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Day: 17 April 2022

Monaco experiences: Refined authenticity at the new Em Sherif

by: Cassandra Tanti
17/04/2022

In a country of spoils, there is always comfort in finding authenticity, tradition and family values on a plate, and that’s exactly what you get at Em Sherif in the Hôtel de Paris, with that famous Monte-Carlo touch, of course.

There has been barely an empty seat in Em Sherif since it opened its doors for the first time on 2nd April. Not only does Monaco revel in a new gastronomic experience, if it is to be had in the exquisite Hôtel de Paris, all the better.

To the left of the hotel’s grand staircase, Em Sherif welcomes you through a corridor filled with Graff diamonds – an unmistakable reminder of the two worlds that are coming together at this Beirut-born restaurant.

Mireille Hayek opened her first Em Sherif in Lebanon’s capital in 2011, the traditional restaurant concept celebrating a culture experienced through taste, sight, hearing and feeling.

She has since opened 12 more restaurants in the Middle East, and most  recently in London at Harrods. This opening in Monaco is the company’s first foray into Europe and is part of Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer’s (SBM) aim of adding strong, international brands to its range of restaurants to appeal to a discerning clientele.

Mireille Hayek has entrusted the running of Em Sherif Monte-Carlo to daughter Yasmina, a charismatic and confident young woman who has trained at the prestigious Paul Bocuse Institute and worked under Mathieu Pacaud, who owns several Michelin starred restaurants in Paris, as well as two-starred Jean-François Piège and three Michelin star Chef and winner of the Bocuse d’Or Rasmus Kofoed in Denmark.

“People in Monaco have very high expectations, and we are in the world of Alain Ducasse at the same time, so there are very high Michelin standards here, and we have to meet those standards,” Yasmina Hayek tells Monaco Life.

Em Sherif at the Hôtel de Paris, photo by MCSBM

Em Sherif embraces the precious Middle Eastern culture of meal times, that of communal experiences in which family and friends eat together, not with separate plates but from a shared dish. And the sheer number of dishes here means that guests should definitely arrive hungry.

“It was nice to find a middle ground between this limit of what gastronomy you can do with Lebanese cuisine, and how to keep it at the same time generous with that sharing experience,” adds the 25-year-old head chef.

The hot and cold mezze selection includes four different types of hummus, including one with melt-in-your-mouth Wagyu; mutabbal of smoked eggplant, tahini and pomegranate; yalanji of rice-filled chard leaves; fattet kraydiss – crispy prawns with yoghurt and kadaif; and smake beyroutiyeh – sea bass fillet with beyroutiyeh sauce.

In addition to the 21 mezze plates, there are five main dishes including shawarma lahme with beef fillet, and siyyadiyeh – a deliciously steamed whole sea bass stuffed with caramelised rice and aromatic herbs.

Two grilled dishes of whole chicken and beef round out the savoury menu, while a colourful array of desserts are designed to cleanse the palate with fruity flavours and floral aromas, like the orange blossom and rose milk pudding, while traditional pastries indulge the senses.

The baklava at Em Sherif Monte-Carlo, photo by MCSBM

“Pasty in France is important, so we refined all of our pastries at Em Sherif Monte-Carlo,” reveals Hayek. “We want to please clients who prefer the original while accommodating other clients who are looking for something more. Everything in Monaco needs to be elevated. It can’t be too greasy, for example, so instead of gee we use pure butter for our baklava. These are the type of edges that we try to do here in Monte-Carlo.”

Despite a string of new Em Sherif openings ahead in Paris, Greece and the United States, Yasmina Hayek plans on staying put in Monte-Carlo, excited at the opportunity to continue to share her family legacy with the people and guests of the Principality.

“I think that presence is very important here,” she says affectionately. “People love meeting the chefs, and every day we have guests wanting to visit us in the kitchen. We have already had so many people who came back to the restaurant, so it is beautiful to see the same faces.”

The journey of the senses continues outside in the Mediterranean garden where, surrounded by lemon trees, kumquat and wild sage, guests will be able to enjoy a chic Chicha Lounge Bar in the afternoons and evenings.

Yasmina and Mireille Hayek, photo by MCSBM

“Lebanon gifted me the culture I am so proud of. It’s what constantly inspires Em Sherif and it’s what has allowed me to succeed,” says the restaurant’s founder Mireille Hayek. “Bringing this culture to Monaco in a place as legendary as the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo is such a joy. It gives me the opportunity to transmit my love for my country.”

Em Sherif Monte-Carlo is open from Wednesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner. The Chicha Lounge bar will open from 4pm to 1am from Monday 18th April.

