La Palme d’Or reopening

29.05.2024 - 13:06 / traveldailynews.com / Vicky Karantzavelou / Jean Imbert

Hôtel Martinez in Cannes has reopened its La Palme d’Or restaurant, showcasing a seafood-centered menu by Chef Jean Imbert, coinciding with the Cannes Film Festival 2024.

CANNES – Hôtel Martinez, the iconic Art-Deco property of La Croisette in Cannes, has reopened the doors to its La Palme d’Or restaurant for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival 2024 after an extensive renovation and redesign. La Palme d’Or reopening launched as a gourmet seafood establishment, La Palme d’Or is spear-headed by Chef Jean Imbert a year following his taking of the culinary helm at the hotel.

With heavy cinematic influences woven throughout its history and design, Hôtel Martinez has a unique relationship with the Cannes Film Festival as the host of the annual Jury Dinner, which this year took place last week, on 13th May at La Palme d’Or with a bespoke all-pink menu dedicated to Greta Gerwig, themed following the blockbuster hit of 2023 ‘Barbie’, featuring dishes such as ‘Barbie Tuna’ with hibiscus and barbajuan and ‘Greta’s Soufflé’ with strawberry and raspberry.

Restaurant La Palme d’Or, Jean Imbert & Team.

Set upon a terrace with panoramic views of the French Riviera, the culinary theme of the restaurant is centered on fish and seafood alongside other delicacies from the Mediterranean sea with locally sourced ingredients. Menu highlights include John Dory, lobster, and bonito, with dessert options including chocolate and berry soufflés.

Jean Imbert comments: “I want to serve gourmet, sea-sourced cuisine that is simple, relaxed, and straightforward, a way of paying tribute to the edible jewels of the Mediterranean – ingredients one would never find in Paris – and the specific skill and know-how of the region’s fishermen.”

Left: Les amuses bouches. Right: Le-Chapon

Designer Rémi Tessier, having also designed La Plage du Martinez beach club, has reimagined La Palme d’Or to resemble a vintage boat featuring lacquered wood. For a cinematically immersive dining experience, the menu has been crafted to resemble a film script, dishes presented like storyboards, coat-check receipts look like old-fashioned movie tickets, and the dessert menu is designed like a call sheet. The restaurant also features an array of objects to form a cinematic cabinet of curiosities: old movie posters, relics, and scripts with handwritten notes from silver-screen legends.

Rémi Tessier comments: “I had envisioned the very special, glamorous atmosphere of vintage yacht interiors from the 1930s to the 1960s. The cuisine so wholly focused on seafood aligns perfectly with this vision. Jean and I have long shared a passion for boats and the notion of timelessness is fundamental to our respective work, but always with an added twist that makes the