THE last time I ate at La Petite Maison it was on the Cote d’Azur, while working on a feature on Princess Stephanie of Monaco for the Sunday Times.
The original eatery, opened by Nicole Rubi in Nice, in 1988, was a simple place near the law courts of the city that invented the salade Niçoise.
It had become the place to eat and getting a table required real skill and contacts. Luckily, my photographer, a local chap, had both.
It was a Thursday night and I remember trying some of Rubi’s famous signature dishes, particularly the seabass with artichokes and a whole roast chicken stuffed with foie gras.
Rich and delicious, but even those dishes failed to match what happened next, when on the chime of nine, in trooped a table of 12 that included Elton John, David Furnish, Janet Street Porter and Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys. The only person missing was Bono, who lives up the road and has been pictured there with Elton.
Coming in to celebrate a birthday, they had candles, fresh flowers and spent most of the meal taking pictures of each other (years in advance of smart phones btw)… And by 10.30pm they were gone, presumably to avoid the paparazzi and back to Elton’s pink pad high in the Nice hills.
We were trying the latest incarnation of La Petite Maison (LPM) in the heart of Marbella and also, coincidentally, celebrating a birthday – my son’s 18th.
The first LPM in Spain, it definitely has the same sense of arrival and actually more glamour sitting by the beach in the fecund gardens of the Golden Mile’s best hotel, the Puente Romano.
Nudging Sea Grill to a new spot nearby, this is the place to eat as the sun sets over the Med and the glitterati of Spain’s chicest resort come out to play.
There is very much a hubbub about the place at 8.30pm even on a Monday night in June and, according to the manager they are getting 800 to 1000 covers a day.
The staff, wearing polka dot dresses and striped aprons and bow ties, complement the scene and are knowledgeable and polite.
READ MORE: Why Marbella is Spain’s true fine dining capital: The ultimate guide to its best restaurants
They recommend a mix of starters and so off we went sharing a mix of eight classic French hors d’oeuvres.
This included a delicious caramelised onion tart and an even better tuna tartare, as well as warm prawns with olive oil and my favourite wild snails from Bourgogne beautifully cooked with herbs and loads of oil. Best of all, only my son would try one.
The Mediterranean vegetables stuffed with veal was a great dish I’ve not tried in southern Spain, while of course we needed to try the Salad Nicoise, which was superfluous.
I should also mention the tapenade with Nicoise olives and anchovy puree. Wow, what flavour.
For mains I loved the Sole Mouneier, which looked amazing and was carefully boned and prepared by Thomas, our waiter from Marseille, next to the table. It came out swimming in a buttery sauce with capers and mixed herbs and, despite being a Monday, tasted fresh.
A small ‘Coquelette’ chicken – cooked with lemon and a cheesy batter – was an education and extraordinarily tender, while the lamb chops from New Zealand are naturally tender.
Hard to believe, but the white truffle rigatoni could be the best vegetarian dish you’ll eat this summer.
The sun has truly set by the arrival of puddings and by then we have a DJ spinning tunes including Blondie’s amazing Rapture as well as some salsa and jazz. OK we do also get Mamma Mia and Sweet Caroline, so naturally there’s a singalong.
And on the subject of happy endings, the profiteroles are as good as I’ve ever had and the tarte tatin is sublime, as you’d expect, although the clear winner is the spectacular bread and butter pudding (actually French toast soaked in cream, sugar and eggs) with coffee ice cream.
I went home feeling like Rocket Man and wondering if Marbella had just found its next big joint. On this showing, it will be a firm fixture for years.
www.puenteromano.com/es/restaurantes-y-bares/la-petite-maison or call +34 682 11 22 33
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