Maison Joia

Rating: 14
Author: Gault&Millau

06000 NICE

14/20
Chef's Restaurant

BOOK

6 PHOTOS

Chef: Julien Pilati
Cooking: French | Gastronomic | Healthy cooking | Mediterranean
Services: Terrace
Style: Elegant | Romantic

Budget (€)

Indicative price per person (excl. drinks)

79 to 135

Gault&Millau's review 2026

What a wonderful idea to have set up this gourmet restaurant in Nice's Art Deco Musiciens district. Chef Julien Pilati left his native Champagne region, accompanied by Laetitia, his wife from Brittany, to create a Joia house that brings light, joy and flavor to the triangulation of good eating. Trained by the greats - Alain Ducasse, Jean-François Piège, Hélène Darroze - the Champagne chef is at ease with the whole score, from starters to desserts. The culinary identities of our guests punctuate the three-, five- and seven-course menus, and bear witness to the host region: the Mediterranean. Glazed carrots from Vaucluse and buckwheat crackling, accompanied by a vegetable raviole and a brunoise of colorful carrots, browned in rosemary butter and escorted by a saffron foam; scallops just snacked in salted butter (from Brittany, of course), a creamy samphire sauce and a lemon coral cream, then in the second course, scallops marinated raw, placed on a bed of Breton shortbread. Scorpion fish, as tender as it is tough to work with, cooked at low temperature, with a celeriac purée flavored with fish soup, accompanied by a celery foam emulsified in almond milk. The Sisteron lamb, rosy, tender and perfect, and the small tartlet of chard and sea lettuce. Finally, the Nice lemon in a trompe-l'oeil worthy of the greatest pastry chefs, with the taste of the fruit intact. In the dining room, the precision of the plates is matched by that of the service, provided with brio by Laetitia. And in the cellar, bottles from Champagne first and foremost, but also treasures from other regions, patiently sourced from friendly winemakers.