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Venturi reignite their title charge in Berlin

17/05/2022

Monégasque manufacturer ROKiT Venturi Racing bounced back from a difficult weekend on home soil to take consecutive podiums over two races in the German capital.

Key to their revival was Edoardo Mortara. The Swiss driver scored podiums in both races, including a victory from pole position on Saturday. Having expertly controlled the first-part of the race, Mortara was made to race in the second to ensure the lights-to-flag victory.

After taking his second boost, he fell behind Jean-Eric Vergne and Monaco winner Stoffel Vandoorne. Mortara made easy work of Vergne, before getting the job done on Vandoorne a couple of laps later to retake the lead.

Vergne, however, had a fan boost, and used it to good effect. The former F1 driver took a podium in Monaco a fortnight ago, but was looking for more in Germany. He launched an audacious move on Vandoorne and then on the leader Mortara. Although he made his first move stick, Vergne went too deep on the second and Mortara switched back on him to take the chequered flag. Vergne and Vandoorne rounded off the podium.

Lucas Di Grassi, meanwhile, had a difficult qualifying and then didn’t finish in the race, but the Brazilian’s fortunes turned-around on Sunday. He was still out-performed by team-mate Edoardo Mortara, who secured second-place having qualified on pole.

Nyck de Vries, who made a first corner lunge to jump from third to first, controlled the race from start to finish to secure his second win of the season. Di Grassi was pipped to the final podium position by Vandoorne late-on as the Belgian snuck down the inside of Di Grassi, despite the Venturi driver’s best attempts to shut the door.

It was a hugely successful weekend for the Monégasque team, who move up to second in the Formula E Championship. Mortara is also back in the hunt for the Drivers’ Championship, but still has work to do to catch Vandoorne, who has a 12-point lead.

“This weekend has been phenomenal and I’m extremely proud of the entire team for what we’ve been able to achieve,” Team principal Jérôme D’Ambrosio said. “62 points from two races is an incredible achievement and, in a championship as close and competitive as Formula E, is one that doesn’t happen very often at all.”

Formula E next heads to Jakarta at the start of June, and at the halfway mark Venturi are well and truly in contention for both the constructors and drivers’ championships.

Photo source: ROKiT Venturi Racing

RAMOGE photo competition is underway

by: Stephanie Horsman

14/05/2022

RAMOGE, the international cooperation agreement between Monaco, France and Italy, is hosting its biennial photo competition and this year it has a category for the “New Generation” and photos taken on mobile phones.

The international photo competition is now open to budding photographers with a love of the sea via the RAMOGE- L’Homme et la Mer (Man and the Sea) event as part of their awareness-raising programme.

From now until 30^th September, photographers are invited to submit snaps showing the relationship between human activities and the Mediterranean in three categories for adults and one for young people under 21.

The three adult categories are Man and the Sea, RAMOGE Zone, dedicated to photos taken solely in the region between La Spezia and Marseille, and free style. The under-21s are free to submit any relevant photo under the theme Man and the Sea, the view of the New Generation, which allows for submissions taken on mobile phones, tablets or other digital devices.

The contest is free and open to anyone, and each photographer can present up to four images.

This year’s jury is made up of a distinguished list including Ricardo Busi, President of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), Greg Lecoeur, “Nature Photographer of the Year” for National Geographic in 2016, and Sergio Pitamitz, “Environmental Photojournalist of the Year” for NPPA in 2016.

For each category, the winner will be awarded an FIAP medal, a €200 cash prize with an additional €100 cash prize going to the winner of the RAMOGE Zone theme. Second place winners will receive an FIAP medal and €150. Those in third will get an FIAP medal and €100.

For complete rules and details, visit the contest website at https://ramoge.org/concours-photos/

Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash

“My food is like me, full of character”

by: Cassandra Tanti

14/05/2022

Tucked away at the edge of Monaco, with nothing but the sound of lapping waves and the warmth of soul-enriching sunshine, Melanie Serre is busy adapting her recipes to the organic ingredients that she is now committed to using at Elsa.

“It is something that we have to do for our future, but it is a real challenge, the taste of everything is so different. I have had to adjust all the recipes I wrote in Paris,” the chef reveals to Monaco Life. “It is also very difficult to find all-organic produce, so I have had to make my own products like spices, etc. I never imagined that I would be doing this one day, but I am glad that I did.”

Melanie Serre is clearly not one to shy away from challenges. She trained in prestigious establishments like Eden Roc in St. Barts and the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo under Christophe Cussac, and landed her first job as chef at L’atelier de Joël Robuchon Etoile in Paris, a restaurant with two Michelin stars, where she rose to executive chef within a year. In 2020, she spread her wings, joined the Parisian restaurant Louis Vins and won the Gault & Millau Young Talent prize.