 

See more photos of Em Sherif in our Instagram post below…

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcYT4OUMJFN/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

 

 

Top photo of Yasmina Hayek by Monaco Life

 

 

 

 

Tsitsipas defends his Monte-Carlo crown

by: Luke Entwistle
17/04/2022

Stefanos Tsitsipas defended his Monte-Carlo Masters title against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, this time winning Sunday’s final (6-3, 7-6) in front of a packed crowd at the Monte-Carlo Country Club (MCCC).

Just like last year, Tsitsipas prevailed in straight sets, but the Greek world number 5 didn’t have things all his own way, as Fokina profited from his under-dog status to launch an assault on Tsitsipas’ serve early-on.

The defending champion was sloppy in the first game, double-faulting before eventually holding. Fokina then broke on his next service game, taking his first break point of the match; the clay specialist looked right at home in his first Masters 1000 final.

That awoke Tsitsipas, who immediately broke back, in just one of several momentum shifts within this match. The Greek player was gifted another break of serve in the eighth game through two sloppy, long forehands, before holding serve to see out the first set (6-3).

Fokina’s resolve looked to have been broken, but he had the crowd on his side. Buoyed on by cheers of “Fokky”, which reverberated around the stands between each point won, he struck back in Tsitsipas’ second service game.

An enthralling ninth game looked to have decided the game in Tsitsipas’ favour. Having saved two break points, Fokina ceded the advantage twice, before gifting his opponent the chance to serve for the match.

Fokina, however, doesn’t know when he’s beaten and broke back to take the game to a tie-break. Tsitsipas had experience on his side, as well as the crowd, who he had gradually won throughout the set. Both would serve him well. Losing the first point, he then went on to win the next five. He had missed previous chances to kill the match, but he didn’t miss this one. The crowd gasped as a desperate flying Fokina back-hand landed agonisingly out, Tsitsipas, overcome with the moment fell to the floor, head-in hands, disbelieving of having defended his crown.

Tsitsipas is the first to defend his title at the MCCC since Rafael Nadal won three consecutive Monte-Carlo Masters between 2016 and 2018. Post-match, he admitted how much it meant to him.

“It’s a great feeling, because we had the crowd this year involved. It was a bit more lively than last year. I think it’s doubly special in a lot of ways.”

World’s finest double act take the title

Prior to Tsitsipas’ triumph, Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram took home the first title of the day, beating Colombians Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal 6-3, 3-6, 10-7. Only yesterday, British player Salisbury, and his American partner Ram came through an even tighter 10-point tie-break against Jamie Murray and Rohan Bopanna (11-9).

If there was any fatigue, it certainly didn’t show, as they immediately attacked on their opponent’s serve, but couldn’t convert either of their two break points. They didn’t make the same error in the seventh game of the first set, crucially breaking to take the upper hand.

Farah and Cabal almost broke back immediately, but a Salisbury ace to deny them was indicative of a duo that not only didn’t fold in the crucial moments, but excelled in them, showing why they are the number one ranked doubles pairing in the world.

Salisbury and Ram took the first set, but they wouldn’t have it all their own way in the second. Cabal and Farah had two break points in the fifth game, but converted neither, but they did get that all-elusive break in the ninth in comical circumstances.

Having missed their first two attempts, the third took a fortuitous, or not so fortuitous depending on your perspective, clip off the net, the ball hurtling into the groin of Ram, who needed a moment to catch his breath before continuing.

Despite being a break down, they almost saved the set at the last, denying three set points, before the fourth was taken with the help of a marginal line call.

Time and time again, the duo have been shown to thrive under pressure, which, alongside their superior ranking, gave them the upper-hand in the 10-point tie-break. After a tight start, Salisbury and Ram ran away with it, and although they stumbled on two of their championship points, no mistake was made with the third: a maiden Monte-Carlo Masters for the world’s finest double act.

A “unique” year

Following the cancellation of the 2020 Monte-Carlo Masters and the 2021 edition being held behind closed doors, the conditions for the return of fans couldn’t have been more perfect, whilst it was a fitting way to commemorate Zeljko Franulovic’s final year as tournament director.

In the role for the past 17 years, Sunday marked his final day as he received a shield in recognition of his work from Prince Albert II, who attended the event having recently recovered from Covid, and Melanie Antoinette de Massy, President of the Monaco Tennis Federation.

For the final edition of his tenure, he was delighted to welcome back fans. “This year was unique, because we had the crowd coming back after two years of absence, and we were very pleased to see that we were sold out starting on Wednesday,” Franulovic began in a press conference on Sunday. “This year, we had a total of 132,500 spectators. Matches took place before a crowd and stands that were completely full, and also with very mild, nice spring weather.”

