Feast: Dominique le Stanc

Dominique le Stanc, originally from Alsace, is one of the most exciting young chefs on the Cote d’Azur. In charge of the prestigious kitchens of the Hôtel Negresco, star ofthe famous Chantecler restaurant in that hotel, the thirty-four-year-old chef is making culinary Jiistory with his light-hearted approach to Provençal food. A fresh new breeze on the Mediterranean, he seems to be reinventing Provençal cuisine single-handed, with a series of special menus devoted to the sea (menus de la mer) and to the fresh local products of the kitchen gardens around Nice (menus dégustation). Michel Palmer, manager of the Negresco, had the inspired idea of tempting talented young Le Stanc down from his eagle’s nest restaurant at the Château Eza in Eze village, on the upper Corniche, when the famous chef Jacques Maximin suddenly left the Chantecler to open his own shortlived restaurant near by, after putting the Negresco firmly on the gastronomic map.