The 36-year-old says she is now happy to be back in Monaco, where she can walk among the private fruit and vegetable gardens of the Monte-Carlo Beach, tasting the raw produce and be inspired by the possibilities. “In Paris, it is much more difficult to cook organically, so this is a real opportunity for me,” she says, adding that she loves to talk to local producers, “to learn about their approach, and what made them go organic.”

Melanie Serre defines her food as a mixture of “deliciousness and elegance”.

“I season a lot, so the dishes have character,” she says. “I have a big character, and I like food with character. That’s why I love pepper, chilli and spice.”

Carrots with cumin, carrot top pesto, fresh orange and ginger juice

Seated on the tranquil beachside terrace, surrounded by a bird-filled pine forest, we are presented with a three-course lunch menu, an official welcome to Chef Melanie Serre. It begins with an amuse-bouche of creamy courgette foam and dried fruits. It is a surprisingly flavourful start to a menu that travels from a bowl of sweet and salty carrots, exhilarated with pops of cumin, carrot top pesto, ginger and orange; to a classic Mediterranean dish of freshly-caught red mullet, potato gnocchi, and black garlic; and finishes with a refreshing plate of vervain-soaked red fruits, black pepper-speckled meringue, and strawberry sorbet.

Every dish is laden with the character that Chef Serre had promised, which is not an easy task in an eco-friendly restaurant like Elsa. There is often the risk that, when creating colourful wellness cuisine, flavour can be compromised. But there is no doubt here of the chef’s emphasis on seasoning.

Red mullet with potato gnocchi, peppered arugula, and black garlic

I’m excited to try the other dishes on the menu, perhaps the creamy burrata from Puglia with crunchy peas and almond milk, the blue lobster bisque spiced with citrus zest, or the beef tenderloin marinated in sweet spices served with beet curry.

It is understandable why Danièle Garcelon, Monte-Carlo Beach General Director, is so excited to have Serre at the helm of the Elsa kitchen.

“I am happy to have a young woman amongst the stars like Alain Ducasse, Yannick Alléno and Marcel Ravin,” says Danièle Garcelon. “I like her savoir faire and her experience, and I am sure she will meet our client’s high expectations.”

Monte-Carlo Beach has kicked off the season in style

It is an exciting time for the Monte-Carlo Beach. Just last week, they hosted the Chanel runway and Cruise Collection launch. It was “an exceptional start to the season”, says Garcelon. “We are very proud to have Chanel choose us, it was an unexpected opportunity to show who we are, how we work, and to showcase the best profile of Monte-Carlo Beach.”

Monte-Carlo Beach was also recently awarded the first ‘Hotel & Lodge Green’ special prize, a new award recognising it’s zero-plastic and waste recycling policy and its energy and water management.

This year, it welcomes the first ecological, ethical, organic and made in France luxury skincare brand Paoma, an approach that is “completely consistent with that of Monte-Carlo Beach, where taking care of yourself and the environment is a natural part of everyday life,” says Danièle Garcelon.

And Monte-Carlo Beach has just launched its first 100% electric shuttle service between hotels.

Meanwhile, coinciding with the season-opening of Elsa and its new chef, the Monte-Carlo private beach itself is now open to the public.

It all just makes for a very planet-friendly day; a place to enrich the body, mind and soul, and smile gratefully throughout all of it.

Top photo of Melanie Serre by Monaco Life. All other photos by Monte-Carlo SBM

CSM researchers publish game-changing study on cancer and stem cells

by: Cassandra Tanti

13/05/2022

A team at the Scientific Centre of Monaco is behind exciting new research that shows brain cancer stem cells can be reprogrammed to better respond to treatment. It could transform therapies for not only children suffering from the disease, but also a range of cancers in adults.

The Paediatric Oncology and Neurogenesis team at the Scientific Centre of Monaco, led by Dr Vincent Picco, has been studying cellular reprogramming to counter medulloblastomas, or brain tumours, in children.

The work by Dr Doria Filipponi has just been published in the scientific journal Cancers, and could pave the way for the development of a new strategy to thwart the role of cancer stem cells (CSCs) involved in the development of brain cancer, their ability to resist treatment by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and their involvement in the risk of recurrence and metastatic development.

According to the research, CSCs show all the characteristics of embryonic nerve stem cells that support brain development. Their capacity for self-renewal and resistance to therapies are central in the phenomena of relapses, which are fatal in almost all cases. The objective, therefore, is to reprogram these tumour cells to make them more vulnerable to treatment and thus reduce the risk of recurrence of the disease.

