La Vigie sits in one of the most remarkable locations in Monaco. Hidden among the pine trees at the end of the Monte-Carlo Beach peninsula, with the Mediterranean wrapping around the rocks below, it feels less like dining in Monaco and more like stumbling across a restaurant on a quiet stretch of the Italian coast. Which is why this year’s take-over by renowned Italian chef Simone Zinone is such a natural fit. 

For the 2026 season, Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer has transformed the historic La Vigie into La Vigie Zanoni Monte-Carlo, inviting the Lombard-born chef behind Paris’ Michelin-starred Le George to spend the summer overlooking the Mediterranean.

In true Zanoni style, the menu is a celebration of Italian cuisine – fresh pasta, crudos, seafood, grilled meats and vegetables that are built around seasonal ingredients; classics including Tortellini Carbonara, Milanese veal cutlet and braised veal agnolotti sit alongside pizzas, risottos and generous antipasti.

Among the dishes created exclusively for La Vigie is Tagliolini with Caviar and Champagne — a subtle nod to the restaurant’s Monaco address.

But what impresses me most about this restaurant is the simplicity. The ingredients speak for themselves, the cooking is not overly complicated, and the menu encourages exactly the kind of relaxed dining that Italian cuisine is famous for.

Order for the table

If there’s one piece of advice I’d give anyone visiting La Vigie Zanoni, it’s this: don’t order your own meal.

Order for the table instead.

Choose several dishes, open a good bottle of wine and share everything. It transforms luch or dinner into a much more convivial experience, reminiscent of a long family meal at an Italian nonna’s house, where conversation flows as naturally as the food arriving at the table.

It’s a menu designed to be enjoyed together.

Don’t skip the cocktails

Before dinner, spend a little time with the cocktail menu.

The Italian-inspired signature creations are among the strongest I’ve tried in Monaco this summer. The Bellini Reale, made with homemade white peach purée and Champagne, is beautifully balanced, while the Monte-Carlo Negroni brings together Prince Explorer Gin, Monte-Carlo Vermouth Rosso and Campari in a refined take on the classic.

The cocktails suit the setting — elegant, relaxed and best enjoyed before the first plate arrives.

Keep room for dessert

Whatever you do, save room for dessert. The tiramisu is everything you hope it will be – light, indulgent and beautifully balanced – while the passionfruit and mango panna cotta offers a fresher, more summery finish. But perhaps the most enjoyable way to end the meal is with the restaurant’s generous vanilla gelato, served for sharing with bowls of chocolate sauce, fresh strawberries, hazelnuts and, naturally, Nutella. Like much of the menu, it’s designed to be passed around the table.

Getting there

Reaching La Vigie is part of the experience. Guests can arrive through Monte-Carlo Beach or take the complimentary boat shuttle from Port Hercule, which crosses the bay in around 15 minutes during the summer season. Approaching from the water only reinforces the sense that you’ve escaped the city for the evening.

It’s a short journey, but it feels much further.

For anyone looking for one of Monaco’s most memorable dinner settings this summer, La Vigie Zanoni is difficult to overlook. Not because it’s the newest restaurant in the Principality, or because a Michelin-starred chef is in the kitchen.

Because few places in Monaco feel quite like this.

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Main photo source: Monte-Carlo SBM