What makes Niçois cooking
Nice has only been French since 1860, and its cooking looks as much towards Italian Liguria as towards Provence. It is simple, sunny and often vegetarian: market vegetables, olive oil, chickpeas, anchovies. It is street food as much as table food.
The dishes to try
Socca
A large, thin pancake of chickpea flour, baked in a wide pan in a wood-fired oven. Crisp outside, soft inside, served piping hot with pepper. Eat it with your fingers, often with a glass of rosé.
Pissaladière
Bread dough topped with slow-cooked onions, anchovies and black olives. Bakeries sell it by the slice.
Pan bagnat
Nice's round sandwich: bread soaked in olive oil, tuna, hard-boiled egg, tomatoes, radishes, onions and olives. The ultimate beach picnic.
Farcis niçois
Small vegetables (tomatoes, round courgettes, onions, peppers) stuffed with meat or vegetables, then baked.
Tourte de blettes
The surprise: a sweet pie of Swiss chard, raisins and pine nuts. Eaten for dessert.
Salade niçoise
The purists' version is all raw. See the question below.
Other classics
- Courgette-flower fritters, in spring and summer.
- Daube niçoise, a beef and wine stew, also used to fill Niçois ravioli.
- Ratatouille, which Nice claims as its own.
- Ganses, small sweet fritters made for Carnival in February.
- Candied fruit, a city tradition.
Where to eat them
Old Nice has most of them. For socca: Chez René Socca (Rue Pairolière), Lou Pilha Leva in the lanes, and the historic Chez Thérésa stall on the Cours Saleya, there since 1925. Chez Pipo, near the port, has served it since 1923.
For sit-down Niçois cooking, see our addresses in our Old Nice guide.
Where to stay to make the most of it
Hôtel Villa La Tour
In the heart of the lanes: socca is a few steps away from the morning.
Hôtel La Pérouse
Five minutes from the Cours Saleya, with a view of the bay thrown in.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a real salade niçoise?
For purists, salade niçoise contains only raw ingredients: tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, anchovies or tuna, olives, small vegetables and olive oil. No cooked potatoes or green beans, which are often added elsewhere.
Is socca gluten-free?
Yes. It is made from chickpea flour, water, olive oil and salt. It is also vegan.
What is tourte de blettes?
A sweet pie filled with Swiss chard, raisins and pine nuts, dusted with sugar. It always surprises, and it is eaten for dessert or as an afternoon snack.
What is Bellet wine?
It is Nice's own wine appellation: its vines grow on the hills west of the city. One of the smallest appellations in France, it produces reds, rosés and whites.
