Dior Reopens Saint-Tropez Boutique With Mauro Colagreco Restaurant
When Dior reopens its Saint-Tropez boutique on Monday, it’s going to provide not solely a recent decor for artistic director Jonathan Anderson’s designs, but in addition a full gastronomic expertise, courtesy of Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco.
A fixture on the French Riviera due to his three-star restaurant Mirazur in Menton, Colagreco is opening Le Café Dior and a Monsieur Dior summer season pop-up restaurant within the backyard of the boutique, positioned inside a historic nation home.
His menu echoes the bucolic setting. The Argentine-born chef shares founder Christian Dior’s love of nature, rising a lot of his recent produce in his personal backyard, the place flowers and greens are planted and harvested in response to the moon’s cycles.
“I’ve usually stated that at Mirazur, we have now 365 seasons,” he says. “In all my tasks, I attempt to respect this micro-seasonal method.”
Chef Mauro Colagreco prepares his Champ de Trèfles starter on the Monsieur Dior restaurant in Saint-Tropez.
Laora Queyras/ Courtesy of Dior
With its topping harking back to four-leaf clovers, his Champ de Trèfles starter, a tartare of crimson prawns, is a useless ringer for Anderson’s Girl Dior Clover purse. In the meantime, the Corolle dessert, a frozen parfait dotted with delicate iced flowers, is a nod to Dior’s first high fashion assortment offered in 1947.
Colagreco initially visited the Dior archives when he was getting ready for the opening of his Café Dior on the French style home’s Gold Home idea retailer in Bangkok in 2024.
“On my first go to, I used to be virtually moved to tears since you see not simply his work, but in addition the interpretations of all of the totally different inventive administrators of the home,” he recollects. “Christian Dior lives on past his designs thanks to those individuals who have stored his legacy alive.”
A UNESCO goodwill ambassador for biodiversity, the chef instinctively linked to the botanical references in Dior’s creations.
The La Marguerite dessert at Le Café Dior in Saint-Tropez.
Lara Giliberto/ Courtesy of Dior
“He was very delicate to the pure world, which actually speaks to me, so clearly we needed to make use of that as an entry gate into this world, additionally utilizing as inspiration La Colle Noire, his residence with a powerful Mediterranean backyard,” he says.
He sees a pure affinity between high fashion and haute gastronomy. “The obvious is consideration to element, which come from the hand, from craftsmanship. We’ve comparable requirements and aesthetic sensibilities. I’d say that maybe a very powerful factor is a need to set off emotion,” Colagreco muses.
Seated on rattan armchairs below pastel-colored parasols, diners at Monsieur Dior can savor dishes à la carte or as a part of a tasting menu. A 3-course Déjeuner de Soleil expertise is out there at lunchtime, with a five-course Clair de Lune possibility within the night.
However Colagreco cautions the menu isn’t set in stone, since he makes use of regionally sourced elements solely once they’re at their peak. That window lasts simply 20 days within the case of the apricots within the daisy-shaped La Marguerite tartlet served on the café, as an illustration.
Chef Mauro Colagreco prepares his Iris dessert on the Monsieur Dior restaurant in Saint-Tropez.
Laora Queyras/ Courtesy of Dior
Usually Mediterranean produce like eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, peaches, cherries and figs will even cycle out and in of the kitchen.
“That doesn’t imply rewriting the entire menu, however the menu will evolve,” he explains. “As totally different elements lose their taste, or are not out there regionally, we’re going to section them out. Generally we tweak the recipe, generally we alter it fully.”
In consequence, he’s reluctant to single out a signature dish, although the bow-shaped Le Noeud, a espresso and chocolate dessert, comes shut.
“Whenever you turn into a restaurant with a number of signatures, you turn into a museum, and I need to proceed being artistic,” he says “At Mirazur, we’ve been doing it for 20 years. It’s turn into like a sport: I’ve purchasers who’ve come greater than 100 instances and have by no means eaten the identical factor, so it’s a problem and it forces us out of our consolation zone.”
The Le Noeud dessert at Le Café Dior in Saint-Tropez.
Lara Giliberto/ Courtesy of Dior
Colagreco is on a roll, having celebrated the 20th anniversary of Mirazur with a collaboration with legendary chef Ferran Adrià. Now on the head of 34 institutions worldwide, he plans to open 4 eating places this yr alone, in tandem with constructing a boutique resort in Menton, set to bow in 2027.
“Every location has its identification, its rhythm, its vitality,” he says. “I’ve chosen to by no means cut-and-paste, to stay trustworthy to my values. I attempt to create a universe tailored to every place and construct one thing distinctive that has its personal soul.”
Saint-Tropez has a specific vitality. It’s a magnet for superstar cooks, who more and more are partnering with luxurious manufacturers on hospitality ventures on the intersection of style and meals.
The Dior café opens Monday, in tandem with the expanded retailer, which had been closed for renovations since November 2024. It should function year-round, whereas the seasonal Monsieur Dior restaurant will open from June 8 to October.
The La Corolle dessert at Le Café Dior in Saint-Tropez.
Lara Giliberto/ Courtesy of Dior
