Mauro Colagreco Is Making the French Riviera a Destination for Gnocchi

When you think of the French Riviera, do you think of coastal glamour, bronzed beach bodies, maybe mega yachts speeding through azure waters? Moi, I dream of gnocchi. The humble potato-pasta dumpling — born in northern Italy — is all over restaurant menus these days, a sign of our collective devotion to a classic comfort dish. But this particular plate goes beyond. Allow me to explain.

September took me to southern France for a reporting trip (twist my arm). For working moms, navigating summer vacations can be an exquisite kind of torture, aspiring to facilitate unforgettable memories for our kids, while juggling our jobs. That’s why the back-to-school season can be a glorious respite. And on the Riviera, summer stretches longer. Sun-seekers can claim loungers on parasol-dotted slivers of sand, and only shiver in the cooler shade of sunset. I was joined by a childhood friend with whom I’d reconnected, after many years, in Paris.

Weeks after that trip, it’s not the epic coastal trails and open-water swimming in a close-to-paradise idyll that I’m dreaming about. I’m stuck on the gnocchi served at Amarines, the restaurant overseen by celebrated chef Mauro Colagreco at the Villa Miraé, a Relais & Châteaux hotel. Opened in April, it’s a laid-back hideaway that exudes the best of the Riviera.

The Cap d’Antibes peninsula — across the bay from Cannes — has managed to preserve the feel of a nature reserve, despite the sky-high value of the real estate. And the hotel is steps from the Plage de la Garoupe, the former stomping (but really sunning) grounds of Picasso and F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

Picture this: We’re seated in a Mediterranean garden, the scent of sun-warmed jasmine floating on the breeze, birds swooping over the turquoise pool, the late summer stretching fingers of light through the parasol pines. The terrace is dotted with tables under trees strung with lights. It’s a pretty scene, yet I’m distracted by a dish, the second in a four-course tasting menu. The red pepper-stuffed gnocchi sits atop a sauce made from a local Provençal goat’s milk tomme, drizzled with lovage oil. A single rapturous bite transports us through time and space.

“It’s like, it’s like….” my friend rifles through virtual Polaroids of memory. “Stouffer’s French bread pepperoni pizza!” she blurts out. I can’t help but laugh — she’d have a hard time replicating this dish through frozen pizza. But she’s onto something. “It’s my childhood!” This most unlikely of Proustian madeleines carries us back to shared summers by the community pool in Virginia, where the cicada orchestra might even be louder than the cigales in the south of France.

“The initial idea [for the recipe] came from the red pepper, a product we love for its rich aroma and ability to evoke the Mediterranean,” chef Colagreco later told me. “We wanted to work with it in several forms: as a stuffing, in pesto, as an extract, and in a glaze, in order to reveal all its nuances, from sweet to smoky.”

A champion of circular gastronomy and the first chef appointed as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for biodiversity, Colagreco connects deeply to the land with his cuisine. Amarines reflects this philosophy with a focus on short supply chains and local products. “Knowing a terroir means meeting those who shape it, revealing its richness through their work and passion. Since my arrival on the French Riviera 19 years ago, I have built strong relationships with exceptional artisans who preserve unique know-how.” His top-rated Mirazur restaurant, situated in Menton near the Italian border, was also the first restaurant in the world to be certified “zero plastic” in 2020.

The entire Amarines dining experience, orchestrated with aplomb by executive chef Can Kurt, resonates with terroir-redolent ingredients: wild Mediterranean fish plucked from the sea by Antibes fishermen, vegetables cultivated by market gardener Jean Charles Orso in Mandelieu, bread from local-loved Boulangerie Veziano in Old Antibes, olive oil infused with seaweed by the Huilerie Saint Michel in Menton. Even the wines provide a tour of the Mediterranean, from Italy to the French-Spanish border, poured by the lovely Yann Roche, previously head sommelier at Château de Théoule.

There are meals that are perfectly executed — tasty ingredients, plated with precision — that are perfectly forgettable. Those I remember are those that stir emotion, conjure memory, feed the soul. “It nourishes us in every sense,” my friend said of Amarines.

Pssst. If you’re Riviera dreaming, United operates a number of flights to Nice from American cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Delta has a seasonal direct flight from JFK and will launch a Boston-Nice route in 2026. Villa Miraé is open seasonally, from April to October.