“The principle of cellular reprogramming is a very innovative therapeutic approach, so far never implemented in the treatment of paediatric brain cancers,” explains Dr Doria Filipponi. “It consists of characterising the CSCs from the analysis of very fine genetics to differentiate them from embryonic nerve stem cells and then targeting them with specific, appropriate actions.”

Medulloblastomas are rapidly growing brain tumours that mainly effect children aged five to nine. They are responsible for around 20% of paediatric brain and spinal cord cancers. While the treatment is often effective – the average five-year survival rate is 80% – it also has significant, permanent consequences on the health of the child.

That’s why the CSM team is looking to find ways of developing new targeted therapeutic pathways.

This new principle treatment that they propose opens up prospects not only in the fight against medulloblastomas and paediatric brain cancers, but also for possible applications to other types of cancer in both children and adults.

For Dr. Vincent Picco, “…this innovation in diagnosis and treatment opens up very new prospects for treatment by combining genomic analysis and identification of tumour cell informatics and biological research. This procedure can be applied to other forms of cancer. For paediatric brain cancers, validation through preclinical analysis of our results will make it possible to delimit the conditions under which this approach could be implemented in the management strategy for these cancers.”

Dr. Doria Filipponi was the winner of the 2021 Best Researcher Award given by The International Research Awards on Oncology and Cancer Research, an award that honours and encourages researchers and their research organisations for their significant contributions to the advancement of research in their area of expertise. In recent years, the work of Dr. Doria Filipponi led to a paradigm shift in the field of resistance therapy and tumour relapse, and made it possible to offer totally innovative therapies in patient care.

Dr. Filipponi’s study received financial support from the Flavien Foundation, which supports several research programs on paediatric cancers at the Scientific Centre of Monaco, for more than six years.

Can coral help solve the mystery of childhood cancer?

Photo of the CSM lab by Monaco Life

AS Monaco unveil “traditional” 2022/23 shirt

by: Luke Entwistle

13/05/2022

For the fourth consecutive year, AS Monaco has partnered with Italian kit manufacturer Kappa to release their new home kit, which will make its debut in Saturday’s match against Brest.

The release was teased on Thursday before being unveiled on Friday morning with a video shot with drones on Tête de Chien. The video featured Wissam Ben Yedder, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Vanderson, Myron Boadu and Benoît Badiashile wearing the new home kit on the rock which overlooks the Principality (see the video below).

Unlike this year’s jersey, it has white sleeves and a white back. However, it stays true to tradition, maintaining Princess Grace’s diagonal design, which has been iconic of Monaco’s kits for over 60 years. That tradition has, however, been adapted with the subtle incorporation of the club’s motto “Rise, Risk, Repeat” on the upper diagonal section. That motto is currently celebrating its one-year anniversary.

Monaco’s main partner eToro is once again inscribed on the shirt, as is the silicone Monégasque crest, as well as a crown on the back collar. The Kappa jersey features Kombat Pro System technology, which is known to be ultra-resistant, elastic and breathable. The kit is complemented by white socks and shorts.

The kit will be worn for the first time on Saturday against Brest. The fixture will be Monaco’s final home game of the season, before they head to Lens for the final matchday.

The jersey is now available to purchase at www.shop.asmonaco.com

Click on the image below to watch the new promotional video by AS Monaco…

Famed trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf coming to Monaco

by: Stephanie Horsman

12/05/2022

French-Lebanese trumpet virtuoso Ibrahim Maalouf will be playing the Espace Léo Ferré one night only alongside guitarist François Delporte for an evening of music that jazz lovers won’t want to miss.

Born in Beruit in 1980, Ibrahim Maalouf has transcended his early years to become one of France’s most popular musicians of the past 15 years.

His career has taken him to over 40 countries around the globe and to some of the most prestigious venues in the world. He performed in Istanbul in front of a sold-out Volkswagen Arena and at the Lincoln Jazz Centre in New York.

In 2016, he made history by becoming the first jazzman to fill the largest concert hall in France. He performed on 14^th December at the Accor Arena in Paris Bercy for an historic show that sold out more than eight months in advance. In the same year, he was described as a “virtuoso” by the New York Times.

In all, Maalouf has composed and produced 19 albums for himself and other artists, winning scores of awards along the way.

The Monaco concert will feature music from the album he composed for his 40^th birthday, entitled 40 Melodies, taking the audience on the artist’s journey through his past work.

The concert will be held on 23^rd May at 8:30pm. For tickets and information, visit www.espaceleoferre.mc or call +377 93 10 12 10.