Fashion designer Simone Rocha on her perfect restaurant experience

Simone Rocha, among creatives invited by Wallpaper* guest editor Laila Gohar to share meaningful dining memories, recalls happy evenings at a mountainside haunt near Nice

illustration of food and wine on table beside open fire in restaurant
(Image credit: Illustration: Isabella Cotier)
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Simone Rocha: When faced with only picking one meal in a restaurant, I find it hard to choose. But I have always loved La Chaumière, tucked in off the side of the road up a mountain above Nice.

The feeling of arriving at dusk after a salty day in the sea and finding its tiny sign in lights is always magical. I’ve been many times over the last 20 years with my family and friends, from being a kid rolling around in the boot of the car on the way back down, to bringing my daughters and them drawing on the table. I love the room. It is simple, with stone floors, small tables with white tablecloths (my favourite), and metal chairs with woven wicker bases.

‘Arriving at dusk after a salty day in the sea is always magical’

Simone Rocha

The room centres around one open fire with a wooden block in front where the meat is prepared. It is very relaxed and feels low key. You could be in someone’s living room.

Everything is cooked on the fire, essentially magical meat and potatoes. To start, I would recommend the giant wicker basket of crisp crudités. Then the côte de boeuf and potatoes. And finally the apple tart, which is accompanied by a massive bucket of cream that is spooned onto your plate. Perfect!

This article appears as part of Laila Gohar’s guest editor section of the October 2024 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands from 5 September on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Hugo Macdonald
Global Design Director

Hugo is a design critic, curator and the co-founder of Bard, a gallery in Edinburgh dedicated to Scottish design and craft. A long-serving member of the Wallpaper* family, he has also been the design editor at Monocle and the brand director at Studioilse, Ilse Crawford's multi-faceted design studio. Today, Hugo wields his pen and opinions for a broad swathe of publications and panels. He has twice curated both the Object section of MIART (the Milan Contemporary Art Fair) and the Harewood House Biennial. He consults as a strategist and writer for clients ranging from Airbnb to Vitra, Ikea to Instagram, Erdem to The Goldsmith's Company. Hugo has this year returned to the Wallpaper* fold to cover the parental leave of Rosa Bertoli as Global Design Director.

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