Saint-Tropez

Club 55 - September 2008

Whenever we are down in Saint-Tropez there is one place we simply have to go for lunch, and that is Club 55 or Le Club cinquante-cinq as the French like to remind you. I absolutely love this place.

The atmosphere is vibrant and the food is light, refreshing and uncomplicated. The white wooden benches and the soft shadow cast by the straw canopy surrounded by a bamboo forest creates an airy yet intimate feel to the beachfront restaurant.

You start off with some work on your Riviera tan by lounging on the beach with a drink, preferably an ice cold beer, admiring the view...

...and what a view it is.

Having soaked in the scenery and taken a refreshing dive in between the 80 foot yachts anchored infront of the club shuttling the rich and famous to and from the beach, it is time to crack open the St Julien D'Aille on the cosy sofa's. While you're waiting to be seated this lounge bar, hidden in its green vegetation is the perfect amuse bouche to the afternoon ahead.

A bottle or two later you are seated and your appetite is demanding an equally joyous meal to accompany the carefree surroundings.

For me, this is a done deal. I no longer need to see the menu because I fell in love with the Club 55 Petit Fritures many years ago. This Provencal dish of deep-fried Whitebait really is rather special. Accompanied by a delicate tartare sauce and a sprinkling of lemon juice this starter really is rather delicious.

Another suggestion would be the Club 55 Hamburger. Simple but when cooked rare it's pretty spectacular to be honest.

Soaking up the last of the afternoon atmosphere with another bottle of rosé, which goes down way too easily for it to be legal, it is not hard to see why, in 1956, Bridget Bardot asked the owners of this little beach cottage to provide her and the crew filming "And God created Woman" with their daily meals.