lap five, Verstappen was complaining about a faulty engine over team radio. Although this would prove terminal for both Verstappen and his team-mate Sergio Perez later in the race, the former first provided some brilliant wheel-to-wheel racing with Leclerc.

Perhaps it is too early to jump to conclusions, but this latest era of F1 car has seemingly fulfilled its remit in allowing cars to follow easier in the dirty air. If the Leclerc-Verstappen battle is anything to go by, then fans are in store for an exciting season.

Verstappen failed in his attempt to undercut Leclerc on lap 16, but did considerably close the gap. If last year taught us anything it is that the Dutchman has plenty of courage, and he isn’t afraid to chuck it down the inside of his rivals. That’s exactly what he did on lap 18, as the move was greeted with roars from the crowd.

Down the straight towards turn four, the roles were reversed, and this time it was Verstappen, without DRS who was easy prey for Leclerc who, with the help of DRS, sailed back past. Verstappen wasn’t done there, however, although a sense of deja-vu must have begun to kick in for both drivers as Verstappen pulled off a carbon-copy pass on the next circuit, before conceding it again to Leclerc on the next straight.

The cycle was broken on the next lap as Verstappen, trying a kamikaze move down the inside, locked up and went deep into turn one, allowing Leclerc to sail past and create a buffer to his rival.

Thereafter, the Leclerc victory always looked assured although Verstappen believed he could have pulled off the undercut, had his team not ordered him to take it easy on his outlap. Things would get worse for the reigning world champion as those technical issues came back to bite him. Sacrificing his second place finish, he was forced to limp back to the pits, conceding second place to Carlos Sainz, and handing Ferrari their first one-two since Singapore in 2019.

Just laps later, a similar fate befell his Red Bull team-mate Perez, as he failed to restart his car after a spin on the last lap. Primed to profit was Lewis Hamilton, who enjoyed a largely quiet race, yet still managed to round off the podium.

Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell finished fourth in his debut for Mercedes, whilst the returning Kevin Magnussen in a revived Haas was rewarded for a brilliant drive with fifth position. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend was the lack of pace in the McLaren, who many thought would be challenging Ferrari and Red Bull for podiums. Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris could only manage 14th and 15th place respectively.

But the day belonged to Leclerc who secured only his third career victory, a bonus point for the fastest lap was the cherry on top of a perfect night under the floodlights in Bahrain. Post-race Leclerc reflected on his team’s long road back to the top, saying, “Coming into this season, we knew we would be in a better position than we have been for the past two years, but we didn’t know exactly where we would stand.”

That work has reaped its reward. “To be back on top with a car that is capable of winning feels incredible,” he added.

With the recency of the regulation changes, car development will take an increased importance this season, and Ferrari will have their work cut out to stay on top. That being said, this was Ferrari’s weekend, and Leclerc’s championship push has got off to a perfect start.

 

 

Photo source: Scuderia Ferrari press centre

 

 

 

 

Earth Hour 2022: “pedal power” to light up Casino

by: Stephanie Horsman
21/03/2022

Each year on the last Saturday of March at precisely 8:30pm, 190 nations and territories take action to raise awareness of the issues facing Earth, our common home. Monaco is participating this year by turning out the lights on some of the Principality’s most iconic locales.

For one full hour on Saturday 26th March, Earth Hour, led by the World Wildlife Foundation, asks people and communities to do one simple task: turn out the lights. The symbolic act is meant to bring the climate crisis to the forefront and show a commitment to change that started back in 2007 and has now grown to a worldwide event.

In Monaco, a joint effort between the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer Group (SBM), the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, and local law enforcement will see the lights go out at 14 locations around the Principality.

People can expect to see total darkness envelope Casino de Monte-Carlo, Casino Café de Paris, Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo, Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, Monte-Carlo Beach, Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo, Café de Paris, My Monte-Carlo, Aigue Marine, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, Company of the Prince’s Carabinieri, Directorate of Public Security, and Corps of Firefighters of Monaco.

In its efforts to obtain Green Globe certification, the Monte-Carlo Casino is working with a “Green Team” for a competition that will light up the facade of the Casino de Monte-Carlo thanks solely to human power.

Ten teams from SBM and five from Monegasque entities will take turns pedalling on six bikes to fill an “energy dial” that will project a different pattern onto the Monte-Carlo Casino. In taking a serious issue and making it a fun experience, organisers hope that it will cement the cause in people’s minds and help them commit to stopping the climate crisis more than once a year.

The government, alongside SBM, follows environmental protection guidelines stringently. SBM has set itself substantial objectives in terms of eco-responsibility and continues to obtain certifications for all its establishments, including the Green Globe, Mr. Goodfish and Ecocert. The Earth Hour on the Place du Casino Monte-Carlo is part of this philosophy.

So don’t miss out on the event and the fun. Meet at 8:30pm sharp on the Place du Casino to kick off Earth Hour 2022.

 

 

Photo of the Hôtel de Paris, source Monte-Carlo SBM

 

 

 

Impounded cars and motorbikes go on sale

by: Cassandra Tanti
21/03/2022

It’s that time of year again when the government puts up for auction the vehicles that it has seized throughout the year. Here are the details.

The government announced on Monday 21st March that the Domain Administration has published a list of the vehicles that are, from this date, available for purchase and on show at its offices on the 4th floor of 24 rue du Gabian, between the hours of 9:30am to 5pm and on the site:

https://service-public-particuliers.gouv.mc/Communiques/Vente-aux-encheres-administrative-de-vehicule

A small selection of bicycles are also available.

The deadline for offers is Friday 8th April 2022 at 12 noon.

While people are able to view the vehicles in person, the government recommends they download the list of vehicles on the aforementioned website first.

Tenders must be submitted exclusively to the mailbox provided for this purpose, in the entrance hall of the building located at 24 rue du Gabian.

 

 

Photo by Chuttersnap on Unsplash