La Vigie Point, at Monte-Carlo Beach, is one of those places that stand the test of time. Perched on a promontory between two bodies of water, facing a Mediterranean Sea that seems to be cut from a shade of blue unlike any other, it has weathered the seasons with the discretion of places that need no justification. This summer, the Société des Bains de Mer de Monte-Carlo is introducing a new chapter for it: Simone Zanoni.
The institution betting on energy
It would have been easy for SBM to entrust La Vigie to one of its in-house chefs or to a chef whose Michelin star would have guaranteed a return on investment from the start. It chose a different path. Simone Zanoni, a 44-year-old chef from Lombardy, is no stranger to the scene—he trained under Gordon Ramsay and has run restaurants in London and Paris—but he embodies something harder to define than mere fame: a certain vision of Italian cuisine stripped of its own pomposity.
La Vigie by Zanoni Monte-Carlo, open from June 12, 2026, through September 13, is a summer spot in the truest sense of the word: not a luxury hotel terrace masquerading as a trattoria for the summer, but a restaurant designed for sunshine, sharing, and the seasonal ingredients that the season dictates. For both lunch and dinner, the menu follows the day’s fresh arrivals, the mood of the markets, and ingredients selected with a care that press releases always struggle to capture accurately.
The Mediterranean as a Culinary Inspiration
What Zanoni brings to La Vigie is a kind of sunny generosity characteristic of Southern cuisine—the kind that believes a tomato doesn’t need anything else to be a dish, that olive oil is a noble ingredient and not just a lubricant, and that sharing is an art form in its own right. In this seaside setting, Zanoni’s Italian cuisine doesn’t play up its exoticism: it engages in a dialogue with the light, with the salt in the air, and with the essence of the place.
La Vigie is accessible by road via Avenue Princesse Grace, in the municipality of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin—technically outside Monaco, but within that same mental space that makes the French Riviera a world of its own. The restaurant is open daily from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Reservations can be made at +377 98 06 52 52.
What Monte Carlo Is Learning from the Summer
There is something interesting about SBM’s decision to open La Vigie as a seasonal venue rather than a permanent branch of its culinary empire. The temporary nature of the venture is embraced: open from June 12 to September 13, then the venue takes a breather. It follows the logic of an artist-in-residence program rather than that of a restaurant opening—and this perspective completely changes the way you might approach a visit. Not to check off a spot on your list, but to experience a season.
Zanoni at La Vigie is like Italy arriving in Monaco by sea. That alone is enough to make it one of the must-visit restaurants of the summer.
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