“Feeding others is an emotion.” Mirazur in the eco-vegetable garden at Mauro Colagreco’s restaurant in Menton

Mirazur. A name that calls to the sky and the sea Mauro Colagreco’s restaurant, recognized as the best restaurant in the world, enjoys an absolute landscape. With a high elevation, a panoramic view of the Mediterranean and lush vegetation, it also has a view of the old port of Menton and its colorful facades.

Everything here is poetry from the beginning Air to the bread, Pablo Neruda – “Earth, beauty, love, all these taste like bread/… /”, the poem is brought to you at the table at the same time as the bread, to be enjoyed with some saint. Michelle olive oil. “For me, bread is not just bread. It is a symbol of table, sharing. Feeding others is an emotion,” Mauro Colagreco confides, before leading us down Garavan Boulevard, shaded by pepper and carob trees.

An ode to biodiversity

There is the chef’s garden, or rather, one of his five vegetable gardens, Rosmarino, which we recommend to “Mirazur” customers to visit. Mauro explores these five hectares, sheltered from the wind by the cliffs of the French Riviera, taking advantage of the microclimate, a subtropical ecosystem. Cultivating his own garden is the dream of this man who has introduced permaculture, or sustainable agriculture, which obeys three principles. caring for people, caring for the country, fair distribution of resources.

Mulch on the ground, planting banana trees, whose foliage forms a canopy, bamboo pipes to transport water, banana peel manure as fertilizer. all biodiversity principles are respected. Mauro is the conductor of this Garden of Eden. 1,500 species of plants, including 130 citrus fruits and 70 different types of tomatoes… There are orange daffodils, Indian pink amaranths, fuchsia bougainvillea, blue borage flowers…

What an opportunity to witness an object lesson! Mauro shows us Peruvian oregano, Malabar spinach, tears a leaf of shiso for us to taste, another of water mint, cuts caviar lemon in two with a knife, turmeric root… The garden extends with its passion fruits, pomegranates, thorn. pear…

Fireworks of taste

We go up to the balcony. A small temple, probably an ancient spring, became the “shrine” or the place where the seeds are kept in jars. For exhibition visitors, other seeds are stored in the refrigerator. Mauro marks the location of his future hotel, Villa Rosmarino, expected in 2027 with seventeen suites overlooking the sea and gardens.

How about lunch? A table at the bow of the restaurant, farandole of land foods, pear-yuca, squash-mustard, ham carpaccio, cherry tomato-licorza, pepper-scamorza, lemon-fish from the boat, banana-pigeon, lamb and his citrus harlequin jacket. fruits, grape granita, plum-jasmine tartlet… Festival of colors, fireworks of flavors.

Biodynamics, its credo

Mirazur Universe explores the exchange between heaven and earth, and its haute cuisine is under the sign of the Moon. “There is nothing you cannot see that is not a flower. There is nothing to think that is not the Moon,” he says, quoting Matsuo Basho’s haiku. Therefore, the restaurant’s four menus follow the lunar calendar as required by biodynamics. “Plants receive beneficial cosmic stimuli that affect root, leaf, flower and fruit development,” the menu says.

Four forces correspond to different parts of the plant: soil for the roots, water for the leaves, air for the flowers, and fire for the fruits. They vary from day to day depending on the position of the Moon. Therefore, Mirazur offers four experiences: root days, leaf days, flowering days, fruit days according to the variable principle. This shows the virtuosity of the chef who is constantly innovating and not locked into any signature dish.

In the shadow of a sunflower

The shooting is over. We find him near his kitchen, at the table. The bowl is full of fruits, the composition of which takes into account color, shape and space. It is fruit day. And if we had porcini mushrooms for lunch, it is because it is the royal fruit of the forest. In front of us is crème brûlée, without cooking, with honey and propolis, surrounded by a bunch of sunflowers.

“Gardens are for telling stories. You have seen sunflowers in several places earlier. By providing nectar and pollen, they are a key resource for pollination by insects, including bees. They are satellites that protect the garden.”

A pioneer’s journey

Where does this love of plants come from? From the childhood he spent in La Plata, Argentina, waiting for the summers in the village, at his grandfather’s house, who also cultivated his vegetable garden. “I still have the taste of hot tomatoes in my mouth.” This man of letters trained as an economist to take over his father’s accounting firm. Two years later, he threw in the towel. He wants to learn French cuisine. After lessons at Loiseau, Passard, Ducasse, he met Mirazur… We know the rest. He climbed the ranks by 2019, an exceptional year with his third star in the Michelin guide and his first place in the world’s 50 best restaurants.

Since then, he has become a leader in circular gastronomy, a goodwill ambassador for biodiversity at UNESCO. His restaurant is proud to be Zero Plastic certified and a Green Star recipient. When it is time to leave this enchanted place, we are given a bag containing small clay balls and seeds from Rosmarino’s garden. It’s our turn to plant these seed bombs in the ground and watch them grow. Mauro Colagreco is a transmitter.

Restaurant Mirazur, 30, avenue Aristide-Briand, 06500 Menton. mirazur.fr: .
Read: Under the Sign of the Moon, Mirazur, by Mauro Colagreco, Éditions de La Martinière, 2023, 296 pages, €70.