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Day: 8 April 2023

Em Sherif reopens in Hôtel de Paris with renewed menu and live music

by: Cassandra Tanti
08/04/2023

The acclaimed Em Sherif Monte-Carlo has returned for a new season in Monaco’s most famous hotel, featuring a refined menu by Chef Yasmina Hayek that combines luxury and tradition.

The internationally-renowned restaurant, with its origins in Beirut, opened its doors in the Hôtel de Paris in April 2022 and quickly forged a reputation among locals and international visitors as a culinary destination in Monaco.

The menu is a celebration of Lebanese culture and cuisine with moreish staples like hummus, falafel, beef kibbet and Fattoush among the mezze.

But this is Monaco, so Chef Yasmina Hayek has delivered on expectations, elevating her spice-rich offerings with prime ingredients like wagyu hummus, Lebanese beef tartare, and a delicate marinated yellowtail with green chili and citrus dressing. The starter menu has no less than 30 mezze plates, a veritable smorgasbord that is destined to be shared.

Em Sherif offers an extensive menu that mixes luxury and tradition. Photo source: SBM

The main plates follow the same philosophy – last season’s best selling dishes like slow cooked lamb shoulder and whole seabass stuff with caramelised rice sit alongside semolina pearls with caviar or lobster, wagyu beef skewers, and Beluga caviar served with katayef Lebanese blinis, homemade sumac chips and lebneh.

“You will always find the basis of Em Sherif wherever you go, such as hummus, mutabbal, fattet, and fattoush… real staples of Lebanese cuisine,” Chef Hayek told Monaco Life during a special opening lunch on 4th April. “But you will also find new additions to the menu that we didn’t have last year like the grills, more salads, and different mains. We also introduced luxury products like caviar, lobster, truffle, wagyu beef, and raw fish to have a more balanced experience.”

The desserts are a celebration of the rich, sweet flavours of Lebanon, including Em Sherif’s signature pistachio baklava, an éclair with date cream infused with black tea and salted caramel, and a light citrus semolina cake with almond milk ice cream.

Em Sherif baklava, photo source: SBM

Where Lebanon meets the Mediterranean in a luxurious hotel

It is a culinary journey to the homeland of Chef Yasmina Hayek, who trained at the Institut Paul Bocuse and who now has a leading role at many of the family restaurants first initiated by her mother, Mireille Hayek, in 2011.

While Em Sherif Monte-Carlo lie sleeping during the cooler winter months, Chef Hayek was busy opening a new Em Sherif in Doha. It was hot on the heels of a restaurant opening in Abu Dhabi and London, with further expansion planned throughout the Middle East.

The mother-daughter team is clearly a winning formula. The restaurant group received the ‘Art and Hospitality Award 2023’ earlier this year, and is ranked ‘No. 20 Middle East North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023’.

Chef Hayek says she is proud to bring her heritage cuisine to both those who love it, and others who are discovering it for the first time.

“The biggest challenge is to satisfy both clientele: those who know Em Sherif worldwide and come for the cuisine, and those who don’t know Lebanese food but come to feel satisfied and have a good time around the table,” revealed Chef Hayek.

The Em Sherif terrace overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and The Rock. Photo source: SBM

New this year: Live music

If the food weren’t enough to plunge you into the divine universe of Lebanon, then the sounds of international artist Faylasuf surely will, with his electronic influences and Arab-Andalusian inspirations.

From now until 30th September, Em Sherif Monte-Carlo will be featuring a brand-new musical programme with DJ, percussion, saxophonist and female vocalist performing to the rhythm of Faylasuf.

There’s also a Chicha Lounge and signature cocktails to round out the exclusive oriental experience.

Em Sherif Monte-Carlo is open from Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner. Bookings can be made online, by phone on +377 98 06 88 75, or email emsherifmc@sbm.mc

 

See more in our experience at Em Sherif in our Instagram video below…

 

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Do you have an event in Monaco or the French Riviera that you would like us to include in our What’s On section and events calendar? Please email editor@monacolife.net.

 

Remembering Picasso’s life on the French Riviera on 50th anniversary of his death

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/04/2023

Arguably the most famous and influential artist of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso made the Côte d’Azur his home for nearly three decades. On the 50th anniversary of his death, we look back at how his later life was sculpted by a new-found creativity brought on by his move to the land of sun, sea and sand.

Pablo Picasso’s interest in the Côte d’Azur and its famous light began back in the 1920’s when he, like many artists, writers and intellectuals, was living in Paris. The appeal may have remained entirely unexplored had it not been for World War II and the German occupation of the city he lived in and loved.

After the war, looking for inspiration and an escape from the dreariness of the post-war era, Picasso, who was in his mid 60s, and his lover Françoise Gilot made their way south, eventually landing in the South of France.

He was already a world-renowned artist whose accomplishments made him a household name, but the story doesn’t end with a nice retirement on the beach. The region invigorated him, and he began a prolific period where he not only painted but started to dabble in ceramics and sculpting at the Vallauris studio of Georges and Suzanne Ramié. He was so enthralled by the village, he moved there a year later, and created his own space where he created beautiful pieces with his signature style, incorporating Greco-Roman touches from the region’s history.

He felt a kinship to the area, finding it similar in ways to his native Spain, which may have contributed to his happiness, and often depicted bulls in his art, a symbol of Spain, yes, but also of Southern France, where bullfighting was still a popular pastime.

Picasso painting in the Chapel of Vallauris

In 1952, he moved to Cannes with the woman he would spend the rest of his life with, Jacqueline Roque, before moving on to Aix-en-Provence and then settling in his last home in Mougins. Here he continued to be productive until the end of his life, with an estimated 50,000 works credited to his name.

Fifty years after his death on 8th April 1973, the impact of his presence is still felt locally. The Picasso Museum in Antibes, where he also worked for a time, supports his legacy and draws in tourists from around the globe.

Queues line up to see his La Guerre et la Paix fresco at the church in Vallauris as well as L’homme au Moutonstatue in the village square, and Paloma Beach in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat proudly boasts of their connection to the artist, who used to spend time there with his family. In fact, the beach is named after Picasso’s daughter.

Additionally, though not his own work, his image is a prominent part of the Andres Villers Museum of Photography in Mougins, where a series of photos of the artist are exhibited.

Even recently, stashes of Picasso works cropped up, including a case where an elderly couple in Mouans-Sartoux were convicted of concealing stolen property in 2016 after 271 unsigned Picassos were found hidden in a cupboard in their home for 40 years.

Most don’t need an excuse to celebrate the life of Pablo Picasso, but on this milestone anniversary of his death, why not take time to retrace his footsteps and see the places he himself found so inspirational.

 

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Feature photo: Brigitte Bardot and Pablo Picasso.