La Petite Plage

The Restaurant

The address is 9 Quai Jean Jaurès, which places La Petite Plage directly on Saint-Tropez's most photographed stretch of waterfront — facing the harbour, the boats so close you can read their names, the town's painted buildings rising behind them like a stage set designed by someone who understood beauty but refused to make it obvious. The restaurant is built over the sand, or more precisely built from it: a décor of wood and rattan, bougainvillea falling from every available surface, the tables arranged so that even the one furthest from the water feels connected to the harbour. It is a seaside garden, and in the evenings, when the strings of light come on and the live singers arrive, it becomes something else entirely.

The cooking is orchestrated by Éric Frechon, who carries the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France and the decoration of the Légion d'honneur — two credentials that position him unambiguously at the summit of French gastronomy. At La Petite Plage, Frechon does not attempt to replicate the technical complexity of his three-Michelin-starred work at Épicure at Le Bristol in Paris. This would be incorrect for a beach restaurant in Saint-Tropez, and Frechon is too intelligent a cook to make that mistake. What he delivers instead is a menu of Mediterranean dishes that carry the lightness and confidence of someone who has nothing left to prove: the anchovy toast with tomato concassée, the grilled langoustines with a butter that contains more intelligence than it has any right to, the daube of Provençal lamb that appears occasionally on the evening menu and produces conversations at adjacent tables.

The menu shifts between lunch and dinner: lunch is lighter, leaning on the harbour's theatrical setting and the pleasure of eating well in the sun; dinner is more considered, with Frechon's kitchen deploying more ambition as the temperature drops and the candles come on. As night falls, the restaurant adds live music — singers, then a DJ, then whatever the summer evening decides to become. La Petite Plage is a Michelin Guide selection with a red knife-and-fork designation, the guide's symbol for a restaurant that is not starred but is notably pleasant in terms of both food and setting.

Best Occasion Fit: First Date

The case for La Petite Plage as a first date restaurant in Saint-Tropez is almost entirely environmental: the harbour, the boats, the bougainvillea, the particular quality of Mediterranean evening light at 8pm in July. These things do work that no kitchen can do, and Frechon's cooking is good enough not to diminish them. Book a harbour-side table. Arrive before sunset. Order the Champagne before the menu. The setting will carry the first hour; the food will carry the second; the music will carry whatever comes after.

For a birthday lunch that requires Saint-Tropez's most cinematic backdrop — the one that will read correctly in photographs, that will look like exactly what it was — La Petite Plage is the correct choice. It is not the most technically accomplished kitchen on the Riviera, but it is the most photogenic, and for a birthday the photograph is sometimes the point. The festive energy at night, with live entertainment building toward dancing, suits a celebration that wants to extend beyond the meal itself.

What to Order

The anchoïade with crudités is the aperitif dish: order it with a glass of Bandol rosé and face the harbour. For a first course, the grilled langoustines when available; the gazpacho in summer, cold and specific in a way that commercial versions are not. For a main course, the grilled fish of the day — whole, simply dressed — is the correct decision at both lunch and dinner. At dinner, ask about the daube; if it is on the menu, order it. The wine list is Provence-weighted. The sommelier will propose a rosé. Accept the proposal.