Despite the absence of big names such as Nadal and Roger Federer, and the unexpectedly early exit of Novak Djokovic at the hands of Sunday’s finalist Fokina, the quality of tennis has been befitting of the large crowds that accompanied it. “The spectators were thrilled all along the week by very tight matches, often with a very high intensity,” the Croat Franulovic continued.

Scintillating on-court action and packed grandstands under the spring Riviera sun, this year’s Monte-Carlo Masters will be remembered as the year that tennis truly returned to the Principality.

 

Photo by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life

 

 

 

 

Remontada in Rennes for revitalised Monaco

by: Luke Entwistle
17/04/2022

AS Monaco prevailed in a thriller on Friday, beating an in-form Rennes 3-2 despite going behind early-on, in a comeback which is a mise-en-abyme of a wider propulsion towards European contention.

Victory at the Roazhon Stadium was their fourth in-a-row, the first time Monaco have achieved that feat since April last year when they went on a five-match winning streak that was ultimately pivotal in their successful hunt for Champions League football.

Although it remains to be seen if this latest purple-patch will be enough to see them secure that all-important podium place this year, there can be no doubt that Philippe Clement’s men are on the right path. Post-match, the Belgian coach said that his side are “growing” and that is certainly visible on the pitch.

That growth is evident within multiple facets of their game: physical, mental and tactical. Monaco’s players would have to demonstrate their mental resilience in the first-half having gone behind to an early goal from Flavien Tait, whose glancing header nestled into the far corner of Alexander Nubel’s goal.

Monaco had their opportunities however. Prior to going behind, Aleksandr Golovin dragged wide from a glorious position, whilst just minutes after the goal, Kevin Volland should have been better when one-on-one, but his chipped effort landed on the roof of the net.

Lacking the clinical edge of their third-placed opponents, Monaco nonetheless kept coming, and would get their reward midway through the first-half. Golovin’s defence-splitting, perfectly timed, curving through ball was perfectly in the path of Vanderson whose first-time shot levelled the score.

Rennes have been touted as one of the strongest outfits in Ligue 1 this season. Just a couple of weeks ago, Nice coach Christophe Galtier stated that they are “the best team in the league right now.” 10 goals in the three matches prior to Friday’s clash against Monaco gives a flavour of the attacking pedigree that they bolster, but it was defensive naivety that would decide this match.

Since Clement’s arrival in the Principality, his side has thrived against high lines. You don’t need a long memory to remember their dismantling of Lyon in the first-half of a 2-0 victory as Peter Bosz deployed a nonsensically high-line. Despite this, Rennes deployed the same system, and Monaco’s attackers feasted.

Early in the second-half, Volland’s through-ball header was perfectly anticipated by Wissam Ben Yedder, who needed just one touch before slotting home to register his 19th in the league this season.

Substitute Myron Boadu then doubled the lead, in a perfect exhibition of a transitional verticality à-la-Clement. Aurelien Tchouameni’s relentless press won the ball high in the opposition half, before laying it off to Vanderson, who squared it to the Dutch striker, who made no mistake with the finish.

It was a nervy finish for Monaco after a sloppy Sofiane Diop foul within the box gave Rennes a slither of hope in the dying stages. Although Martin Terrier converted for the spot, there was no time for Rennes to level the score, Monaco prevailing 3-2 winners on the night.

The hard-fought comeback victory perfectly mirrored a wider revival happening at the Principality side, which, according to L’Equipe, has much wider implications for the club. “The rise of the living dead,” was the French newspaper’s headline on Saturday, referencing their explosive article in late March, which stated that Clement, Paul Mitchell and Oleg Petrov were all primed for the axe, but who have been brought back from the brink.

On Saturday, however, they argued that recent performances mean that “some heads could end up being saved,” even if owner Dmitry Rybolovlev remains determined to shake-up the hierarchy to an extent. What a difference a month can make.

“We resisted this team, who are the best we have seen here so far.” It seemed unthinkable that these words would come out of the mouth of an opponent manager, nevermind the mouth of Rennes manager Bruno Genesio, who leads one of the most respectable outfits in the division. But they did, and there is no doubt that, now more than ever, they are truly in this fight for the Champions League.

Focus now shifts to the huge derby against Nice, which is critical for the European aspirations of both clubs. “We should savour today, but keep our feet on the ground and, from tomorrow, prepare for a big match on Wednesday,” said Clement. A victory against their local rivals in midweek would have a particularly special, more intense flavour.

 

 

 

Photo source: AS Monaco